Design

Conception
Selphie was the second character designer Tetsuya Nomura came up with during the conception of the Final Fantasy VIII cast; by the time he was working on his first drawing of Squall, she was already thought up in his mind. The very first thing Nomura created about Selphie was her hairstyle, purposely making it gravity-defying and openly confessing it would be rather improper if it were worn by women in the real world ~~(tell me about it)~~.

Initially, Nomura designed Selphie in overalls, but soon realized that, if he did that, no girl among the main characters would be wearing a skirt. He temporarily considered giving Quistis one, but eventually decided to have her wear pants (yes, I know it looks like a long skirt, but she's actually wearing pants underneath) and drew Selphie in a short dress instead.

Figure & Countenance
A slender, tiny girl standing at ~~a pathetic~~ 5'1½", Selphie is the shortest character in the whole Final Fantasy VIII game, her most remarkable physical features being her vivid emerald green eyes (the rarest eye color in existence, common to only 1-2% of the world's population), the exotic arrangement of her otherwise plain brown hair and the constant smile on her heart-shaped face, which often gives place to a determined smirk instead.

Intention
Selphie's design was thought out to mirror her spunky personality, as well as her positive outlook on life: from the practical clothes she is portrayed in to her lively eyes, everything about her appearance suggests determination, optimism and energy. Selphie is not supposed to be beautiful like Rinoa; she is the hyper, cute character in the game, and that's what her looks must live up for: and they do. In my opinion, while she is certainly not particularly attractive, her countenance inspires all the joy it is expected to; furthermore, the bright green and yellow in her design were surely not unintentional, doing their job just as well.