Custom Cover Art Thread

[Heartbreaksoup]

This month's Fake Criterions: Dogma (incorporating some lovely fan art by Animagess), I Start Counting, Fargo, Macho Callahan, and The Incredibles (incorporating some terrific art by PartStudioShop)

[Nissen]

The most recent addition to the Planet of the Apes collection, with thanks to my generous client: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.


The rest of the series:


PM me for download links.

[mpls1981]

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[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by mpls1981

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Think I'd try brightening up the poster art for the films, especially for Ride Or Die since the dark areas are blending in with the title.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Think I'd try brightening up the poster art for the films, especially for Ride Or Die since the dark areas are blending in with the title.

I was going to suggest adding a thin white stroke to the letter shapes on the front, so those areas would stand out more against the background.

[Justanothercrow421]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

I was going to suggest adding a thin white stroke to the letter shapes on the front, so those areas would stand out more against the background.

This! 1 or 2 pts would do it.

[Harvey Plissken]

Originally Posted by Justanothercrow421

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)



The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)



The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)



These are meant for the 5-disc Extended Editions of these films (15mm spines). The backs look like the studio ones, but they've actually been re-created from scratch.

I'm curious to know: will there be a custom cover for Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings that matches the Peter Jackson Extended Trilogy?

[mpls1981]

I always knew the pants on the cover would be a problem but didn't want to go with a light cover. Added in a white outline to the text of the first movie see what it looked like with a quick mod.

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[AmishParadise]

Originally Posted by mpls1981

I always knew the pants on the cover would be a problem but didn't want to go with a light cover. Added in a white outline to the text of the first movie see what it looked like with a quick mod.
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I'd add a white outline to the separators as well. And perhaps increase the size of the formats you're calling out at the top. Quick mock-up shown below.



And one more thought if I may. Perhaps adjust the size and position of the image you're using behind the lettering so that their heads are revealed more. There's a lot of open space within the letter "B" and "D" there. I've seen screenshots of that image that go all the way down to their waists so. I'd shoot for the lower right quadrant of the "B" and lower left quadrant of the "D", just above their chins on up.

[mpls1981]

Originally Posted by AmishParadise

I'd add a white outline to the separators as well. And perhaps increase the size of the formats you're calling out at the top. Quick mock-up shown below.

[Show spoiler]

And one more thought if I may. Perhaps adjust the size and position of the image you're using behind the lettering so that their heads are revealed more. There's a lot of open space within the letter "B" and "D" there. I've seen screenshots of that image that go all the way down to their waists so. I'd shoot for the lower right quadrant of the "B" and lower left quadrant of the "D", just above their chins on up.

I like the added lines around the bars as well. Their faces are properly positioned in the final versions - I was just doing a quick mock to see what it looked like with the white outlines and didn't bother positioning the faces properly even though it would have taken like 5 seconds haha. My original post shows where their heads are really at. For the top 4K bar, I use that one on all my 4K releases where I'm not trying to re-create the cover to a specific style/look so it's something I'm fond of.
For me, everything is about consistency across series and studios. I simply hate series that don't retain the same style artwork throughout a release.

[CompleteCount]

Retro VHS Alien covers designed by my wife. The bottom one was made for a client who wanted the Alien series set in chronological order.

Images crushed for the purposes of posting.

ALIEN WORK.jpg

[Justanothercrow421]

Originally Posted by Harvey Plissken

I'm curious to know: will there be a custom cover for Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings that matches the Peter Jackson Extended Trilogy?

How's this?

[AmishParadise]

Originally Posted by Justanothercrow421

How's this?

[Show spoiler]

Have you considered an alternate version that doesn't include the UPC. The review, overview and special features portions could then be increased in size making better use of the space giving a more balanced look to the back portion while also increase the legibility of the text. Here's a quick mock-up.

[Justanothercrow421]

Originally Posted by AmishParadise

Have you considered an alternate version that doesn't include the UPC. The review, overview and special features portions could then be increased in size making better use of the space giving a more balanced look to the back portion while also increase the legibility of the text. Here's a quick mock-up.

Not really. I like including the UPC when I can. I've been using this template for the back covers for my most recent covers and the wording in the back is already pretty legible (in my opinion).

I think part of the reason the back looks like it's got a lot of wasted space is because of the white background.

If anything I'd increase the size of the hype wording in the top left to better fill out that space:



I did have a version of this with the "parchment" background of the Jackson LOTR covers I did (lightened up, etc.) but in the end removed it because it didn't really match the front:

[Show spoiler]

[AmishParadise]

Originally Posted by Justanothercrow421

Not really. I like including the UPC when I can. I've been using this template for the back covers for my most recent covers and the wording in the back is already pretty legible (in my opinion).

I think part of the reason the back looks like it's got a lot of wasted space is because of the white background.

If anything I'd increase the size of the hype wording in the top left to better fill out that space:

[Show spoiler]

I did have a version of this with the "parchment" background of the Jackson LOTR covers I did (lightened up, etc.) but in the end removed it because it didn't really match the front:

[Show spoiler]

The white space in and of itself isn't a problem. A balance just needs to be struck. Increasing the size of the review definitely helps. That was my first thought. Decided instead to suggest an "alternate" version, not a version to replace what you normally do. And yes, I'm sure the overview text is clean when viewing the full size image. That doesn't equate to it being very legible though. It's almost as small as the legal text. Again, just my two cents. Nice job of course. I enjoy your posts. Keep them coming!

[BasedSPACER]

THE WALKING DEAD: SEASON 11

Available at apparition.design

[Nissen]

Regarding the recent points brought up by AmishParadise and Justanothercrow421 regarding text size and legibility on covers, I thought I'd add my thoughts to the discussion.

At 52 I'd like to champion larger text on the back of physcial media packaging. As my eyesight worsens with age, I've found the info on the back of covers increasingly difficult to read. Sometimes the font is ludicrously small, and/or with a colour that is difficult to distinguish from the background. More and more I find myself breaking out my phone to magnify the info on the back.

In package design, legibility is a primary factor, something I try to keep in mind when I design the backs. (You'll find plenty of examples where I've failed, though.) They may sometimes be at odds, but if you can bridge the utility (legibility) and aesthetic (beauty) factors, you have a good package design.

Things to consider are text size, using a legible font (don't get too artsy), and contrast to the background. When designing covers I find myself fooled by the magnifying effect of working up close and detailed in Photoshop. It's only when I actually print a cover I can get an actual impression of how legible the text actually is. Then there's overall clutter, keep the design airy and prioritize the info that is important, set it apart from the other elements on the back. (I sometimes see commercial covers burying the runtime in with the copyright info, which is pure nonsense.)

The legalese is perhaps not important, but useful info such as runtimes, aspect ratios and language options are (in my opinion) supposed to be legible even without a microscope. Commercial covers fail miserably in this regard, and as such constitute a failure of craft on the part of the designer (To be fair, the designer may or may not be at liberty to deviate from the company style guide).

That's about all grandpa Nissen has to say on the subject. Please excuse the ramblings of an old codger :-)

[Heartbreaksoup]

This wasn't a primary concern when I decided to Fake Criterion my entire collection, but I agree completely about the font size (mis)used on studio releases. I'm also 52, with eyesight falling off a cliff, and having the feature's run time on every Blu-ray in nice, big legible 40 pt Gotham is so nice for these poor eyes of mine.

[bifi]

Anyone FAR AND AWAY (Cruise/ Kidman) Cover?

Thanks!

[Justanothercrow421]

Herzog: The Collection

I was commissioned to make a custom cover for Shout! Factory's Herzog collection. Although that set is only 13 discs, the only practical solution we could agree upon was a 14-disc, 45mm DVD-sized case.

I approximated Shout's design on the front and back.

Funny with all the talk about font sized, this custom uses by far the biggest fonts I've used in some time on the back cover haha

The most satisfying thing was recreating the UPC for this one. Couldn't find a clear image of it online and had to make it from scratch. Pretty proud it scans to the correct release on Amazon.