Critique / Comments on Futurama themed artwork

[Razzer]

Hi,

I'm well on the way with the planning of my second cab. It's going to be a Futurama themed bartop.

Alongside the CAD modeling i have started the artwork process. Basically i need some creative input 

I'm still considering whether or not the title should read Futurama or something else (although in the same graphical style). I'm also not quite sure about the Bender quote, too much or too little?.

As for now i have only started on the marquee, sideart and CPO will follow.

Any kind of comments are welcome.

Razzer

[drventure]

Looks good to me. I kinda like the quote.

[Rick]

Looks good to me. I kinda like the quote.

Are you trying to point out he used "loosers" instead of "losers"?

[EightBySix]

Could you get further inspiration from some of the video game themed episodes maybe...

i.e. http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/12/video-games-fut/

[wp34]

I'd love to design a cabinet around the "Invaders...possibly from space" theme.

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=162725&title=space-invaders

[thatitalian]

You're getting better at this Razzer! 

I would be half tempted to get rid on the planet express ship to make it more like the intro. Then I would go with a "street scene"! filled CP and maybe fry (left) and bender (right) sideart?

[HaRuMaN]

There's a comma right after the exclamation point.  Might want to fix that (it's right in the center).

[Rick]

There's a comma right after the exclamation point.  Might want to fix that (it's right in the center).

So, two small changes.  The punctuation, and changing "loosers" to "losers".

[Razzer]

You're getting better at this Razzer! 

Thanks!! I appreciate it.

And thanks everybody for the input. I've corrected the minor grammar mistakes.

I've attached a couple of variations of the marquee.

As for the sideart my initial idea was something along the lines of the one below (trimmed to the sidepanel profile). But nothing has been decided yet.



Razzer

[Rick]

As much as I dislike the show (flame on!) I think your artwork is top-notch.  Good work.

[Razzer]

As much as I dislike the show (flame on!) I think your artwork is top-notch.  Good work.

Thanks Rick.

Razzer

[thatitalian]

It looks cleaner without the ship!

I would do a bit more on the sideart though. Let me think of some things...

[Razzer]

It looks cleaner without the ship!

I would do a bit more on the sideart though. Let me think of some things...

Awesome, I really appreciate your help.

Here's what I've been fiddling with.

And of course, as with my last project, everything (3D CAD + AI artwork) will be made available.
 
Razzer

[Razzer]

Hey, here's another variation of the side art.

The other side could be made in a similar way, but with Leela.

Razzer

[Rick]

You need to incorporate Fry's dog in there somewhere.

 

[opt2not]

I've attached a couple of variations of the marquee.

As for the sideart my initial idea was something along the lines of the one below (trimmed to the sidepanel profile). But nothing has been decided yet.

I like the boldness and simplicity of the side-art, the marquee could use the same treatment. IMHO the marquee is too small to have characters populating it.

If I were you, i'd consider just having the Futurama title font and  only The Planet Express Ship under it -- both centered.  You could remove the caption completely too...to me, it looks a bit kitchy there. If you're stuck on having the caption, I'd recommend putting it on the CP.

I'd make your ship image big enough, to slightly overlap the title at the bottom (not completely blocking the title - connecting the silhouette so to speak). This would show off stronger with more clarity.  It would also go well with the side art. You've already got Bender and Fry on the sides, you could have Leela or other characters featured somewhere on the CP, or on the Bezel (if you make one)...or not at all.

My only critique on the side-art is that you don't really need to have another Futurama title text there. I think it would read stronger if it were just the characters and the background. You could either remove it, or find a better way of incorporating it into the background image. Currently it just looks like you copy and pasted it in there at the last minute -- looks "tacked" on.

Just my silly opinion of course, take it for what it's worth.
I still love me them themed bartops!

[Razzer]

I've attached a couple of variations of the marquee.

As for the sideart my initial idea was something along the lines of the one below (trimmed to the sidepanel profile). But nothing has been decided yet.

I like the boldness and simplicity of the side-art, the marquee could use the same treatment. IMHO the marquee is too small to have characters populating it.

If I were you, i'd consider just having the Futurama title font and  only The Planet Express Ship under it -- both centered.  You could remove the caption completely too...to me, it looks a bit kitchy there. If you're stuck on having the caption, I'd recommend putting it on the CP.

I'd make your ship image big enough, to slightly overlap the title at the bottom (not completely blocking the title - connecting the silhouette so to speak). This would show off stronger with more clarity.  It would also go well with the side art. You've already got Bender and Fry on the sides, you could have Leela or other characters featured somewhere on the CP, or on the Bezel (if you make one)...or not at all.

My only critique on the side-art is that you don't really need to have another Futurama title text there. I think it would read stronger if it were just the characters and the background. You could either remove it, or find a better way of incorporating it into the background image. Currently it just looks like you copy and pasted it in there at the last minute -- looks "tacked" on.

Just my silly opinion of course, take it for what it's worth.
I still love me them themed bartops!

Something along the lines of this?

Thanks for all the comments, it' always helpful/interesting to get someone else's view on things.

Razzer

[opt2not]

Nice! 
The marquee looks solid, man. Much more clean, and it goes really well with the theme.

The sides look good too, and if you want you could have kept the first Bender image on the one side. I like the bust shot of him there, it's a nice big character-image and the same thing could be done for Fry. A nice big pose like he's leaning towards you while still having a bunch of space in the area up top works.

What are you going to do for the CP?
I think a Planet Express logo should be featured on there somewhere:

Are you going to put any other characters on there?
There's always the massive character image those shows have where they feature all the characters in the show:

[Razzer]

Nice! 
The marquee looks solid, man. Much more clean, and it goes really well with the theme.

The sides look good too, and if you want you could have kept the first Bender image on the one side. I like the bust shot of him there, it's a nice big character-image and the same thing could be done for Fry. A nice big pose like he's leaning towards you while still having a bunch of space in the area up top works.

What are you going to do for the CP?
I think a Planet Express logo should be featured on there somewhere:

Are you going to put any other characters on there?
There's always the massive character image those shows have where they feature all the characters in the show:

Hey opt2not

Once again, thanks for the comments.

I think I'll go with the big bust of Bender and Fry as seen below.

I'm not quit sure about the CP though, i don't want it to be too busy. Well i guess i have to see what i can come up with.

T-moulding wise i was thinking of going with green or orange and maybe orange ball tops on the joysticks. Will Probably wait until the CP is done before I decide on this.

Razzer

[Razzer]

Hey, small status update.

I've started work on the CPO (It's still in prototyping). The background needs to vectorized and some elements needs to be remove / moved. Just wanted to hear peoples opinions before i start on this.

I've tried to adjust the colors of the side art to match the CPO.
The T-molding and joystick ball tops has also been changed to red. As an alternative I'm considering orange.

Razzer

[Razzer]

Just wanted to show an alternate version of the CPO that I'm considering.

Razzer

[opt2not]

Love the sides, and the second CPO has a lot more personality than the first one. The city view just seems too sparse for my tastes, your latest design works perfectly for a CPO. I have no additional feedback other than -- great job!  It all looks awesome! The whole thing feels very cohesive!
This is going to look wonderful on your cab.      

[thatitalian]

Great artwork!

I really like the sides, although I would change the swirl colours to fit more in line with the marquee.

I like both CP's except my worry is that they may look a little busy. Sometimes it looks busy in the draft but when it is on it looks amazing.

[Dr Zero]

I love futurama they do some really funny stuff and others you have to go look up what the heck did that mean LOL

I would like to see a hypnotoad screen saver or attract screen


The art with the spiral thing going on would be cool if you could print it on overhead projector type sheets do 3 layers the front and rear being stationary the middle rotating on via small dc motor for a 3d kind of effect. Could make a topper or embed for some side art like knievel's plasma

[knohbody]

I agree with thatitalian, changing the colors on the swirls for the sideart to match the marquee would bring it together pretty well. I am kinda fond of the planet express logo. If you were feeling minimalist you could use something like the attached image. Might go well with your red/orange tmoulding and joystick/buttons.

[Razzer]

Great artwork!

I really like the sides, although I would change the swirl colours to fit more in line with the marquee.

Thanks, I've tried changing the colors of the side. See attached image.

I like both CP's except my worry is that they may look a little busy. Sometimes it looks busy in the draft but when it is on it looks amazing.

I think I'll take the chance with CP and see how it goes. 

Razzer

[Razzer]

I love futurama they do some really funny stuff and others you have to go look up what the heck did that mean LOL

I would like to see a hypnotoad screen saver or attract screen

I'll definitely put in the hypnotoad somewhere. Maybe on the Windows BootScreen.

The art with the spiral thing going on would be cool if you could print it on overhead projector type sheets do 3 layers the front and rear being stationary the middle rotating on via small dc motor for a 3d kind of effect. Could make a topper or embed for some side art like knievel's plasma

Cool idea, but it's not going to happen, at least not on this cab

Razzer

[Razzer]

I agree with thatitalian, changing the colors on the swirls for the sideart to match the marquee would bring it together pretty well. I am kinda fond of the planet express logo. If you were feeling minimalist you could use something like the attached image. Might go well with your red/orange tmoulding and joystick/buttons.

Nice clean look but a bit too simple for my taste.

Razzer

[Razzer]

Hey everybody

Made some renderings to get a feel for the looks of the cabinet.

And if I may say so myself, it looks great  

I'll try to make another rendering with red T-molding before i start ordering parts. Done, see attached image.
Razzer

[knohbody]

Very nice. Are you still going with the red balltops? I'm curious to see what the red/orange t-molding will look like with those green balltops.

[opt2not]

Nice renders.

I think the red t-molding looks good, better than the green. But I'd match the ball-tops with the red. That green and that red looks too much like x-mas colours to me.
Besides, red ball-tops will tie-in the t-molding and marquee well.
 

[Razzer]

Nice renders.

I think the red t-molding looks good, better than the green. But I'd match the ball-tops with the red. That green and that red looks too much like x-mas colours to me.
Besides, red ball-tops will tie-in the t-molding and marquee well.
 

Here's a couple more renderings (and some redone with lighter environment).

The one with red T-molding and red balltops is my favorite at the moment.

Razzer

[opt2not]

Tough call.
I like both the all red, and all green ones. The red one pops out at you more, and the green is a bit more mellow - softer on the eyes.
Both are nice looking...bah, I can't decide which one I like.

What are you gravitating more towards?

[Razzer]

Tough call.
I like both the all red, and all green ones. The red one pops out at you more, and the green is a bit more mellow - softer on the eyes.
Both are nice looking...bah, I can't decide which one I like.

What are you gravitating more towards?

Well as you said it's at tough call. Right now it's the red one but on the other hand the green does also look nice (and the green balltops goes well with the green halos around the buttons on the CP). Not quite sure that red button halos would go well with the CP background.

I think i'll let it sink in over the weekend before I decide.

And once again thanks for the creative input.

Razzer

[jasonbar]

Very cool--I just came across this thread--I'm a big Futurama fan.

There's a design element that seems really obvious to me: Little Bender.

As in Bender's Antenna.

It look soooooo much like a joystick.

Gray joystick shaft.  Gray ball top.  If it's not too unergonomic, go one step further & have 2 slightly tapered cones with through holes machined & thread the joystick shafts through them.

Think about it!

-Jason

[Razzer]

I think I'll let it sink in over the weekend before I decide.

Well, I've decided on the the red T-molding and the red balltops. I simply like the way i POPS - and the red goes well with the marquee. I'll be keeping the green halo's around the buttons. Red halo's didn't go well with the background.

Now with the main artwork done, I have taken a look at the non print artwork. Attached you'll see the preliminary work on the Windows boot screen and the graphics for the frontend.

Razzer

[Rick]

Now with the main artwork done, I have taken a look at the non print artwork. Attached you'll see the preliminary work on the Windows boot screen and the graphics for the frontend.

SLICK!  I need to get on this myself.  (Amazing how many of my responses talk about my own project, eh?  Sorry about that.)  I like the Hypnotoad bootup screen.

[Dr Zero]

Cool beans!

One of the neatest machines I have seen. 

[Razzer]

SLICK!  I need to get on this myself.  (Amazing how many of my responses talk about my own project, eh?  Sorry about that.)  I like the Hypnotoad bootup screen.

Thanks!

Cool beans!

One of the neatest machines I have seen. 

Let's just hope that the actual machine turns out just as good 

Razzer

[Razzer]

Back on track (kind of) 

It's been a while i know, but i'm feeling the fever again.

I've decided to use a 17" monitor instead of a 20" (saving that for a lowboy). This shrinks the overall size (primarily width) of the cabinet. Based on this the cab will only be 1P.

I've redesigned the CPO to reflect these changes (+new graphics). Additional graphics + renders will follow.

Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

Razzer