Following on from my last post, I thought it would be best to set up an experiment for the tomorrow day, so I come into college prepared and focused. I'm going to set my self a challenge, to create a simple but effective game package front cover with a short brief, a few type faces to create my own and a set of reference photos to draw from.
I'm doing this to get my drawing skills up to speed again and to see if I can tell a successful simple message, just from the front cover.
However, before that I thought it would be a good to take a look at a hand full of images that aren't beyond the bounds of the technology that I have (Photoshop & Illustrator) and see what knowledge I can gain from them.
Red Dead Redemption by Rockstar Games
It's as clear as crystal that this is a western game. Everything about art work form the horses in the right hand corner to the style of cloths the main protagonist is wearing, all point towards this theme. The font has a distinct western look to it with a rough eroded look although I am surprised that the font hasn't got sans serifs to it like you see on a old wanted poster. The stars and stripes pattern makes this clear that this is tale that takes place in the American west. You also get that this a story of redemption because of obvious reasons.
It's something that I over look when I buy a game but it's interesting when you stop and take a look at a games package and realise how much of a story you can read from just a front cover.
Alan Wake by Remedy
This is a perfect example of how this game show it's atmospheric mood and setting on the cover. Alan Wake is a scary edge of your seat type of game which is set within a rural lake side town. The art work shows this off quite well in a simple yet very effective approach. The dark colour pallet shows this is dark game the, the forest and the type of mist you would see settle on a lake spells out the setting and finally the torch in the characters hand show an important role in the game which is to "fight with light"
Grand Theft Auto V by Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto game front covers have always been fun, vibrant and great for showing what type thing you can expect when you play it. This most recent entry is themed around money which is why the "V" is in the style of a dollar theme. As for the rest of the package, there are nods to all the many different types of activities you will get up to, the characters you will meet and weapons you will shoot.
Thinking back to some of the older versions of this game, I can remember how they are also themed around the era that the game was set. GTA Vice city was set within the 80's and the box art reflected that vibe with a neon type face and even more bold an bright colours and characters with a distinct 80's flavour fashion to them.
Sleeping Dogs by United Front Games
Finally, my last image is from a game about a undercover detective, infiltrating a triad underworld. Yet again the designers make it clear that this is game with a Asian influence. You get that immediately from the character ethnic straight away but, you also get it from the Chinese art work, martial arts and the city which reminds me of Hong Kong back drop.
A great bit of research and one that has given me a better understanding of what type of things I would need to include within this experiment. My next step is to write a short brief in my sketch book, make a list of things to include that I have learnt from theses images and from that gather a few drawing references to help me along.
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