Since my last blog crashed and burned, I thought I’d re-post my Dark Days rpg cover and get some feedback.
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Dark Days Cover
This entry was written by northerain, posted on June 8, 2010 at 10:23 pm, filed under Art and tagged Art, cover, Dark Days. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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10 Comments
Minimalist, striking, classy. I’m a big fan.
The only thing I’m not sure about, but I’m not sure it’s wrong, are how pressed together the letters are. Might be perfect though.
Before I critique, may I ask what you want your cover to promise a potential buyer/player?
Well, Dark Days is a horror investigation game, it’s bleak, it’s not straightforward as ”kill things” and it has a strong focus on characters.
Okey dokey, so what about the cover is promising a bleak, character-focused horror investigation? Not trying to be difficult, just curious what your own thoughts were.
Right now, the mirrored image says to me “parallel universe” or “underworld.” Any depiction of weapons, says to me that combat is going to happen. Overall, I see a single protagonist working alone in a post-apocalyptic (possibly radioactive) wasteland.
Not that much probably. The general feel of the cover should (hopefully) nail the horror part. The investigation part is nowhere in sight though.
The double is there to show one of the concepts of the game, which is a demon-esque being that lives inside of you and is basically the worst parts of your personality rolled into a thing.
Some combat is involved so the gun is OK.
Suggestions?
Suggestions for a reference to investigation? Perhaps if there were a visual cue or easter egg that the viewer could discover on their own? Ambigrams are a little passé, but there’s always something clever to do with silhouettes and negative spaces. Here are some examples from the world of logo design, but you have a lot more room to play with on a cover.
http://logopond.com/gallery/detail/94014
http://logopond.com/gallery/detail/106173
http://logopond.com/gallery/detail/106244
http://logopond.com/gallery/detail/105500
There’s also something to be said for focusing on just one concept. If you want that to be horror, then let it be horror. You definitely have that much covered right now. I could see this cover being a new edition of The Road or The Stand. Definitely post-apocalyptic in tone.
Ya know, post apocalypse isn’t really the vibe I’m looking for. Maybe some urban elements are in order.
I think so. Right now it’s a very flat, blasted horizon. The figure has the look of a survivalist, not so much an urban investigator, if that’s what you’re wanting.
The cliche idea is to add a flashlight and maybe the light beam…but I’ll think about it.
What do you think of it, in general?
If you’re asking whether I “like” it, I’ll have to take my designer hat off and put my gamer hat on.
With gamer hat on, I say “Cool!” It’s professional and sharp as always.
With my designer hat on, I get analytical and objective.