This is basically how I go about designing my characters. The image shows what factors feed directly into other factors… and why I work in that order.

The idea is that a normal unicorn living in show-style canterlot will have very different interests, personality and talents to a Fallout Equestria Pegasus- the environments are so totally different along with the thigs they have the chance to be good at. 

Some factors just don’t matter in determining others… I also kinda think that Name and Cutie Mark don’t have to match, but they’ll correlate due to the same deciding factors.

THEME refers to an overarching idea- Rainbow Dash is all about speed, which is affected by her personality, where she lives and her race. A Unicorn in Canterlot would likely be much less interested i becoming the fastest Pony in Equestria. Her theme is a little more than just her talent though… it’s speed AND colour AND flashiness!

from that we get her talent, colours, name and cutie mark… though each is also fed into by other things.