100 Bullets Artwork

I decided to upload this picture as it acts as artistic inspiration for one of my covers. I found this artwork in Volume 2 of 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. Due to the fact that I am designing a game cover, a fictitious game must exist for said cover. With that in mind, Scorned is the name of the fictitious game I have made, and one of the themes is anger/rage/fury. The archetypal colour to represent rage is Red, present in the cover, yet the reason i chose to keep most of the cover (Scorned: Fury Edition) white is mostly due to the term "Blinding Fury", white making for a more visually noticeable difference. It is also due to being inspired by eastern animation, which sometimes uses white eyes as a technical code to show that a character is being fueled by rage/blinded by anger. (See Above, Asura of the Capcom game Asura's Wrath becomes white-eyed when angry)

Alice: Madness Returns Cover Analysis

Spine

·Stylised spine

            -Pros: Flows with the rest of the cover art, makes the cover appear uniform, yet still remains easy to read

·Section at the top shows what console the game in question is compatible with

·Age rating visible, showing the minimum suitable age for players

            -BBFC shows this is the British version of the game

·PAL listing shows this is only compatible with PAL consoles

·Publisher Logo (EA) Present

            -Logo has also been stylised to fit with the artwork

                        >Pros: Flows with the rest of the cover art, making the cover appear uniform

                        >Cons: Makes the logo itself less recognisable compared to other variants of the logo

Protagonist (Alice)

·Due to the more complex backdrop, observer attention sometimes drawn away from her

·Blue Dress implies formal dress, yet the contrast lies in the buckled boots, which look similar to work boots

·Bloodied knife and blood on the dress show Alice is willing to fight and get her hands dirty, should the need arise

·Hair free and flowing, combined with lack of styling implies appearances are not the top of Alice’s concerns (supported by blood-stained dress)

·Cryptic symbols on dress and necklace, implying an enigma/mystery surrounding Alice’s character

·Staring directly at the observer, with eyes focused, perhaps trying to intimidate the observer

·Appearance not overtly sexualised, however character remains disproportionate, e.g. incredibly thin waist

·Weapon in hand appears to be an incredibly intricately patterned kitchen knife, implying she didn’t just pick this up from the kitchen; perhaps was gifted to her

Cover: Front

·Intricate backdrop shows grossly distorted castle ruins, as well as a maze, and what appears to be a Cat’s face in the sky

            -As evidenced by the blurb, this is Wonderland, of C. S. Lewis fame; The Cat is likely The Cheshire Cat

·Floating playing cards imply magic, and the involvement of the Queen of Hearts

·The shape framing Alice and the environment behind her appears to be a giant keyhole, implying that Alice and the environment are within something larger.

            -The keyhole, like Alice’s Dress and blade, and the floor, is bloodstained, perhaps alluding to the game being very violent

·Alice is standing on top of a darkened, black and white chequered tile floor, perhaps implying the darkness of the game

·The title appears to be stylised to look like sharpened steel, and a bloodstained knife fills the place of an “I” further alluding to the violence of the game.

            -Subtitle “Madness Returns” implies this is a sequel.

·The cover also makes note that it is “An American McGee game” American McGee being a designer proud of, and/or renowned enough for his name to be on the cover having enough weight

·Age rating visible, showing the minimum suitable age for players

            -BBFC shows this is the British version of the game

·PAL listing shows this is only compatible with PAL consoles

·Publisher Logo (EA) Present

            -Logo has also been stylised to fit with the artwork

·Console strip at the top of the cover showing the console this game is compatible with.

            Newer game than Bayonetta (Bayonetta released in 2010, Alice in 2011) and as such style of the strip has been changed

Cover: Back

·Alice appears again on the back of the cover, as well as in one of the In-Game screenshots

            -Alice appears to be wearing a different dress to the one she wears on the cover, implying inclusion of appearance changes and/or customisation options

·Screenshots captioned with information about what the player will encounter in the game

·Tagline “We’re All Mad Here”, while a direct reference to the story the game is based on, implies the game has a strong theme of psychosis and mental illness, perhaps Alice herself is mad?

· Blurb talks about the plot of the game, explaining what players should know about the story
            -Blurb is very short and concise, perhaps meaning players do not need to know a great deal beforehand to understand the story

· Age rating visible, showing the minimum suitable age for players

            -BBFC shows this is the British version of the game

            -Also explains why the game is given the rating

·Publisher Logo (EA) Present

            -Logo has also been stylised to fit with the artwork

·Developer Logo (Spicy Horse) present

            -Spicy Horse relatively small company compared to Platinum Games (Bayonetta)

            -Called a studio “leading the way in episodic games”

                        >Alice is not an episodic game, implying perhaps this is not Spicy Horse’s forte

·Features of the game listed, e.g. 1 player, HD capable, Downloadable content etc

            -Mentions being able to download the original game “American McGee’s Alice” formerly exclusive to the PC.

Bayonetta Cover Analysis

Spine

·Non-Stylised

-Pros: Easy to read for organizational purposes
-Cons: bland, makes a sudden gap in the cover art; does not flow

·Section at the top shows what console the game in question is compatible with

·Age rating visible, showing the minimum suitable age for players

            -BBFC shows this is the British version of the game

·PAL listing shows this is only compatible with PAL consoles

Protagonist (Bayonetta)

·Stands out against the backdrop
·Guns in hand show Bayonetta is a fighter, and the pose suggests she is ready to/about to get into a fight

·Guns attached to heels show she is insane and/or superhumanly skilled. (Also implied by the high heels and incredibly long hair; fighting with them in reality would be incredibly difficult) Guns also very unusual, perhaps custom made implying she altered them herself?

·Wearing what appears to be a skin-tight leather catsuit and high heels. Incredibly sexualised appearance perhaps says something about the character and/or the target demographic, further implied by the exaggeration of her features, e.g. the incredibly long slender legs, and disproportionately sized backside

·Glasses imply intelligence (semi-supported by the blurb mentioning she is a witch?) However could be use of the “Hot Librarian” Trope.

·Femininity implied by long, styled hair, pink guns, slender face, high heels, etc

·Appears to be winking on the back cover, implying she is flirtatious.

Cover: Front

·Backdrop is night sky with a large moon, perhaps hinting that the game has a dark, almost gothic feel (somewhat supported by the character being dressed in full black)

·Console strip at the top of the cover showing the console this game is compatible with, also that the game has online capability (Xbox Live)
·Title Art. Black and red, combined with the lettering holds evil/ demonic connotations (blurb mentions witchcraft, perhaps links there)

·Circular pattern behind title looks reminiscent of a witchcraft symbol/sigil/seal?

·Age rating visible, showing the minimum suitable age for players

            -BBFC shows this is the British version of the game

·PAL listing shows this is only compatible with PAL consoles
·Lists the publisher (SEGA)

Cover: Back

·Bayonetta appears again in another pose, and in the in-game screenshots

·In-game screenshots all show what the game looks like while playing

            -All have been captioned with information relating to the in-game features

·Tagline “Being Bad never felt so Good” implies that Bayonetta is an evil character, or perhaps is implying she is a flirtatious character

·Blurb just below talks about the plot of the game, explaining what players should know about the story

·Two quotes from review sites showing the game has critical acclaim, assuring the quality of the game

·Age rating visible, showing the minimum suitable age for players

            -BBFC shows this is the British version of the game

            -Also explains why the game is given the rating

·Lists the publisher (SEGA)

·Lists the Developer, Platinum Games

            Well known for fast-paced action games

·Features of the game listed, e.g. 1 player, HD capable, leaderboards, etc.

Devil May Cry 4: Steelbook cover

Though I will not be annotating this, I want to draw attention to this cover as i hope to make an alternate cover for a limited edition. The one main thing I will note about the cover is that the use of colour is very muted compared to the original cover, and that there aside from technical information and address of the publisher, there is no text on the back. This is because the Steelbook cover is reserved for the Limited edition of the game, and as such the cover is made more for artistic appeal than for practical and/or commercial appeal. NOTE: The size differences between the two are due to the differing boxes relating to the console, and not design choice.

TOP: Devil May Cry 4 Steelbook cover, PS3
BOTTOM: Devil May Cry 4 Standard Cover, Xbox 360

Devil May Cry is owned by CAPCOM Entertainment

Scrrenshots of analytical Essay