NPA Cover first draft

[Andrew Morris]

It, in fact, does not.

Ah, I see. I must have been thinking of this, which probably says quite a bit about the type of person I am. On further research, though, I did find many more examples of a backslash as opposed to a slash in the symbol. Heck, even the Ghostbusters logo is shown reversed in some posters. I stand corrected.

[Kirk Mitchell]

I like it. Only comment I can say to the negative is to make the slash the same shade as the gear. It doesn't stand out enough to tell what it is.

[John Harper]

I tend to think visually, so rather than simply give feedback on the covers presented so far, I thought I would be bold and offer my own ideas.

I've been very inspired by the look of Luke's Burning Wheel books as well as Paul Czege's thoughts on rpg books as art objects. So, here are two takes on the No Press book style that are very different from Luke's.

I certainly don't think that these designs are better than Luke's. I just had some ideas after reading the back cover copy and felt compelled to share them.

http://www.shootingiron.com/feng/covers/nopress_spread_1.jpg
http://www.shootingiron.com/feng/covers/nopress_spread_2.jpg

[Bob McNamee]

John,
 Your  http://www.shootingiron.com/feng/covers/nopress_spread_2.jpg cover design is very nice to look at!

Easy on the eyes!

Nice that you kept the green going,  and gear motif etc. too!

Maybe Luke can combine some of the best liked features of the  proposed back cover, and your second design idea.(Altthough I like your's justt the way it is)

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Heh. John's design with the public domain clip art is the way I would have gone, personally, for the graphics. I wasn't going to comment much on the graphic insofar as using something else since Luke has and apparently likes the press idea.

[xiombarg]

Oh. My. God.

No offense to Luke, but I love John's examples. I really, really like the first one, with the public domain woodcut art. But the second one is a much cleaner version of what I think Luke was going for, and I like it, much as I liked the Burning Wheel covers. I also wouldn't mind John's second font cover combined with Luke's back cover...

Again, gut reaction here, I am certainly no expert.

[Jeph]

I also really like that cleancut, simple look of John's second example. Although the "you get lots of games" blurb should be more emphasized.

--Jeff

[Luke]

Nice one, John.

Personally, as a designer, I was trying to do something different from my standard ultra simple look and feel.

Honestly,  I feel like the NPA should have a punk rock, grab you by the collar feel to it.

however, the masses have spoken and voted you official cover designer.

I will need press ready pdfs of the cover. Any of that public domain artwork has to be incorporated as 600-1200 dpi bitmaps. Nothing less is going to work. It will pixelate and look like amateur shit, and I will NOT allow that in anything I put my name to.

If you can't generate this resolution art from what you have, then go with the simpler design.

let me know if you need any of the files from me, I can collect and zip them your way.

One direction that I absolutely will NOT condone (nor print) is the "slices of images on the front cover". The look is simply OVER USED and it doesn't it cut it for the NPA.

And from underneath my editing hat: I'll need that hi-res cover yesterday. Preferrably as a quark 4.11 or indesign file including fonts and images.

-L

[John Harper]

Well... okay. I'd be glad to make print-ready files. I honestly didn't expect my comps to be chosen as actual covers, but who am I to argue now?

If you have an InDesign file set-up to the correct size/bleeds, I'd love to have it. Should I pick a Pantone color for the green, or a CMYK equivalent?

I'm not sure if the masses have spoken clearly on a cover choice. Everyone seems to like the second one (with the gears) so maybe that's the way to go. I have another look that is more "punk-ish" though, which may be more like what you want, Luke. I'll post a comp shortly.

[LordSmerf]

In the hopes that these comments are useful...

I do like the idea of a simple front cover.  However, i do agree with Luke that it needs to grab some attention.  The color scheme will help, but i would suggest something more along the lines of the John's second design since the bold lines seem to grab more attention than the more intricate woodcut graphic.

On the other hand, i really love the way Luke's second cover design gave each game it's own individualized font.  It gave each game a sense of personality instead of just giving a set of labels.

I do like the idea of a graphic for each game, but the pictures that Luke used don't really mean anything to me.  I can't really figure out what they are or what they represent.  Unless graphics can be found for each game that provide that same sense of personality that the individualized fonts provide i would nix them.

Specifically regarding the fonts: the "p" and the "n" in "pretender" were difficult for me to read, that may be simply because it was a rough graphic.  I do really like the font though.  The font used for "WTF?" also seemed hard to read... but again, i like the general feel it provides.

I like the fact that Luke's logo fits well on the spine.  I also like the fact that he has a purely graphic logo, which is good if there is ever an NPA 2 or 3...  If a logo can incorporate the current volume number as well, all the better.  If nothing else, i would suggest putting the volume number on the spine oriented towards the bottom of the book (if you've ever browsed through the Manga section of a bookstore you know what i'm getting at).  If i get NPA 1, and then later get 2 i want to see a sequential set of numbers on my bookshelf.

Something to consider in relation to future editions.  Should all NPAs have similar cover designs?  If so the volume number should figure rather prominently on the front and back (my recomendation would be either in the gear or filling the space below "Press" and to the left of "RPG" and "Anthology" on John's second cover).  If all future NPAs use the same color for the cover this is doubly true.

Thomas

[Luke]

Ok, time to rein the horses in.

While I appreciate the suggestions, this thread is spiraling well beyond its useful intent.

The interior of the NPA is done. Laid out, designed, finished, locked, finito.

Each game has two illustrations -- no matter the length -- and it's own title font. The Agency actually has two different title fonts, because it was so fun and easy to design (and it needed it). The title fonts for the games are the same as those used on the back cover.

The body copy is ITC Legacy Serif. All subsubheads are done in this font as well. The page numbers are done in the Poorhouse font that I used on the cover. Which is why I wanted to use that font for the main logo.

Consistency. The main danger of having John design the cover is that it going to look completely different than the interior. No visual connection at all. That's par for the course in RPGs, but not something I strive for.


Also, I have a bit of a cover philosophy which I intend to enforce here. A razzle-dazzle front cover is nice, but it's only half the battle. If a cover is tres kewl, but isn't consistent with the material presented within, then you have set up the reader for disappointment.

If you have an interesting cover that makes someone take a second look --without creating undue expectations-- then you've nearly won the battle.

My cover design is a deliberate two step process. Interesting enough to get the "huh" factor and get picked up. Then we hit 'em with the cool bits on the back cover, we draw them another step in with additional information (and cool graphics).  It's at that point, fully prepared for what's inside]/i] that our audience begins to flip and has their collective suspicion confirmed -- this is a cool thing.

If you need an example of my logic at work, see the Burning Wheel covers. They prepare the reader for what is to be presented inside without overstating the case.

So enough nitpicking. Enough, enough, enough. Comments like that really aren't helpful.

John, I expect your next draft to be up shortly. I'll need an email address to send you the .zip of the cover.

-L

[Mike Holmes]

Sorry it took so long to get to this thread. I liked Luke's efforts, but I think I too would vote slightly in favor of John's designs. If he could just bend it slightly to the "punkiness" that Luke had tried to embody, I think we'd really have something.

I think that the idea for the titles of each game being in their respective fonts should be maintained. Each font says a little something about the game in question and gives them assembled a very mixed-bag feel.

Mike

[John Harper]

Here's my stab at the punk-rock style.

http://www.shootingiron.com/feng/covers/nopress_spread_3.jpg

This cover certainly has more of a face-punching look than the other ones I did. :)

[Andrew Morris]

Here's my stab at the punk-rock style.

If it were on a bookshelf and I saw it, I'd find an excuse to buy it, because it's cool. That's just how my mind works. The first few covers (from Luke and John both) might have made me a bit interested in what it was, and I'd check them out to see what they were. But with this latest cover, I'm sold before I even flip through it or see what the games are.

[Jürgen Mayer]

I really like John's first design with the woodcut artwork. I really really like it. Can I have it? Man, I like it.

The new "punk" version is also nice. Only thing I'd change is the Burning Wheel line at the bottom, I wouldn't do that one in italics, it just doesn't look right for me.

Also, I totally dig the "With an introduction by some guy" line. I'd leave it at that, even if [insert famous game designer] writes the intro.

Did I mention that I'm all for the woodcut design? (But I understand Luke objections to that one. But damn. It looks so good.)