Box art sucks

Aerozord · 04-03-2013, 01:37 PM

Now before someone mentions it I'm aware of the funtime adventure video. But this isn't about how great the old stuff is, in fact its not even something so objective.

I was looking over the PS3 and Xbox games and realized, they are all the same. "Guy standing in front of bland background." If you are lucky you might get some other characters in the distance, or a background thats more than an abstraction of colors and shapes.

I mean where is the variety people. The whole point of box art is to make your product stand out on store shelves, which is hard to do when they all look the same.

Bells · 04-03-2013, 02:08 PM

on that department, if you google Japanese box art you still get much better (and weirder) stuff...

But its the same as with Movie posters... i mean, when was the last time you saw a good movie poster that wasn`t Blue in one corner, orange in the other and with some action-y coolish poses in the middle?

Aerozord · 04-03-2013, 02:22 PM

depends on how much you generalize "action-y". I mean visually there is a huge difference between a man with a gun and an exploding fighter jet. Atleast the box art for DVDs is still varied alot and you can even get an idea of genre from the box art alone.

phil_ · 04-03-2013, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bells

But its the same as with Movie posters... i mean, when was the last time you saw a good movie poster that wasn`t Blue in one corner, orange in the other and with some action-y coolish poses in the middle?

Life of Pi poster is a dude and a tiger in a life raft on a gray ocean. The Croods is the main cast squeezing into the foreground with a collection of impossible monster animals flying around the landscape behind them (though I think the squirrel monsters in the fore-most foreground are copy-pasted). Wreck It Ralph has one poster that's just Ralph's sprite-art face on a black background and another poster that's the cast hanging out in Sugar Rush. The blue-and-orange thing is getting phased out; even GI Joe 2 is blue-and-gray.

As for the original topic, you're looking over Xbox and PS3 games, Aero. If they're all about a guy doing ACTION, then they're all gonna have an ACTION guy on the cover. My collection of children's games for babies has no such trend.

Bells · 04-03-2013, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phil_

Life of Pi poster is a dude and a tiger in a life raft on a gray ocean. The Croods is the main cast squeezing into the foreground with a collection of impossible monster animals flying around the landscape behind them (though I think the squirrel monsters in the fore-most foreground are copy-pasted). Wreck It Ralph has one poster that's just Ralph's sprite-art face on a black background and another poster that's the cast hanging out in Sugar Rush. The blue-and-orange thing is getting phased out; even GI Joe 2 is blue-and-gray.

As for the original topic, you're looking over Xbox and PS3 games, Aero. If they're all about a guy doing ACTION, then they're all gonna have an ACTION guy on the cover. My collection of children's games for babies has no such trend.

As for life of Pi, i don`t know which poster you saw... but no.

https://www.google.dk/search?q=life+...w=1920&bih=989

Orange/Blue all the way.

As for the others... there is a second trend they fall in. its a formula: Weapon in Hand + Sparks + Flying Debris + cloudy background =

http://www.slashfilm.com/movie-poste...sparks-flying/

Kyanbu The Legend · 04-03-2013, 04:33 PM

This has been going on since the 90s and maybe even longer then that. I'm not surprised, it seems the trend always continues until a new movie comes along and breaks the mold while selling tickets by the millions.

phil_ · 04-03-2013, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bells

As for life of Pi, i don`t know which poster you saw... but no.

https://www.google.dk/search?q=life+...w=1920&bih=989

Orange/Blue all the way.

Blue water and orange tiger isn't really the same thing as Orange/Blue, man.

POS Industries · 04-03-2013, 05:52 PM

Orange tiger, boat, and clouds against blue ocean and sky. Also the title is in blue text with the rest of the text in a darker brown-orange shade.

That is literally "blue and orange: the movie poster" you've posted.

Aerozord · 04-03-2013, 06:04 PM

I dont see how its comparable. Ok so they are similar colors. They are still different objects

POS Industries · 04-03-2013, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerozord

I dont see how its comparable. Ok so they are similar colors. They are still different objects

I don't think you understand the deal with orange and blue contrast and how it's fucking everywhere. It's not about what the objects are, it's the fact that it's become the easymode visual marketing tactic since the colors contrast in a way that makes the image "pop" more without being off-puttingly glaring.

But now this shit is all over the place. My department is just a sea of orange and blue because of it.

04-03-2013, 01:37 PM	#1
Aerozord So we are clear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Former murder capital of the world Posts: 13,824	Box art sucks Now before someone mentions it I'm aware of the funtime adventure video. But this isn't about how great the old stuff is, in fact its not even something so objective. I was looking over the PS3 and Xbox games and realized, they are all the same. "Guy standing in front of bland background." If you are lucky you might get some other characters in the distance, or a background thats more than an abstraction of colors and shapes. I mean where is the variety people. The whole point of box art is to make your product stand out on store shelves, which is hard to do when they all look the same. __________________ "don't hate me for being a heterosexual white guy disparaging slacktivism, hate me for all those murders I've done."

04-03-2013, 02:08 PM	#2
Bells That's so PC of you Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: In a Server-sided Dimension where time is meaningless Posts: 10,490	on that department, if you google Japanese box art you still get much better (and weirder) stuff... But its the same as with Movie posters... i mean, when was the last time you saw a good movie poster that wasn`t Blue in one corner, orange in the other and with some action-y coolish poses in the middle? __________________ *BELLS STORE : Clothes! You wear* them! Free US Shipping Subscription System? WTF?! Zazzle Black!**

04-03-2013, 02:22 PM	#3
Aerozord So we are clear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Former murder capital of the world Posts: 13,824	depends on how much you generalize "action-y". I mean visually there is a huge difference between a man with a gun and an exploding fighter jet. Atleast the box art for DVDs is still varied alot and you can even get an idea of genre from the box art alone. __________________ "don't hate me for being a heterosexual white guy disparaging slacktivism, hate me for all those murders I've done."

04-03-2013, 04:33 PM	#6
Kyanbu The Legend Local Rookie Indie Dev Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: New Jersey Posts: 5,497	This has been going on since the 90s and maybe even longer then that. I'm not surprised, it seems the trend always continues until a new movie comes along and breaks the mold while selling tickets by the millions. Last edited by Kyanbu The Legend; 04-03-2013 at 06:59 PM.

04-03-2013, 05:52 PM	#8
POS Industries Argus Agony Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Gotta go fishing! Posts: 10,483	Orange tiger, boat, and clouds against blue ocean and sky. Also the title is in blue text with the rest of the text in a darker brown-orange shade. That is literally "blue and orange: the movie poster" you've posted. __________________ Either you're dead or my watch has stopped.

04-03-2013, 06:04 PM	#9
Aerozord So we are clear Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Former murder capital of the world Posts: 13,824	I dont see how its comparable. Ok so they are similar colors. They are still different objects __________________ "don't hate me for being a heterosexual white guy disparaging slacktivism, hate me for all those murders I've done."