My one criticism of 4th ed: poor artistic style

[op1983]

I feel like a minority when I read this thread.

To me the art of 4E is just like the rules. Not better or worse, but different.

On one hand I like how easy the book is to look at. I can scan pages easily without squinting and moving the book right near my face which i like a lot.

On the other I feel there could have been less pictures all together. I think art is ok in some places, such as the introduction to a race or to illustrate what different weapons look like.

I am a huge fan of maps. Infact, if I could trade artworks for more maps I would. I think to me maps are a better way to get me into the fantasy mood than any picture. Maps of dungeons are nice too sometimes.

 

[Switchback]

Ok, I am not bashing the artists But I have serious problems with the lack of "inpsiration" 4th ed artistic layout in the books :/

Let me explain:
go pick up some old 2nd ed adventures and add ons, for Dark Sun, and Spelljammer, other settings too, but those pair in particular.
What do you notice?
A coherent internal and external layout that screams at you "THIS IS D&D! THIS IS DARK SUN! THIS IS SPELLJAMMER!"

2nd edition art felt more themed to me because if you were playing a particular world, you would see the same artists frequently. You had Brom doing Dark Sun, Elmore and Parkinson primarily with Dragonlance, Diterlizzi with Planescape, then Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk had a collection of other artists, Caldwell, Easley, Fred Fields, etc. And some of these same artists would appear over and over on certain product types or covers, like Easley on the monster manuals or his numerous iconic dragons.

I.e. If you saw a Larry Elmore dragon it was almost certain it was a dragon from Krynn and would immediately evoke the atmosphere of Dragonlance.

Moving into 3rd edition and now 4th, as everything came more under one banner, with less standout settings, you have dozens of different depictions of a creature like a green dragon all for the same general purpose setting, and one may look vastly different from the next depending on the artist.

If you are strongly influenced by the art as a starting waypoint to visualize the rest of the fantasy setting you are playing in, it makes it much less coherent to build those images, I would agree.

The point about the interiors, borders, or layouts of the particular products was also very much tied to something like a particular world or even a boxed set. Now in 4e, I can't see it making a lot of sense for them to tackle something like the Martial Powers book with a totally different page layout and general theme than say the upcoming Arcane Power supplement.