Elements of the Front Cover - Title

Bevel Settings

Pattern Overlay

My design for the title text had to be something in line with the name's meaning, matched my theme but also looked primitive whilst still being legible. I experimented with Old Norse runes but when I had finished the word, it didn't look like the word it was meant to represent. 

Shadow Settings

I used bevel and emboss to make the text appear as if it was melted metal and applied a colour gradient to give the impression that the metal was gold. (My reasoning is that as something important to the apocalypse, it would be treated better than other things.) Following this, I applied a drop shadow in keeping with the overall 30degree lighting effect.

Meshing around

I opened  Illustrator and browsed the fonts before choosing Blackadder ITC, however it looked too neat. Using 'make mesh'  I dragged the text to the right slightly, resulting in an untidy appearance. 

Despite the luxury that this item would have been afforded, I wanted it to look worn as if it had been around for many years. I tried using a pattern overlay but as much as I tweaked the settings or patterns, the pattern was always too prominent. Using the lasso tool, I drew around the title and pressed 'Q' to activate a quick layer mask. Pressing 'Ctrl + I' to invert, I used filter - pixelate - mezzotint - long strokes, pressed 'Q', edit - clear and finally 'Ctrl + D' to deselect. This chipped away some of the text making it appear as if it had been dragged along a rough surface. 

Before Layer Mask

Lastly, I added a layer mask and used the 'Rough Texture' brush to decrease the shine and make the metal look beaten.

Final Result

Compression

          One thing that is often overlooked when dealing with images, is file size. With high capacity storage a few more megabytes of data is not a huge concern however when images are being used on a website, the size of the file will determine how long it takes for the page to load. (For example some pictures in my post will be small therefore loading almost instantly, whilst screenshots from games will more than likely take a while due to the fact they are high resolution)

Low

         JPEG is a lossy format, meaning that when the image is compressed the least important pixels out of an 8x8 selection are discarded. Using the highest quality compression technique a 92,000kb file can be compressed to 30,000kb, reducing the transfer rate from 20 seconds to 6 seconds. This can further reduced to 9,000kb and 2 seconds and 5,000 and 1 second, for medium and low quality compression respectively. There is a notable difference between low and medium, but not so much between medium and high despite the decrease in transfer speed. 

Medium

High

 I will also have to pay close attention to compression when dealing with video as I will be filming in 1080p which will result in large file sizes.








          During lesson time, we conducted a range of tests regarding file sizes and compression. The following tables show the file sizes for a large picture and an icon size image. It is up to the individual as to whether they think the picture quality is satisfactory or not, therefore I have uploaded all images tested below allowing people to see which type of compression best suits their needs. Compression Folder

Large Picture Table

Icon Table

Compression folder - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pfmrbcl1lf6txsp/5KHAiTJzB_
Information - http://www.learningspark.com.au/kevin/issues/jpeg_compression.htm

Elements of the Front Cover - Logo Update

          After using a lot of techniques on my previous shield attempt, it didn't match my idea for the logo. I thought about the type of material it would have been made from, highly shined metal, and thought of real world metals that would be a good match. I researched chrome textures and found a tutorial on how to create one. I followed the tutorial to the letter utilising techniques such as bevel and emboss, contour, satin, gradient overlay and stroke with a convincing looking final image. However, it didn't fully meet my demands so I loaded up skyrim and took a few screenshots in bars with thought to the perspective of the book and the reflection that would be seen on the book. 

After choosing the picture I felt best encapsulated the mood, I used curve to brighten the image as it looked too dark. Then using filter - distort - wave, I tweaked the image resulting in it looking like it was being reflected off of a metal surface. Then edit - transform - perspective, shifted the image inwards 30 degrees giving the impression the objects are higher than they actually were. Finally I flipped it vertical as all of my shadows are/will be at a 30 degree angle, and this gave the lends to the idea that the shadows are being cast by the reflected candle. 

 I changed the tutorial's gradient to something more in line with my cover's overall design. I changed the gradient to warmer colours and set it to overlay at 30 degrees. This gave my shield a warm outline like that which would actually be cast. Lastly, I used filter - render - clouds, filter - sketch - chrome and select - modify - contract and set the layer to 80% opacity allowing the candles shine to be more evident. After merging all layers and duplicating the final image into my cover, I applied a drop shadow with a  soft light blending mode giving the logo more depth.

    Reflection final result:                                                     Shield Final Result

Chrome tutorial - http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-make-chrome-in-photoshop/

Elements of the Case

          I am in a position where I know what design elements I want on my front cover but apart from the basics, such as name and certificate, I was unsure as to what case elements I needed to make space for, such as developer logo and platform. I analysed 14 WRPG PC game cases and made notes on what elements were present on the case and also what were the most common elements across all of the game cases. This is important to me as I want to design a very convincing and realistic cover.

The games I looked at were:

Baldur's Gate
Dark Souls
Demonicon
Divine Divinity
Divinity 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Game of Thrones
Oblivion
Risen (German Version)
Risen 2
Risen 2 (Czech Republic/Hungary Version)
Skyrim
The Witcher 2
Two Worlds II

The table below shows what elements were on the some of the cases with those larger and in blod being the elements that were seen across the majority. With this knowledge I can now begin a draft of overlays for the back, spine and front covers.

Back	Description	Spine	Description	Front	Description
Hook line	A subtitle/ subheading that get’s consumer attention	GFWL Logo	If shown, uses the GFWL online service	GFWL Logo	If shown, uses the GFWL online service
Write-up	A description of the game setting/ story	Name	The Name of the product	Name	The Name of the product
Features	A list of elements the game has that are interesting/ unique	PAL Logo	If shown, locked to PAL region	PAL Logo	If shown, locked to PAL region
Website	Website of the game	PC-DVD Logo	Details what platform the game is for	PC-DVD Logo	Details what platform the game is for
Publisher Logo	The logo of the company that published the game	Publisher Logo	The logo of the company that published the game	Publisher Logo	The logo of the company that published the game
Developer Logo	The logo of the company that developed the game	Developer Logo	The logo of the company that developed the game	Developer Logo	The logo of the company that developed the game
PEGI Rating + Website	The PEGI rating, individual elements and PEGI website	Certificate	What certification the game received	Certificate/PEGI Rating	What certification/ PEGI rating the game received
Barcode	Game’s barcode	Game Logo	The logo of the game	Game Logo	The logo of the game
Dolby Symbol	If shown, supports Dolby Surround			Accolades	Accolades awarded to the game
Family Settings	If shown, supports family settings			Critic Quotes	Quotes from press reviewers
Warning	Advises the user to read the game guide before playing
Screenshots	In game screenshots
PC-DVD Logo	Details what platform the game is for
System Requirements	Minimum/ recommended pc specs
Certificate	Certification the game received
Tech Symbols	Symbols detailing the technology used within the game
Address	Address of publisher
Accolades	Accolades awarding to the game
Internet Requirement	If shown, game requires  an internet connection for some features or registration
Controller Support	If shown, the game supports various gamepads
Trademarks	This small print details the copyright and trademark rights of all parties involved

Baldur's Gate - http://tinyurl.com/p8maglm

Dark Souls - http://tinyurl.com/qgsabp8

Demonicon -http://tinyurl.com/qducn2z

Divine Divinity -http://tinyurl.com/pcubjo3

Divinity II - http://tinyurl.com/p65hnyf

Game of Thrones - http://tinyurl.com/oe87wu9

Oblivion - http://tinyurl.com/onzvxyr

Risen (German Version) - http://tinyurl.com/p77f7q5

Risen 2 (English Version) - http://tinyurl.com/pajsmkw

Risen 2 (Czech Republic/Hungary Version) - http://tinyurl.com/qeq3wmy

Skyrim - http://tinyurl.com/orukfx8

The Witcher 2 - http://tinyurl.com/nd5wvc8

Two Worlds II - http://tinyurl.com/ptw4glt