Box art feedback

Following on from this thread (what gets you interested in a game) I wanted to follow up on the box art comments and ask for a little feedback on what we have come up with so far for our new game, Space Ark.

Gamespot have a video of the game here http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/spaceark/video/6252515 so you can see the sort of game it is. A bright, colourful arcade game inspired by games such as Bubble Bobble, rainbow Island and Arkanoid.

The two box art sample we have so far are:

and...

We have quite deliberately gone for a bright and colourful art, in part because the game is inspired by the weird and colourful Japanese arcade games and also to get away from the realism of Call of Duty and similar titles.

Any feedback on the above would be much appreciated. Love em, hate em, laugh at them, scared of the eyes.... Be interested to know which you think fits best with the game as shown in the video.

Thanks

looks good, but the space ship seems a little out of place compared with the 3d background art style.

i like the 2nd picture more. the first one looks like its incomplete. maybe a mixture of the 2 pictures would work best. looks like a fun game from the video!

edit: oh and the turtle has a blank face, maybe make him smile or something with his eyes to liven it up. thats my feedback. goodluck!

i like the top one, its nice and bright and simple, i would just adjust the zebra in the top right corner to maybe by the rocket or completely off the box;)

Just saw the video and the game looks great! The first one is more appealing because its a lot more simple, but it should still feature an animal since they're a big part of the game. I would suggest using the top box art with the zebra featured in the bottom of that one exactly like it's on the second box art. Just a suggestion. Again the game looks like fun :)

awesome. all the colours of the rainbow.

you are making the right approach by coming online and askinggamers about your project. :)

I like the first one better, the second one has a bit too much going on.

It's nice to see a developer actually consult the people that might be purchasing their product (which looks pretty cool by the way). :)

I like the second one.

looks good, but the space ship seems a little out of place compared with the 3d background art style.

manocanada

Not to mention that a zebra is peeing a rainbow and a turtle is crapping out light too........hillelslovak

LOL errr yea. Let's not tell Microsoft.

i like the 2nd picture more.

oh and the turtle has a blank face, maybe make him smile or something with his eyes to liven it up.goodluck!Talldude80

I agree with this ;)

and good luck.

Honestly,

They're both pretty awful. I mean, the art certainly seems to capture the bright and colorful look of the game but, agh, it's a real assault on the eyes. I'd recommend toning things down a bit. Everything seems to be getting thrown at the viewer with no real focal point or anything that says "This is what makes this game different from the other 8000 out there".

The logo is excessively generic and looks like someone just grabbed a rocket ship clipart, some lame type, added a bevel/emboss and a drop shadow, then called it a day and went to lunch. It just looks really bad and amateurish. If I were you, I'd create a more posterized/emblematic logo without all the cheesy halftone and gradients, give it a more subtly colored background, put a couple of the animal faces in the corner, beckoning the viewer to play, rather than throwing themselves at the screen. Then I'd find a way to incorporate the terraforming aspect of the game into perhaps the logo. Maybe the logo itself is being terraformed somehow? Currently, the box art lacks the character and depth that I'm sure the game itself has. Right now it's a bit too "plastic fantastic" if you catch my drift.

I'm sorry to be the only negative post in a thread filled with high praise, it's just that for someonewith my design background both covers make my head want to explode. And besides, you asked for honest, constructive feedback, so here we are. :)

Mixing the first poster with the second might be best.

I think, having those hexagonal tiles less prominent above the animals would look nice.

Thanks for the feedback - even the negative stuff RattleHead - it's all useful. In fact I am pleased that we have strong negative as well as possitive feedback. For every die hard MW2 fan their is a Halo fan who hates MW2 with a passion. I don't believe you can create something that everyone loves and if you water down your design you will end up with something that offends no one - but which no one actually cares about (not a good thing). Much rather have something that people are passionatly positive about even if it means some are negative.

I do agree with your point that the images are rather OTT - however I do think it is important that the box art reflects the game. The game style is deliberately OTT to get away from the muted colours and moody design of the vast majority of games. We don't want the box art to melt people's brains, but at the same time we don't want to put out a muted/calming image when the game is OTT. Having said that I will certainly pass on your comments to the team.

OK I am at the airport on route to GDC. Gonna be busy but will check in when I can for any further feedback.

Cheers guys

Hmmm. In hindsight booking to fly to GDC with an ultra-budget airline may not have been such a good idea. :(

the second image reminds me of a little of silicon valley box art.

the second image reminds me of a little of silicon valley box art.

manocanada

Damn we could have saved ourselves the work and just used that.... Mirror the image and change a few colours and no one would have spotted it ;)

I prefer the first cover.

Thanks for the feedback folks; much appreciated.

Just got back from a visit to Gamespot to show off the game. Had a great time and met up with Brian Ekberg for the demo. Warmed him up with some single player action before jumping in for a few rounds of head to head multi-player. Errr I let him win to make him feel good, honest.

a graphic designer and avid game player i like the second one. it exemplifies fun and playfull due to the 2 animals. its approachable and down to earth and is eye catching. the colors only make the first one interesting but it looks similiar to a 1980's 2D game like space invaders for example. the 2nd box pic has it all.