Core books cover art

[Desdichado]

I really wish WAR would put the images up on his website too, actually. I'm always on the lookout for a good picture of Orcus.

I wonder why he doesn't have his last Dungeon Magazine cover with Demogorgon up, BTW.

 

[mara]

I prefer the green dragon image to the PHB cover image.

 

[psionotic]

While I like the proposed PHB cover as a piece of fantasy art, I think its a terrible choice for the cover, especially if one of the goals of this edition is increased mass market distribution in your Walmarts and Targets and so forth.

The 'whole party fighting the green dragon' piece would be perfect for the PHB. It sums up the game perfectly: "you and your friends battle ancient evil."

 

[Mortellan]

I normally like WAR's art, but on these covers I'm not wow'ed like I was with his Dungeon magazine covers. It might not be his fault though, I think it's the craptastic color bars that starkly standout in front of the art. Paizo covers always incorporated the logos, text and art properly. Terrible design.

 

[WayneLigon]

Does anyone have a link back to the art, especially anything that isn't thumbnail-sized? From what I remember of it, I like it. And it certainly says 'D&D' to me.

 

[Lord Xtheth]

I just wish that WotC has asked me who they should get to do the covers.

Foglio FTW!

 

[Irda Ranger]

The Brazilian distributor for D&D suggested that the cover for the PHB was changing, but I haven't seen any other sources for that bit of news. Of course, I haven't seen WotC deny it either. I hope it's correct. The art is better than the faux-tome, but the PHB cover really is pretty craptastic. I'm a fan of DMG and MM covers though. A poll here at EN World awhile ago suggested that this was the general consensus as well, not just anecdotal.

Of the 4e concept art I've seen, I think the Green Dragon picture makes for the best PHB cover. I think either this or this would also be an improvement.

My current plan is to print the Green Dragon picture onto a tacky sheet, like I used for high school text books, and re-cover the PHB.

 

[darkseraphim]

The style does not appeal to me, but I am enthusiastically in favor of moving away from the "clasped and jeweled tome" look of 3E. I feel that kind of art does absolutely nothing to convey the spirit of the game.

I prefer scenes to portraits or illustrations, but as long as the books show appropriate art, I'm all for it. (Appropriate in my opinion - big monster, preferably a dragon, on the monster book; wizard or controlling overseer exhibiting vast power on the DMG; mix of varied characters exploring the unknown and invoking a sense of wonder on the PHB.)

I think the text should be less "logo-ish" with the artwork more predominant, as well. The art should leap off the book to interest new potential players. The effect should be more "Wow!" and less "This looks like a series, is this the first one? It's not numbered either."

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

I prefer the green dragon image to the PHB cover image.

Same here. I like WAR, but I don't like the image they've teased for the PHB.

 

[Desdichado]

I wonder if we're seeing the first glimpses of some of the new iconics, by the way. For some reason I'm always interested in and curious about iconics.