Gabez Posted March 15, 2009 Posted March 15, 2009 I was inspired by something I saw on SomethingAwful recently (http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/classy-video-games.php), about re-imagining classic video game covers along the lines of classic book cover brands (e.g. Penguin Classics, or Oxford World Classics, plus others) -- I was inspired to make some for LucasArts. There might be some LEC ones on Something Awful as well: I haven't gone through them all. But here are two I did: The idea with Penguin Classics is that they often use "boring" images in order to highlight a particular aspect of the literature. So with SOMI I thought I'd focus on the title, and bring out the emptiness of Monkey Island, and also suggest some kind of mystery from "the secret." The image doesn't fit brilliantly, but it was the best I could do. With Grim Fandango the black and white shows the death aspect, as well as the film noir inspiration. And the contrast between the flowers (happy) and the black and white (sad!) reflect the Fandango (happy!) and the Grim (sad!) in the title. All very basic stuff. It's actually harder than it looks. Anyone else want to do any? You don't have to follow Penguin Classics -- I just thought that was easier for me.
Haggis Posted March 15, 2009 Posted March 15, 2009 Teehee! That's a great idea, and actually a lot of fun. Here's one I did, blatantly copying your original idea: Edit: I've done some more.
Gabez Posted March 15, 2009 Author Posted March 15, 2009 Great work! I love the DOTT and Sam and Max ones. And you're right, making these is weirdly fun. Well. More fun than writing my essay anyways.
Kroms Posted March 15, 2009 Posted March 15, 2009 Oh, this is fun! I'll definitely make some, but I'd rather draw them from the ground-up! Edit: What font did you guys use for the Penguin classic covers?
neon_git Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 Quality stuff here's my hastily knocked together effort: Bigger version.
Kroms Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 Everything so far has been excellent quality. I hope you guys like this one, I did it from scratch. Tried to give it a folksy feel while staying somewhat true to what Grim Fandango was all about.
Gabez Posted March 16, 2009 Author Posted March 16, 2009 I used Arial and Times New Roman, which isn't exactly what Penguin uses, but close enough. I really love that Zak Mckracken and Grim Fandango ones (never knew you could draw, Kroms!) The LucasArts adventures work well for this, because you can subscribe one "author" name to them quite easily.
ATMachine Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 The LucasArts adventures work well for this, because you can subscribe one "author" name to them quite easily. Admittedly Sierra adventures would work just as well; their games as a rule had a project leader in a strong central creative role (as opposed to, say, the three-way Gilbert/Schafer/Grossman development of MI1).
Haggis Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 I used Arial and Times New Roman, which isn't exactly what Penguin uses, but close enough. I just copied the author name from Gabez' cover, but for the title I used Gentium, which is a really pretty free font.
Capn_Nacho Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 These all look really great! With Grim Fandango the black and white shows the death aspect, as well as the film noir inspiration. And the contrast between the flowers (happy) and the black and white (sad!) reflect the Fandango (happy!) and the Grim (sad!) in the title. The flowers have some pretty clear direct significance in the game, as well. It works very nicely, though it isn't entirely distinct from some other Penguin Classics books I've seen, one of which I believe used the same kind of flower. I love this kind of design-- specifically those which are designed after the first printings of these kinds of books from the thirties through sixties. Some really interesting, stark design choices always worth investigating. That SA thing had some really effective uses. I will try to do a Lucasarts one myself later.
Haggis Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 Here's an attempt at creating a consistent look for the entire Monkey Island series. I hope it looks okay:
Jeff Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 Nice work all, I like. There are some LA ones on SomethingAwful on this page: http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/classy-video-games2.php?page=6 I might see if I can come up with something later.
Giant Graffiti Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 Wow, great stuff. Here's one I quickly threw together.
Kroms Posted March 16, 2009 Posted March 16, 2009 I love your stuff Haggis. Everything has been great so far from everyone. Also: thanks Darth Moeller. Gabez, thanks for the compliment. I actually don't like it too much so I want to re-draw it properly. Unfortunately it, Sam and Max, Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle are the only ones that really fit with a drawn cover, as opposed to a photo, so I'm going to do those, one a week I guess.
Gabez Posted March 16, 2009 Author Posted March 16, 2009 I love that Loom one, Gιygαs. I like the way that these covers exercise the imagination much more than traditional video game covers do (not that I'm bashing the originals which are fantastic in a very different way!)
QueZTone Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 although the topic states LucasArts... this is one i just had to do.... its not a very well known game though
SyntheticGerbil Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 The Sam and Max one is definitely the best one. You wouldn't even know it was about a dog and a rabbit were you to see it on a shelf in Barnes and ****IN Noble.
Kroms Posted March 18, 2009 Posted March 18, 2009 I love yours, Queztone. Those just scream "Buy me".
dravenova Posted April 27, 2009 Posted April 27, 2009 Hi, I originally posted my covers in this thread, because I used original artwork for them, and not other types of pics. Although these covers resemble book covers in some way, so I thought you guys might be interested. By the way: Great work, these covers are all instant gets
I say, I say Posted May 6, 2009 Posted May 6, 2009 Thought I'd do a few of the games in the Penguin Modern Classics style, which is a little bit different to the Classic style. I may have a go at EMI, Full Throttle and DOTT at some later date.
Gabez Posted May 6, 2009 Author Posted May 6, 2009 Those covers are really amazing... and thanks for resurrecting the thread. @dravenova: your covers are gorgeous as well. Really professional job.
Haggis Posted May 6, 2009 Posted May 6, 2009 Those covers are really amazing... and thanks for resurrecting the thread. Agreed! Those would fit right in at a book store, or on a book shelf, for that matter.
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