NPA Art Thread -- Author's and Artists Come Hither

[Luke]

Ok, so just because there are a few laggards, doesn't mean we all should have to wait around.
;)

Kidding, of course. Actually, the editing process for the NPA is drawing to a close. What I would like do now is open up the art part of the process.

This is going to be an art minimal piece, but I would still like some nice illustrations in there, plus some cool design elements.

What we need is:
Each author to propose, publicly, two pieces of art for their piece:
1) A title piece, something that defines the game as much as possible.
2) A graphic/design/theme that can be used as a folio/border
3) Any non-illustrative graphics that your piece absolutely must have.

Logo design
I  need an illustrator willing to work with me on a logo design for the NPA. I have some ideas.

Cover Art
Again, I have a concept for the cover that is a variant of the logo, I would love to work with an illustrator on this. I'm not proposing either of these publicly because I don't want this thread to devolve into another "my cool concept for the title is X!" thread. As soon as I get a few volunteers for illustration, I'll post the concepts and links to sketches and stuff.

Ok, let's get this moving. Time is running short.
-Luke

[Lxndr]

My Piece:  Snowball

Quite frankly, I have no idea what sort of graphic/design/title/etc would really define Snowball.  My issues and limitations with art as a physical medium are well-known.  If you don't mind, Luke, I'd like to leave that up to you and/or put the question publicly to the thread.

[Luke]

My Piece:  Snowball

Quite frankly, I have no idea what sort of graphic/design/title/etc would really define Snowball.  My issues and limitations with art as a physical medium are well-known.  If you don't mind, Luke, I'd like to leave that up to you and/or put the question publicly to the thread.

If I come up a little harsh, my apologies, you know I love you:

Lxndr, I am so fucking busy write now my hair is falling out. I just don't have time to design a look for your piece. I hate to say it, but it is time to take some responsibility for your work. Step up to the plate and take a swing. Talk to people, take suggestions, but come back to me with some concepts.

On the whole, the NPA is going to be very clean with lots of white-space. the graphic elements are there to lead the reader's eye along. So you can start there.

-Luke

[Matt Machell]

Okay, I'll give my ideas, since fortunately I came up with such concepts a while ago.

So, for The Agency, the following are what I envisage:

Title piece: Three of the sample characters posed much like a 60s film poster. One looks like a member of the Rolling Stones, one is a well-to-do gent in a union-jack waistcoat and the last is a female photographer in 60s high fashion. They are armed with a weird mixture of monster hunting equipment (crossbows, stakes) and spy-cliche (Walther PPK, spy-watch) weaponry. Behind them a vampiric presence bearing a slight resemblence to a 'Bond villain is appearing out of thin air.

Border: A series of bubbles like those in a lava lamp.

-Matt

PS Luke, if you want any help with a website for Nopress, just ask.

[Ben Lehman]

My primary design / layout goal for Over The Bar is to keep it at one double-sided page.  If this is impossible with art, I would prefer to have no art at all, if that's okay.

That said, here's the "art direction."

Main focus:  Booze, booze, booze!

1) A title piece, something that defines the game as much as possible.

BL>  OtB, such as it is, is a universal system.  This makes it kind of hard to have an image which defines the game as a whole.  Some ideas:

a) In the style of old "universal game" pictures: PC-types from the various "RPG Genres" together: A superhero, a 1920s investigator, a vampire, a few fantasy adventurers, a space-marine, and perhaps a cyperpunk sort all together in a "group shot."  But, in this one, they are all drinking together in what is clearly a bar setting.

Bonus points: Also (or instead of) the traditional types, include archetypes from various indie-games:  A kpfs satanist, a sorcerer, a riddle of steel blood-opera type shirtless guy, an orbit-style space teen, a mlwm minion, a risus stick-figure, etc.

b) A group of young, attractive people sitting around a bar table, clearly playing the game (no dice, just, I don't know, looking interesting.)  Perhaps, again in the style of old RPG art, having thought bubbles depicting their shared imagined space.

c) A XX-marked bottle of cider, possibly with some pencils and paper surrounding it.  Alternatively -- a martini, or similar iconic drink.

2) A graphic/design/theme that can be used as a folio/border

BL>  Beer bottles, wine jugs, or martini glasses.

3) Any non-illustrative graphics that your piece absolutely must have.

BL>  Hah!  I feel that I should have a "Table 1" simply to have it, but I have no idea how.  Perhaps, if you absolutely need to fill space, we could have "Table 1: Average Weight / Alchohol tolerance" and find some table off the surgeon general's website.

Hope this is what your looking for.  If you need me to get more specific or more flexible, let me know.

yrs--
--Ben

P.S.  I'm not as much as a lush as this game makes me seem.  Honest!

P.P.S.  Luke, if there's any help you need, other than public harrassment of the slackers (Mssrs Miller and Holmes!) let me me know.

[Michael S. Miller]

LUKE:

Each author to propose, publicly, two pieces of art for their piece:
1) A title piece, something that defines the game as much as possible.

For Discernment, I'm working up a concept sketch to provide the artist. When is the deadline to get this to the artist?

2) A graphic/design/theme that can be used as a folio/border

You should have the two side borders. If not, let me know and I will recreate them.

3) Any non-illustrative graphics that your piece absolutely must have.

Discernment just needs the logo, the little reality icons and the Soul Quality wheel. You should have those. If not, let me know and I'll recreate them.

BEN: Who's a slacker? I turned around my editor's comments in less than 36 hours! Maybe you have been bendin' the ol' elbow a bit much ... (just kiddin')

[Luke]

For Discernment, I'm working up a concept sketch to provide the artist. When is the deadline to get this to the artist?

Yes Mike, this title piece is really all I need from you. And the sooner the better. Not that illustrators have come banging down this thread yet, but better to have it in hand than be waiting for it.

i know you're having computer trouble, but when can we expect the finished draft of Discernment?

-L

[xiombarg]

Ok, so just because there are a few laggards, doesn't mean we all should have to wait around.

Well, you can't blame me or being a laggard. I tried to turn things around for Pretender ASAP...

What we need is:
Each author to propose, publicly, two pieces of art for their piece:
1) A title piece, something that defines the game as much as possible.
2) A graphic/design/theme that can be used as a folio/border
3) Any non-illustrative graphics that your piece absolutely must have.

For the title piece, I'm thinking something like the following photo:

http://ivanhoeunbound.com/Sept12002.jpg

I'd make the clothing/hair of the people in the scene look a little more punk (partially shaved head, or whatnot). Also, some very, very subtle bit of the supernatural would need to be thrown in there -- perhaps the girl with the boom box could have cat eyes. Regardless, it should certainly look like the scene is at night, with lots of black and white.

The most important thing is the hand-made "I WISH YOU WERE ABORTED" T-shirt. That is exactly the sort of attitude I'm going for with Pretender.

Alternately, punk-style collage art could do the job as well. The collage art would have to show a punk "in your face" attitude with a touch of the supernatural, perhaps incorporating mystic symbolism in with more standard punk images.

As for the border, the whole photocopied-too-many-times collage art thing is the way to go -- perhaps the phrase "when did i become a monster" cut out of different letters bomb-letter style, with all sorts of random, violent stuff thrown in.

As for other art, if there is anything besides the cover art, there absolutely has to be an illustration of Cindy associated with her character sheet. It doesn't have to be exactly like the photo I used so long as it matches the textual description of her.

I'd also love to see a crowd scene next to the "Group Action" section of the rules. Espcially if just one person in the crowd had the same cat eyes as in the title piece, perhaps even the same girl...

In fact, in general, any inspiration you can get from the photos in the HTML rules or places like the Idle Time scrapbook, except with a an occasional hint of the supernatural, is the way to go. The one thing I didn't put in art for the HTML version (as I was just grabbing photos) was the supernatural end of things.

Is that enough art direction? If you have your own ideas, let me know!

[Michael S. Miller]

i know you're having computer trouble, but when can we expect the finished draft of Discernment?

I e-mailed it to quozl early Saturday morning. I'll send it to you as well, just PM me with which e-mail address you prefer (I remember I sent something to the wrong one before, but I don't remember which is wrong and which is right).

[quozl]

i know you're having computer trouble, but when can we expect the finished draft of Discernment?

I e-mailed it to quozl early Saturday morning. I'll send it to you as well, just PM me with which e-mail address you prefer (I remember I sent something to the wrong one before, but I don't remember which is wrong and which is right).

I don't think I received it or if I did, I deleted it along with the other 800 emails I got over the weekend.  Please send it to me again!

[Daniel Solis]

I'm terribly sorry for not having revised WTF yet. I'm two months away from graduation, desperately searching for an entry-level design job and, well, the edits to the original writeup were so numerous that it's kind of intimidating to dive back into the bloody thing to make it serviceable. The only time I see having available to work on it is over Spring Break, but even then I have to write two papers and manage a publicity campaign for the art school's capstone exhibition.

Okay, enough whining. I'll try to get WTF revised by the end of next week. If I can't manage that, I don't see when I'll have any more time to do it. If worse comes to worse, my name should be taken off the submission list. But let's just hope it doesn't come to that.

As for a title graphic, again if I have time, I'll just go ahead and make up a WTF? logo based FLCL, since that series is the game's primary inspiration. It'll probably be bold, geometric letterforms (like this) or breaking down into a halftone pattern like in the Japanese FLCL logo. Aside from that, I don't really have a need for a border graphic or any other illustrations. Well, maybe an electric guitar. :)

[xiombarg]

As for a title graphic, again if I have time, I'll just go ahead and make up a WTF? logo based ...

Hmmm, seeing this post: Luke, did I misinterpret what you mean by "title graphic"?

If all you want is art direction for a logo for Pretender, again, I think the photocopied-too-much collage art look is the way to go, tho with a coherent single font rather than the whole mad bomber letter look.

[Mike Holmes]

What we need is:
Each author to propose, publicly, two pieces of art for their piece:
1) A title piece, something that defines the game as much as possible.

I have this door that I worked up. Should I mail it to you?

2) A graphic/design/theme that can be used as a folio/border

http://darktreasures.com/GraphicSets/20Sets/tFGFSetsarrow1.gif

3) Any non-illustrative graphics that your piece absolutely must have.

Working that out with Rich right now via email.  

Mike

[Daniel Solis]

Hmmm, seeing this post: Luke, did I misinterpret what you mean by "title graphic"?

It's entirely possible that the misunderstanding was mine. :)

[Jeph]

Gah! Should've seen this thread sooner. Revisions of Pagoda are coming along as fast as they can, which is, given the horror that is HIGHSCHOOL, not terribly fast. Sorry about that. :^(

At any rate, for Pagoda, I imagine the cover remaining like it currently is, but more so. The five elemental symbols arranged artfully in a ring around the title. But much less pixelated and a good deal prettier. (heh, not too terribly hard.) For a border piece...

Not a frickin' clue. Huh. I'd say blow the symbols up and smack 'em down as water marks, but that strikes me as stale. I'll ask around, browse Elfwood for inspiration, and get back to you tomorrow.