A thumbnail for gamejolt

[Blondbraid]

Hi! I'm working on a game called Commissar's Contrapasso, and I'm planning to add a devlog to Gamejolt, so I'm going to need a thumbnail for my game.
The thumbnail is supposed to convey the tone of the game as well as make people want to play it, and since the game is about WW2 I tried to make it look like an old Soviet propaganda poster.

I'm a bit worried that it looks empty, but at the same time I don't want to take away focus from the title text. Any thoughts, opinions and feedback is welcome!

[Snarky]

Gamejolt has a very different understanding of "thumbnail" than I do.

[Andail]

So just to get this straight, this banner/poster is your thumbnail? I first thought you wanted to make a thumbnail out of it.

If you want to make it look like Soviet propaganda, which is a great idea btw, I think you should make it look... more like a Soviet propaganda poster

I'd put that character in the middle, give him a dramatic and heroic pose, add some patriotic symbols like flags and guns and stuff and make sure the font looks cyrillic.

[Slasher]

Well, Gamejolt isn't the brightest bulb in the box 

[KyriakosCH]

Gamejolt has a very different understanding of "thumbnail" than I do.

Looks nice and stylish

[Blondbraid]

Based off what Andail mentioned, I made a new version where I tried to make it look more like the propaganda posters, although I didn't want the character to look too heroic for story-related reasons.

What do you think, does it look better?

[Stupot]

How big are your hands, Blondbraid?

[lorenzo]

This last image is better than the first one, but I would change the background to something more clear, it's a bit messy right now. It feels like a black and white photograph of some WW2 ruins with a Photoshop filter applied on it. It doesn't fit with the clear drawing and colouring of the character.
Also, to me, it looks more like an old film poster than a Soviet propaganda one. The reasons for that are:

• The colours: if you look at Andail's link, you'll see that most of Soviet posters use a very specific palette, with not much variation: black, red, white, grey, yellow.
  Personally, I would tone down a bit the colours of your character, especially the trousers (strong blues are used mostly in space race posters).
• The theme: all these propaganda posters show the same themes, that should inspire some feelings in those who look at them: being proud of the country technological progress, for its war heroes, etc.
• The pose: the characters in propaganda posters usually have a very strong, heroic, stoic stance. And you can easily tell at first glance what they represent: the Stakhanovite worker, the strong leader, the brave soldier, and so on.
  In the first images, the pose is not clear. The second one is better, but it still doesn't convey the feeling of propaganda: it seems like the commissar is in a tight spot, but we don't know much else.

So, I started thinking of a pose that was heroic but still showed the character as a coward. Here are some rough sketches I did, to illustrate my point regarding pose, theme and colours:

Spoiler

(sorry about the title: I've written "contrapasso" with two "Ps" out of habit â€" that's the modern spelling in Italian. And ignore the position and font of the text!).

[close]

I tried to give the character an heroic pose while trying to maintain a cowardly expression. I imagined him as a reluctant leader, who would rather be someplace else.

I'm not sure if that's what you were going for, but maybe it can be of help. And sorry about the post length, I've written a lot!

[Blondbraid]

Thank you for the tips lorenzo, and your sketches are very nice. As for the spelling, I was going from the English translation of Dante, but I hope the title won't be too confusing to Italian players.

I hav tried making new versions of the image more in line what what you described, I toned down the blue and changed the pose and background:

The first background I made have rows of soldiers to reflect the propaganda posters more, but the other one with the ruins reflect the events in the game more.

The protagonist is a coward, but I wouldn't say he's supposed to be a reluctant leader as much as coward who's comfortably hiding behind a desk job (while criticizing simple soldiers for cowardice) until he accidentally ends up behind enemy lines.

What do you think of the changes, and which version do you think works best?

[lorenzo]

I like these new images! The first one feels more powerful, in my opinion.

The first background I made have rows of soldiers to reflect the propaganda posters more, but the other one with the ruins reflect the events in the game more.

Maybe you can put both in the same image? I've tried combining the soldiers and the ruins in the background, to see the effect.
Here's a (very) rough edit:

I'm not sure if I like it or not.

As for the spelling, I was going from the English translation of Dante, but I hope the title won't be too confusing to Italian players.

Don't worry, it's not an issue! It's a bit like, say, the spelling of "colour" and "color".

[Snarky]

IMO the line spacing is too big. Try cutting the gap in half.

[Kumpel]

IMO the line spacing is too big. Try cutting the gap in half.

+1

And I think a clean, not so blurry background, like what lorenzo does, - as pretty as it may look -, is a bit more catchy. His simply red background has an amazing effect on your meanwhile in this community iconic commissar character.

[Creamy]

I like this one best. it's clear and simple, as a thumbnail should be.

[Darth Mandarb]

I liked the most recent one the best so far (more closely conveys the WWII propaganda poster feel) however I still feel like it lacks some of the... power... of those posters.

I did a quick paint-over for an idea I had:


- I didn't have the exact font so I had to change that a bit (matched as close as I could get with the fonts I have).
- I centered the content drawing the eye to the "dramatic" figure in the middle
- added a star icon (forgive me I'm not up to date with my WWII era soviet iconography so that might be a tad inaccurate but easily changed)
- added the sun-burst "flare" to the background

Just trying to get that "holy shit I need to do my part" urgency those posters were designed to convey.

I'll admit, however, that I'm far from a propagandist so I might have missed the mark a bit

I hope it helps!

[Blondbraid]

Thank you for your input everyone, it's really helped me improve this.
I streamlined the background the way lorenzo suggested, and I changed the text. While your image was great and well made, Darth Mandarb, I think the other composition makes the title clearer to read.

I hope this one is an improvement, but I'm still unsure about the row of soldiers. I'm a bit worried anyone seeing them will get the impression that it's going to be an RTS or similar where you get to command troops, and get disappointed when they see it's a point and click adventure game instead.