Monte on covers

[William Ronald]

I tend to agree with Mark and buzz on the cover issue. I think the faux covers of the core rule books is a good idea in that they do look like ancient tomes, and do not really force a view about how to use the product. I try to judge a book not by its cover, but by its content. If I know an author, or like a product line or company, I tend to look at a book. However, good artwork can interest me as well as good ideas.

I love the cover for the Fall of Man, and I will have to learn more about the product. (Yes, Hal. I failed that will save. ) I also like the look of the Forgotten Realms covers, as they combine good artwork with a good design. I have a feel for the product, but do not think that it predetermines how I will use it.

I do not particularly care for the "spikey armor" look, as I believe it was a good idea that has been overdone. Different cultures in our own world have a variety of styles in arms and armor. I would like to see more of this approach in art, as it is more interesting than just a standard look. (Perhaps a good use of such a technique is to have a "look" associated with a specific culture or group in a book.)

It is important to attract more people to our hobby, but that is a topic for another thread.

 

[JEL]

You thought the cover of Malhavoc's Arcana Unearthed looked like GURPS Basic? I don't see any resemblance.

Edit: Enh. Maybe...

The older cover to GURPS showed various characters floating around in bubbles.

 

[William Ronald]

I have to say that I enjoyed seeing the covers that Monte Cook posted in his article. They did bring back a lot of good memories.

To me, artwork in a gaming book should evoke something from the text -- much like a good soundtrack can add to the experience of seeing a good movie. The covers from the article did capture the feel of the products that they were associated with, and may have helped sales. Perhaps the best advice I would give anyone about covers is that they can help sales. However, the cover and artwork should be in the service of the product and slavish imitation is not necessarily a good idea.

 

[Painfully]

If I find any fault with the new covers to products or magazines, it's that they don't inspire or evoke feelings of mystery, awe, or excitement. Dragon Magazine in the 3e era is a great example of uninspiring art. Maybe Paizo is trying to save a few bucks. Who knows?

I'd love to put any large print from Dragonlance, or some of the classic Dragon Magazine covers up on my walls. But, show me any 3E Dragon Magazine cover on a wall, and I'd probably just ignore it. It's not even worth a giggle. Well, maybe one chuckle, or a sigh, but not both. :\

 

[DMScott]

Borrowed from MEG's site...I guess it isn't so much Shadowrun..altho Asphalt Samurai is pretty close to Street Samurai *grin*

From the cover illustration provided, I immediately thought "d20 Rifts".

So far as the thread topic goes, I think the cover is most important for impulse buyers. If I've got some money burning a hole in my pocket and there are no products on my must-buy list, the book/adventure/whatever I pick up will be influenced by the cover (as well as subject matter and author). But if it's a pre-planned purchase, the cover has no impact on my decision.

For me personally, tome-style covers are unlikely to prompt an impulse buy, I like to see artwork. I'd really prefer it if only the core books had tome-style covers, I tend to associate products from other companies with those types of covers as attempts to confuse consumers. For those who absolutely must go that route, I'd recommend a d20 Modern approach - those books use a combination of tome-style and artwork, and it works well. I don't understand why more monster books (which seem to be the worst offenders) don't go that route.

 

[buzz]

Maybe Paizo is trying to save a few bucks. Who knows?

Paizo's art has been pretty lavish and of generally high quality, IMHO. I doubt they're skimping, even if a lot of people here don't seem to like the art the choose. I actually think that the last few issues of Gungeon have been phenomenal, and I'd love to see rulesbooks from WotC that looked like them.

 

[buzz]

there was a previous cover for the GURPS Basic Set back in the early 90s that had "people floating in bubbles on a black background" somewhat similar to the AU cover.

<Cmdr. Data>
Accessing...
</Cmdr. Data>

Ah! I remember now.

 

[Psion]

Paizo's art has been pretty lavish and of generally high quality, IMHO. I doubt they're skimping, even if a lot of people here don't seem to like the art the choose.

I don't think it's the art itself I object to... it's the cover design.

The "unblemished" cover art that they (thankfully) include inside generally looks pretty good.

But the cover typically zooms in on one figure from the art, and then splatters it with tabloid style and somewhat pompously exagarrated summaries of what's inside. I guess whoever does the cover design went to a school that primarily taught how to design covers for tabloids and glamour magazines in supermarkets. Whatever the reason, I wish they would chill out.

 

[Ottergame]

For those who don't recall the GURPS cover in question...

And UA..

They are similar.

 

[Nifelhein]

The advertisement: Pont buy all your favorite D&D characters!

I failed to actually think of that until this was mentioned, interesting thing is that compared to the core rules AU seem to have more free form things... GURPS is my best choice for modern games, D&D is great on fantasy and epic style.