Evaluation of case

          With my case now finished I think it is important to look at what I have produced and give my thoughts on it, what I like and what I don't, things I'd do differently, techniques I've learnt along the way and how my work looks in comparison to blockbuster game cases.

          Overall I'd say that I'm happy with the cover, it looks very much like an official game cover and demonstrates a lot of techniques that I have taught myself. If I had to choose one element, I'd say the shield is my proudest achievement. It took a lot of work to get the shield design I wanted and a lot more work to give the metallic effect that can be seen,  combined with the effects I applied to it and the alterations to the reflection I think it looks pretty convincing.  By contrast I would (should I have the time) like to make a few more alterations to the claw marks and the burnt corner as I believe that I would be able to improve on them with some of the techniques I have learnt whilst working on other areas of the design. I don't think the claw marks demonstrate the skills I am now capable of and I think the corner stands out too much, I would like to spend some time making it appear more realistic. I would like to add a blood splatter across the shield on the front cover but that would only be if I had time to spare at the end of the project, and if I had a lot of time left I would like to explore meshes as I think they would be useful for doing 3D looking book bindings. 

          There haven't been many problems to overcome regarding the cover (apart from time management!), the only problem that I could think of would be putting effort into aspects that haven't been used in my final design such as the wax and my other attempt at a shield. However, even though these attempts haven't panned out well, my cover has benefitted from it by forcing me to explore other avenues and do more research. 

          Although I have been taught how to use the more basic functions of photoshop, a lot of the effects I wanted to use had to be learnt via online tutorials or by experimentation. The use of various tools such as the smudge, blur and burn tool were essential when designing the corner of the book, as were the multitude of effects I used for the shield including gradient, overlay, drop shadow and satin. The rendering options were detrimental to the entire case allowing for a wide variety of effects and uses that were not intentional. The flexibility of sliders in the adjustment sections allows for great precision when making alterations to opacity, flow, tolerance, brush and image sizing. One of the most helpful things I have used is folders and layer names. To begin with I used the default labels Photoshop assigned to layers but as the amount of layers began to grow it became very hard to keep track of which layer was which. By using folders it became very easy to keep my layers organised, and within those folders aptly named layers made it easier to find the one I wanted.

           I think it's important to compare my case with some that have been released commercially as it gives an idea as to the quality of the design and elements that are similar and different, for good or bad. To the sides are 4 cases that heavily inspired my work, they are all traditional western RPGs. My case has the same design elements; a central title with a main logo underneath and a tattered look.My front cover differs with my logo at the top, as well as the claw marks and tattered corner which I would class as main elements, these covers don't have any other main focus apart from the logo. 

        The only thing similar would be the metal spine clasps/spine reinforcements on the older 2 game covers. They are obviously required to have the various icons relating to age rating, platform, copyrights etc. Both mine and the examples have a description with a few screenshots but only Baldur's Gate does not have system requirements, tagline or features list. This could be due to the games age, being the oldest of the 4. 

          Despite this project being for an assessment for educational purposes, it is important to consider copyright. However, with the material I have used there aren't many issues. Everything apart from the logos and 3 screenshots are either my own work or material that is available to use for free. I have however taken copyright information from the respective company's websites and used that in my small print at the bottom of the cover. The screenshots are not my own but the author is happy for them to be used privately which this cover essentially is. If however this case was to be distributed I would have to seek permission from the various parties.