Carousel Poster

Drawken · Sun 15/03/2009 03:45:28

I know this isn't AGS related, but I would like your guys help with this.

I was asked to design the poster for an upcoming production of "Carousel."
I'm still not finished with it and would love some input. (Colors, layout, drawing,etc.)
Thanks.

Full Size:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/drawken/Poster_04_mock.jpg

Resized to fit:

Khris · Sun 15/03/2009 13:33:31

I don't like how the credits touch the ship and the gangway. Make them overlap or increase the distance.
Centered text positioned a good deal to the left of the center looks a bit weird, too.

But the main issue here is perspective.
The way the dock and buildings are drawn suggest that we're looking down at an angle of almost 45Â°. Yet the horizon is almost halfway down the image.

Since I assume that the sky staying visible is important, I suggest to redraw the dock and houses.

red: horizon (guesstimated)
green: vanishing lines for angled buildings on the right
blue: front of dock and house

Jakerpot · Sun 15/03/2009 13:54:44

i don't think he cares about the perspective, the drawing sometimes can be distorted, its still art, not wrong art, wrong art doesn't exist, so if he want to leave as is, is because he want to give a fantasy impact maybe. But yeah, the perspective is wrong anyway

SpacePaw · Sun 15/03/2009 14:54:03

I like the lack of perspective too but the white letters could have a shadow or outline so they wouldnt blend with the background

Jakerpot · Sun 15/03/2009 15:13:45

yeah, more contrast to these letters!!!!!!

Drawken · Sun 15/03/2009 16:27:45

Hmmm... I was aware of the perspective being off.
(Probably because I didn't use a set vanishing point. :

)
I guess the reason I drew it that way was so It would fill up more space.

I'll take KhrisMUC's suggestion and draw it with a lower horizon and proper vanishing points and see what I think of it. I should have done that in the first place. It will no doubt look better.

I also didn't really like the text being off to the side but thought it fit better than going OVER the plank. I was thinking maybe moving the plank over a bit. But then it seems like the text is literally being overtaken by the sea.

Well, after I finish redrawing the pier I'll see what I can do about that issue next.

Andail · Sun 15/03/2009 19:42:59

As much as I usually represent the perspective police, I don't think this particular case calls for it.

Khrismuc has good intentions, but this picture has a certain stylistic naÃ¯vism that won't benefit from technical restrictions.

Apart from the bottom being a bit unfinished, there is little you need to adjust in my opinion.

Drawken · Wed 18/03/2009 15:55:37

Here are two mock ups of a redesign of the poster.

The first poster pretty much mimics what I have in my first design but makes sure all the sides of buildings and boardwalk are all slanted "\" or "--". I understand that this isn't "proper" perspective but believe that this is more controlled than my first attempt. Do you guys think it looks good this way or should have a set vanishing point?

The second one I took KhrisMUC's advice and used two point perspective.

So what do you guys prefer?
The first, second, or the way it already is?
Or maybe something else?
Thanks.

By the way Andail, thanks for making me aware of "naÃ¯vism" I never heard of that style of art before. It doesn't seem to be too popular as I could only find 3 examples of it on the net.
Maybe I should try to mimic the perspective of this painting:
Full Moon by Edgar Calhado
I rather like it, and isn't too complicated.

Number one:

Number two:

SpacePaw · Fri 20/03/2009 00:54:10

I like the perspectivless one best but the first one of the new 2 looks awesome too

I'm totally against about the last one though. It takes away it's soul

Drawken · Mon 23/03/2009 21:10:34

Alright, here's my latest attempt at the poster. What do you think?

Full Size:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/drawken/Poster_New_01.jpg

SpacePaw · Tue 24/03/2009 00:54:54

I love it! Only thing that disturbs me is the moon which doesnt really fit under the title. But I would leave it like that :3 the reflection in the water makes up for it

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 24/03/2009 05:37:00

I wonder if you could adjust the Carousel part of it so the moon appears to be shining through the 'O'? I think the poster and presentation look good!

SpacePaw · Tue 24/03/2009 11:35:28

Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 24/03/2009 05:37:00
I wonder if you could adjust the Carousel part of it so the moon appears to be shining through the 'O'? I think the poster and presentation look good!

Or make it a little bit bigger and put it INSTEAD of 'O'

Trent R · Mon 30/03/2009 08:42:28

Quote from: SpacePaw on Tue 24/03/2009 11:35:28
Or make it a little bit bigger and put it INSTEAD of 'O'

No. That rarely works, and especially not for an advertisement for the show Carousel.

But I do somewhat agree with Progz that the moon seems out of place. I think it might benefit from being placed higher in the sky (ie. out of frame, and moving it's reflection downward).

Otherwise I think it looks great, being a performer, theater-goer, and techie myself.

[Edit]: I'd remove the 2009 from the dates. Not that that's bad to have, but when you already have a list of numbers....
Also, there's no time listed. I assume it's 7:00 or so, but that's something I strongly suggest adding (although not always needed)

~Trent

S · Mon 30/03/2009 10:52:57

I kind of like the way the moon is resting against the O. But it annoys the hell out of me that the reflection is not directly under the moon. Move it (the reflection) to the left, please!

Andail · Mon 30/03/2009 11:00:28

Interestingly, I much prefered the first version, with the "whacky" perspective. The new version looks stiff in comparison.
I think if you worked on the first naÃ¯vistic version and polished it a bit, it would turn out better in the end. You could even increase the whackiness of the perspective.

InCreator · Wed 01/04/2009 01:01:37

I second Andail.

This piece was not one where to bitch about perspective. Or maybe try to put vanishing point into down-center, and build whole docks and city around it, something like a torus (donut shape) - somewhat Day of Tentacle feel...

But latest edit is actually quite good too.

On latest edit I'd decrease detail on farther hills, maybe cover them with exponential fog.

This way...

1) fog adds a bit of mystery to the scene
2) Looks a bit better in my vision
3) Leaves clearer background to title text, which is main point why I suggested this. Original version had this issue alright!

Also, colors and contrast on original were way better than on latest edit. More harmonious, less crazy. A bit too bright, though.
I know that "crazy" might go with the theme, but shouldn't apply to viewers eyes. Which is sadly the case with latter edit.

offtopic - what I would have also tried instead of you - was posting image in full size. We're all wary and user-friendly but I seriously doubt that anyone still looks AGS through 800x600 (or less) desktop resolution in 2009. This image, at horizontal size of 816px would be perfect first step to move on.

Drawken · Wed 01/04/2009 04:01:02

Well, I sent the latest poster to the director, and he didn't like it.
Oh, well. It did help me to figure out how to get around Photoshop again.

He liked the first one, but I wasn't 100% happy with certain aspects of it. So, I redrew some of the buildings since they were too small compared to the others. I also redid the color scheme. I quite like the outcome, and so does the director. I think I can call this finished now, unless anyone has any suggestions.

Kyrandiafan · Wed 01/04/2009 06:47:15

Looks good. Maybe make the title stick out a little more. It seems to get lost in the surrounding text.
The glows near the windows look too sharp and unrealistic. Only true directional lights (like the sun) produce that kind of shadowing.
I like the whimsical perspective. It looks much better in the latest version.

PixelPerfect · Wed 01/04/2009 19:55:48

I made slight differences for you to reference if this would be the direction to take the poster to:

I used sort of a bloomish effect to make it more fantasy-like, also used gradient to affect the colors a bit and burnt the colors under pier and center of hills. The effects touch a bit on the texts as I didn't have the layers. Take out of it what you want... or not.