elTee Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Because I'm so busy with all my uni work, I've obviously wasted this afternoon (and this morning) playing around with designs for a range of DVD-cases for the LucasArts adventures, based on Laserschwert's excellent 'cleaned' artworks. The concept is: Simplicity. The front-cover is the original box artwork, but without the borders etc., and the back-cover is the original back-cover as cropped as I can make it. For the spine/side of the cases I've tried to emulate features of the original box designs, including the border pattern and the 'IBM' (or whatever) label that originally intruded onto the front of the box. I'd appreciate some feedback - these are just how the designs stand at the moment; it's really the side panel that I'd most like to hear about. Do they work? I've only got scans of the box-sides from the two Monkey Island games, so I've kind of had to guess what the other games are like based on the colours of their 'IBM panel' (all the boxes I originally scanned live safely at my parents' house.) Also they're pretty rough at the moment - especially Monkey Island 2 and Day of the Tentacle, where it's clear I've just tiled a smaller section to fill out the space. If anyone can send me some scans of the sides of the boxes (or even just photos for reference) I'd appreaciate it Anyway there's no rush for advice here because progress can only happen at the speed that Laserschwert produces his 'cleaned' artworks; I'm not able to produce images of that quality on my own. These are the games I've done covers for so-far; Laserschwert has also done cleaned versions of The Dig and Sam and Max, but I haven't got round to those yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagomorph01 Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I'll give you some advice, as I completed a study in graphic design. I'll start with the side panels. I quite like the art from the games where there is no text. Although the mirror effect in the Zak McKracken one has got to go. As for the Indiana Jones one, I'd make the side a little darker, it doesn't quite match the palet for the front and back. I'd also put the protagonists head a little bit down and the Lucas Arts logo a little bit up so you would be able to see like half a cm of the underlying background. The fronts I quite like. Although I'd move the Zak McKracken one a little to the left so you'd be able to see the end of the arm of the noseglasses. The backs are way to cropped. Almost all of the text is on the edge of the box, which is a really bad thing in graphic design. The text should be at least again half a cm away from any edge. It also looks quite bad that you tried cut the frame of the picture. A better idea would be to make the whole picture a little smaller so it can fit the whole box and put some more background behind it. I do like the effort though and I stimulate your idea to make more! Go get 'm Polecat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Moving the LucasArts/headshots a little is something I've played around with, and then forgotten about. You're right that they would look better given a slight border with the top/bottom, I'll move them around when I solve the problem of getting a decent texture for the background of the side panels. And yes, I see what you mean about the back covers. It's a pain because the boxes are a lot wider than a DVD case, so in order to fit them into the template I have to lose a lot horizontally and, in the case of Zak McKracken at least, gain some vertically as well. There are a few solutions to this - one is to, as you say, just reduce the entire size and carry the side-panel pattern across to fill in the vertical gaps. The problem with this is that the back cover will then have a really big section at the top and the bottom that's essentially wasted space. The alternative to this is to re-construct the back covers myself. This won't be easy - I'm not very talented at this sort of stuff, and I don't have a great eye for it either - by this I mean, adding the text myself instead of treating it as an image to manipulate etc. Reconstructing the in-game shots wouldn't be difficult, but this route makes the whole job a lot harder altogether. It'll be easier for me to knock up an example actually. The red areas on the back panel represent the empty space due to the fact that I've used the entire of the back of the boxed version of the game. I've also highlighted the LucasArts logo, which represents the kind of thing on the back of the box that I'm trying to crop out. Some of the boxes suffer more from that kind of thing than others - US GOLD stickers etc. - and as much as I like the school of thought that says fake DVD cases should have barcodes and logos just like real ones, it's kind of counter to what I wanted to do with these ones. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssdsa Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Because I'm so busy with all my uni work, I've obviously wasted this afternoon (and this morning) playing around with designs for a range of DVD-cases for the LucasArts adventures, based on Laserschwert's excellent 'cleaned' artworks. The concept is: Simplicity. The front-cover is the original box artwork, but without the borders etc., and the back-cover is the original back-cover as cropped as I can make it. For the spine/side of the cases I've tried to emulate features of the original box designs, including the border pattern and the 'IBM' (or whatever) label that originally intruded onto the front of the box. I'd appreciate some feedback - these are just how the designs stand at the moment; it's really the side panel that I'd most like to hear about. Nice! I like your concept of simplicity, and that you concentrate on the existing artwork and don't add too much "foreign" graphics to the DVD-cases. The side panels are the best I've seen so far. Really cool how you integrated a little icon at the top and the game title in the proper graphics style! Although I really prefer the side panel graphics that are unique (MI1, Indy4) compared to those that are obviously mirrored halves (Zak, MI2, DOTT). I'm looking forward to seeing the improved versions when you get some scans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 I've been looking into the problem with the back panels. I think it'll be at least possible to re-create some of them in a thinner DVD-case size. Some of the games will be easier than others - these are the ones I think I'll be able to do, anyway: Maniac Mansion Zak McKracken Last Crusade Loom Secret of Monkey Island Monkey Island 2 Day of the Tentacle Sam and Max The Dig Curse of Monkey Island As for Fate of Atlantis, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and Escape From Monkey Island, I might have significant trouble. The problem arises from the individual elements of each panel, and how easy it is to paint over or re-create them. I'm not very good at this at all; I'm the definition of 'amateur' in fact. With Monkey Island 2 there are at least images of Steve Purcell's painting without the text/images laid over it, so it's theoretically possible to fill in the necessary areas with those images - although I may have trouble matching the colour, and the resolution of those images is much less than the scans I'm working with. Full Throttle and Grim Fandango in particular are very 'busy' images and beyond my abilities to reduce in width. To demonstrate what I'm on about I've knocked up a quick version of the Curse of Monkey Island back panel, which was actually an easy one because the only art that appears on the back is the map from the opening titles of the game, which was very easy to isolate. Original box image Re-creation image As you can see the re-creation is thinner than the original image, which makes it the correct dimensions for a DVD cover. It's a rough example, it needs a bit of work to make it match up with the original image a little more, but I think that it proves this is possible in some cases. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 I think I've settled on a final design for the Secret of Monkey Island DVD - opinions please! If there's nothing wrong with it I'll move onto the rest. As you can see I've gone entirely towards an 'original box' motif now - minus the universally despised 'IBM' sticker on the front cover, which I did replicate but I'm not going to use. Final design: Final design with system requirements (bad idea) To show a rough idea of what the side panels look like when placed next to each other I've been using photos of the actual boxes for reference - see below. (Freddie's former collection) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueZTone Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 cool i like 'm LT! i agree with everything Lagomorph said btw, his hints appear to have become very helpful in perfecting the design, kudos i'd go for a mugshot of Bobbin Threadbare instead of the island though, or maybe a swan... perhaps you can use the cover of the japanese version for a pic of Bobbin for that Also the year stamp, perhaps making them so the striped border continues onto each dvd cover properly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagomorph01 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Wow, great work Eltee, the Monkey Island 1 design really has improved a lot! There are only two things I can think of to improve it. The first one is for the back. I like the fact that you've selected the whole picture of the back box and put it over a background. The only thing I don't like about the back is the space that's left on the top and the bottom. There's just nothing there. An idea would be to work the artwork a little bit to the top until it's about as far from the edge as it is at the sides. The next thing you do is you put the system requirements from your second design in a broader square and put that under the artwork. It's how they do it with most games or dvd's. The other thing is just a little thing at the side of the box. I love the fact that you've put a face of the protagonist in the top. The only thing I'd do was to put a little bit more space on the sides so it doesn't completely touch the edge. Other than that I love 'm! I'd buy 'm in the stores immediately! (I'd buy those games in the stores again no matter what design the box has, but that's another story.) You go give 'm some more hell, Polecat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mish87 Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 This is insanely cool! These better be downloadable when they're done! I'd totally want to make myself a LucasArts Collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Thanks guys. I finished my degree and the weather co-incidentally turned amazing so I've been out drinking in the sun for the last few days (and sadly also at work ) so I've not worked on these things at all. But! QueZ: The side stamp; you're right. I was originally working from whatever was on the original box - which was obviously a problem for the post-Fate of Atlantis games because they don't have that system requirements label. Given that, I may as well make a standard label for the year and then colour-code it based on the colours used on the box. And I'll look into Bobbin, although I sadly hate that FM-Towns cover... Lagomorph: You're right about the faces/LucasArts logo; I'll thin them slightly so they don't touch the edge. As for the problem with the back of the box; it's something that will be difficult to deal with. I have no sense of design myself so I won't be able to make any kind of system-requirements that does the rest of the artwork justice - and I'm really loathe to do anything to alter the artwork in any way. For some games this won't be a problem as I'll be able to thin-out the back panel without wasting all that space at the top and the bottom. I'll have a think about it. Thanks again, these comments really do help me a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChri5x Posted May 14, 2008 Share Posted May 14, 2008 Loving it! I've been waiting for someone to make a straight conversion of the original box art to dvd cover for awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senor calavera Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 What about the imagebanana access in the US? How can I get those handy 12cm code wheels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpiffyTheDog Posted September 12, 2008 Author Share Posted September 12, 2008 oh hey guys whats going on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V_Ben Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 wow, this is some great stuff! that sam and max one is totally my iphone background now edit: on second thought, would you be able to to do grim fandango and monkey island 4 ones in this design? to complete the collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dravenova Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Hey fellas, First of all, a huge bow to everyone who have made some covers, the work that this thread has made happen, is truly awesome! Secondly, I made some covers in my spare time for a different forum, but only now have I realized, that if these covers belong anywhere, than it is this forum. Hope you like them, and a huge thanks to Laserschwert for the clean hires posters and covers, I used those as base material. All of these are available in hi-res, you can snatch the to print from here. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megakles Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Hey guys, Long time reader, first time poster. These DVD covers are all great, but can I throw in a suggestion for a SOMI and MI2 combo DVD cover? For those of us who have Monkey Island Madness. Fantastic work again guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueZTone Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 hmm they look cool i like the style of the 'lucasarts presents' party... but the game title font with the thick stroke is out of sync... fix that, and they're good covers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dravenova Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 hmm they look cool i like the style of the 'lucasarts presents' party... but the game title font with the thick stroke is out of sync... fix that, and they're good covers Beleive me, I have a few hours of experimenting with those titles behind me Without the strokes some titles wouldn't be easily readable with some of these artworks (DOTT, SOMI, Mi2, and even Zak) in the background. Sadly, various types of shadow didn't fulfill my needs either, and my concept was to not use more than artwork and text on the front covers, to keep it simple, and I wanted a solution that fits all. With the stroke it is readable in every case, it just needs a little getting used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicallyInspired Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Hey, guys. I made a DOTT DVD slip cover in the same style as the ones that were made by the guy who did these (Clem). I borrowed his PC CD-ROM image for the spin/front cover but other than that I did this entirely on my own with Laserschwert's poster image of DOTT and the large box scan of the back cover from http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com. I also recaptured all the screenshots so they'd be clearer when printed. I had already printed out the MI1, MI2, and FOA DVD covers and wanted one to house my DOTT cover in as well so I whipped this up. Hope someone else out there finds it as useful. Click to download full HQ resolution version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenko Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 elTee, did you finish those DVD-covers? They look really nice but you never posted any download-links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 No, unfortunately the hard drive they were on broke so I've lost all the files. I'm working on doing them again at the moment though, I have my actual games with me this time so I can scan the details I need in order to avoid using the clone tool. Should be the same idea but a bit better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicallyInspired Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Curse of Monkey Island in the same style as the DOTT one I posted earlier (which in turn is in the same style as the ones by Clem available on Adventure-Treff). I used the same background as the SOMI and MI2 DVD backgrounds but this time it's blue. Click to download full resolution version: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicallyInspired Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I made a Zak McKracken DVD case but I can't decide between the two backgrounds I picked. I think the second one fits more like the original box, but the first one is really nice and unobtrusive. What do you guys think? Version one: Version two: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenko Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I think the second one looks better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sk-F Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I prefer the second one too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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