D&D 1E Multiple D&D Next visual themes: BECMI Red Box, 1e Orange Spine, etc.

[Dungeonosophy]

The core D&D Next rulebooks are published in multiple visual styles. Each features the logo, graphic design, illustration style, and font of a different era:

• The Next Theme: The new mainstream theme and logo, designed to attract the widest audience in the largest bookstores and gamestores.
• The 4th Edition theme, using the same visual style as the 4e books.
• The 3rd Edition theme, with 3e logo, fonts and graphic design, with a photographed "metal-and-jewel" cover.
• The 2nd Edition theme, with the blue 2e logo (minus the word "Advanced") and 2e font.
• The 1st Edition theme, with an orange spine, the white 1e font (minus the word "Advanced"), and the dense 1e font. The interior illustrations are by old-school 1e artists such as Erol Otus.
• The BECMI (Classic) theme, which, like the 4e Starters Set, looks like the Red Box. Larry Elmore and Jeff Easley do the interior art.
• The Original Theme, which features the logo and fonts of the manila colored booklets. The Original-era artist(s) are commissioned to do the illustrations.

They all have the exact same text. They feature the same illustrations (as far as the scene depicted), but by different artists.

The less profitable themes are licensed to outside formatters and publishers.

 

[McTreble]

Marketing suicide. This will never happen.

 

[trancejeremy]

That would be pretty neat, but probably not practical.

What would be interesting though is to have iconic characters (like in 3e) but done in different artwork styles.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

The most effective way to cement the split of the playerbase - D&D players and DMs staring with hate and aloofness at you if the spine of the book you are carrying has the wrong color.


Dragonsfooters shouting "copycat" at you in your FLGS.

Whispered comments at the gaming table: "he thinks that "thing" is equal to the Rules Cyclopedia - hur hur!"

Dead silence at GenCon. The whole audience wearing T-shirts with the cover of "their" D&D on the front, staring at each other with that long-forgotten cold war "die, comrade" glare. Huddling together in groups, quiet whispers full of violence and derision.

Hmm, wouldn't change that much, eh?

 

[Mercurius]

Bad memories of collecting comics in the late 80s/early 90s.

 

[WheresMyD20]

Multiple covers won't happen. It increases the cost of printing, decreases the visual identity of the brand, and creates confusion among new customers.

However, I could potentially see dust-covers with alternate art being possible, if they were profitable.