Custom Cover Art Thread

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by bpmford

Okay all...

I am thinking of doing a collection set of custom covers for Criterion. This studio's covers are plaigued by cheap cardboard cases and odd styled clear cases.

Many collectors of Criterion movies would love to see sets done for these, So I hae decided to do so, in both 15 an 25mm 6-disc cases...

The problem however, is that as you can see on this page HERE, there are (in the US) 30 currently released Criterion moves, with another 12 slated for release the first part of this year.

Now, not everyone owns or wants to own all the Criterion movies, and there is no real order to them like there is with the Bonds! So, I ask all you trusty Criterion fans to help me:

These sets will have to feature a random group of 6 movies from Criterion's list linked above, released or announced. I can though, put them in groups of the most popular first. This will make it so the first and even second set will contain movies that most will own, then from there, the other sets will contain the less desired titles...

I am however not a great source of knowledge for Criterion movies, so I ask you all to help me by listing what you think should be in at least the first two sets.

So, from the linke page of 42 films, please pick the top 12 movies, with the top six that would go in the first set. For those keen, you could also list films for the other sets as well.

I don't want to have to make more than one version of this set, so whatever the majority thinks will be the final set contents.

In total, with the 42 currently released and announced titles, there would be exactly 7 sets, so that will be the final result; with of course more to come in the future.

Thank you everyone for your help!

bpm

Just a suggestion: I would do the Original ones that were released in that digipack first.

I believe they were: El Norte, Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express, The Last Emperor, The Man Who Fell to Earth, The 400 Blows, The Last Metro, Wages of Fear, Last Year at Marienbad, In the Ream of Senses, The Third Man and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Is that all?

[BlUafficianado]

The real dilemma with this project is grouping films together that seem they should be on different shelves. If Criterion fans don't mind having completely unrelated films in the same case then this project will be more manageable for BPM...

[bpmford]

I think they tend to group the criterions together any way with their unique case style...

Maybe it would be easy to design a cover that could easily have any movie in it so the could be customized to each person?

Plus, someone on the Criterion thread said that each comes with a thick booklet, which of course no case could handle 6 of them.

Hmmm.....

Originally Posted by BlUafficianado

The real dilemma with this project is grouping films together that seem they should be on different shelves. If Criterion fans don't mind having completely unrelated films in the same case then this project will be more manageable for BPM...

[BlUafficianado]

^ oh yeah I forgot about the booklets too.

I don't actually own anything from the CC, although I would love to add 8 1/2 to my collection after watching it this morning.


Hmmmm, yea I think a universal cover would be convenient for people. Maybe you should just do some of your great custom covers with a CC touch, like that silver box they have on the site of their covers and cases. That's obviously a lot more work, but maybe just do some customs for the most desires ones? I don't know....quite the quandary.

[battlechaser24]

these are done in my eyes:

blade trilogy:


cube trilogy:


dawn of the dead: the dead collection



texas chainsaw massacre: a collection:

[Fergubond]

Completely reworked my Chungking Express Cover and I need help deciding which version to finish. They are all the same except for the picture in the bottom left corner.

What do you guys think?
Version 1:


Version 2:


Version 3:

[BlUafficianado]

^ those look excellent, very impressive work Fergubond. I like how you managed to make a custom cover that still has the essence of the criterion collection look. Coool!

Also having 1994 on the spine is a good call. I wish all my BDs had some form of date on the spine.

[Fergubond]

Thanks BLUafficianado. I'm slowly trying to get all the Blus organized by year instead of alphabetically, by making all my spines uniform.

[ukm_13]

I have some trilogy covers from here and I'm wondering what dimensions should the covers be if I'm using a 3 disc blu-ray case and a 6 disc blu-ray case. Thanks for the help

[swarez]

Originally Posted by bpmford

Thanks BLUa,

I know this one is a pickle, I am getting the same type of difficulty over at the Criterion Thread!

You also have to factor in the fact that all Criterion discs are numbered in the order they are released. That's what makes the collectors group them together.

[WallywestIII]

Long time no see everyone. Have a few things to update. I have found the look I want for my collection, but now I am having a conundrum. The way that I display my blu's is a little wierd, I separate all my comic book films, certain directors that have inspired me and my family films, I was wondering if I should color coordinate or give a specific feel to the way I list them, while still keeping the template the same. Also I don't like the backs to the Dark Knight and the Incredible Hulk. I've seen some backs from customs I have liked but don't feel comfortable canabilizing them. Granted this is for my own personal perusal, I don't design for anyone else, frankly because I don't have the skill that a lot of the fellow artists on this board do and what I want is fairly simple, I crave original poster art or artwork that looks a lot better than what the companies have offered us and a uniformed look and I believe I have accomplished that. Now if anyone can help with the back for the Dark Knight and the Incredible Hulk that would greatly appreciated. Any other suggestion or criticism would also be greatly appreciated.





















Just want to say thanks again and hope you all enjoy.

[Irrob]

Originally Posted by WallywestIII

Long time no see everyone. Have a few things to update. I have found the look I want for my collection, but now I am having a conundrum. The way that I display my blu's is a little wierd, I separate all my comic book films, certain directors that have inspired me and my family films, I was wondering if I should color coordinate or give a specific feel to the way I list them, while still keeping the template the same. Also I don't like the backs to the Dark Knight and the Incredible Hulk. I've seen some backs from customs I have liked but don't feel comfortable canabilizing them. Granted this is for my own personal perusal, I don't design for anyone else, frankly because I don't have the skill that a lot of the fellow artists on this board do and what I want is fairly simple, I crave original poster art or artwork that looks a lot better than what the companies have offered us and a uniformed look and I believe I have accomplished that. Now if anyone can help with the back for the Dark Knight and the Incredible Hulk that would greatly appreciated. Any other suggestion or criticism would also be greatly appreciated.


Just want to say thanks again and hope you all enjoy.

The only suggestion I have is check the aspect ratio on all your front artwork. The images are off, evidenced by the fat, flat look of the characters. Otherwise, good job.

[WallywestIII]

The only suggestion I have is check the aspect ratio on all your front artwork. The images are off, evidenced by the fat, flat look of the characters. Otherwise, good job.

Not really following you on the aspect ratio thing. To fit them in the box I transform and resize them so everything should be to scale. Im basing everything off of the Superman poster with the black trim for the desired look.

If anyone has a better idea that will allow for the artwork not to look distorted as Irrob points out then Im all for suggestions.

[stoplis]

Originally Posted by WallywestIII

Not really following you on the aspect ratio thing. To fit them in the box I transform and resize them so everything should be to scale. Im basing everything off of the Superman poster with the black trim for the desired look.

If anyone has a better idea that will allow for the artwork not to look distorted as Irrob points out then Im all for suggestions.

If you look at '40 year old virgin' it seems to wide, all I can suggest is that you stretch the image till is looks right and then trim a small amount off the top and the bottom, see how that looks.
Overall through I really like the look, would look brilliant with loads on the shelves.

[bpmford]

Unfortunately, that hinders the set as naturally numbers don't get released in order.

Originally Posted by swarez

You also have to factor in the fact that all Criterion discs are numbered in the order they are released. That's what makes the collectors group them together.

[bpmford]

If you are using Photoshop...

when you place an image on the cover, before you finish the placement by hitting enter, you drag the corners to transform it's size to what you want. If you use the frame for the Superman, you will run into problems as inevitably, many mosters are different sizes. So, when you drag the corners, you need to hold down the shift key. This keeps the aspect ratio proper. Now when it is the desired height or with, you may have excess image that doesn't fit your box. From there you just rasterize the image and use the rectangular marquee tool and cut off the excess from each side (or top and bottom, which ever is needed).

Hope that helps.

bpm

Originally Posted by WallywestIII

Not really following you on the aspect ratio thing. To fit them in the box I transform and resize them so everything should be to scale. Im basing everything off of the Superman poster with the black trim for the desired look.

If anyone has a better idea that will allow for the artwork not to look distorted as Irrob points out then Im all for suggestions.

[jamclaur]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

It's actually super easy. Just go to your text layer in the browser (on the right, usually) and right click on that, then go to "blending options."

There you get a whole array of options--if you want to change the color, you can do "color overlay" and then pick a lighter one. Or if you want to put a border around it of a different color, you can click on 'stroke' and change the color and width of that line. I think you could leave the text black and do a white stroke around the edge, or lighten it and do a drop shadow (also in the "blending options" menu).

Awesome. Thanks.

[NoQuestion]

Bpm,

I think the best idea would be just a generic case (maybe even labeled as vol 1, 2 etc) that way each user of the covers can put whatever movies they want in to each. That way there is no need to decided the best way to group them. You could even make each vol a different color but keep the design the same on the spine? Just my thoughts. I know that anything you come up with will work great and I look forward to seeing your final product

[bpmford]

Hey all, here is my take on Avatar; wanted to do something different from the typical ones!

Enjoy!

AVATAR

Same rules apply as other covers!

...

[NoQuestion]

^^^

very nice Avatar cover. It will be interesting to see what FOX decides to use. May hit you up for this one once final boxart from FOX is released