Opinions on art direction for cab

[Soundwave]

I'm building a MAME cab, most of the wood work is done and am working on the art/theme for it. I thought about doing a hybrid theme for 2 of my favorite old consoles, the NES and SMS. Not sure how well it works for an arcade but I plan to put some console emulators on it as well for a few specific titles and already got the Marquee for it from gamongraphics. It's a Nintendo like logo but says retrocade...so I was going to title it Retrocade Master System to go with the hybrid theme of Nintendo and Sega Master System.
The paint scheme would be a Black cab but with a red stripe down the right side with vent markers that resemble the original black stripe on the old NES console but I chose black and red to further match the Sega Master system theme as well...ergo the hybrid theme.

Anyway, these are the arts I did for it. Only the marquee itself is actually done and can't go back on that part but I just wanted some general opinion/criticism.

Right side art:


Left side art:


Control Panel overlay...to be placed under plexi glass and where the D-pad and buttons are is where I'm going to drill holes for Joystick and Happ buttons along with buttons for menu, start and escape


And this is the Marquee...already had it done so this can't change now


Ok now here is the weirder idea I though about doing. I wanted to take my old SMS console, and mount it on top of the cab above the Marquee. With a cartridge in it with a custom label.
And this is the custom label for the cart I was just going to print it out and put over the existing on a crappy game.


And finally, the audio system will be powered by JL Audio car equipment. I already have the amps..etc including promotional logo's figured might as well make use of it. I have a large JL Logo for in store promo's that I wanted to mount to the kick panel painted black and red to match....might be a bit much but thought it would add some flare and uniqueness to promote the brand of audio system for a change since most cabs just have basic amps and speakers.

I don't have any mockups of the cab itself so you'll have to use your imagination but do you guys like it/hate it or is it a completely stupid idea? Let me know your thoughts before I proceed any further with the idea.

[BAMBOO]

Is your art work 300dpi?  If not, you might want to enlarge it to 300dpi to make sure its not pixilated when printed.

[Soundwave]

Is your art work 300dpi?  If not, you might want to enlarge it to 300dpi to make sure its not pixilated when printed.

Yes, I know it's 300 dpi. I just wanted some opinions on the idea or if I should just go with a typical design and mame artwork.

[vwalbridge]

It sounds like you want some honest feedback and not just a pat on the back so here it goes...

I don't like it.

I get what you are trying to go for but its not working here. Trying to merge NES with Sega master system just doesn't work here. It seems forced and un-natural. Disjointed, if you will. It actually took me several looks to even understand what I was looking at.

I know you already had the marquee printed but that font is weird. There is something wrong with it. Each letter looks like a bite was taken out of the bottom of each letter.

The control panel also has some random pac-man graphic that doesn't belong.

My opinion: start over and go a different direction. Keep it simple. Less text, keep the number of colors low. Maybe more straight lines. Subtle indications that point to Nintendo but not blatant.

Pick Sega or Nintenfo. But not both. Good luck. Remember: less is more.

[opt2not]

Hmmm I'm in the same boat, I really don't like it.

Can having no art direction still be considered a direction?  I see only subject matter here without any consistency in style. You have Pixel Art, Photography, Vector Art, and the plain Sega grid pattern...just a mismatch of visual elements that honestly will make your cabinet look cheap. Not cost-cheap, but quality-cheap.

vwalbridge is probably right in saying you should go back to the drawing board on this one. I would suggest thinking about a style that is consistent and cohesive.  Your theme can still be Nintendo and Sega Master System, but the actual artistic-look should be connected between all visual elements.
Like, if you have pixel art, go with a majority of that.  If it's Line-art, or painterly styled, or hard-edged vector, then all the visual elements of your art should look like it was made together.

I mean, you could go this route if you want to, but IMHO it'll turn out looking weird.

[BAMBOO]

Soundwave, if YOU like your art, stick with it.  If it makes YOU happy and its what you want, use it.  Our opinions really shouldn't matter.  It's not bad at all.  I get your theme and can dig it.  If you want to use the same old Mame crap that everyone else uses, you can do that too.

[vwalbridge]

Meh, Soundwave wanted opinions/feedback so opt2not and I did that. In fact, I really like what opt2not had to say and he said it well. If it were me, I'd listen to an experienced artist like him. We all want to help make people's artwork better so the criticism is for good reason.

Of course, Soundwave can do whatever makes him happy but if he was 100% sure, then he wouldn't have asked for opinions in the first place.

[BAMBOO]

Meh, Soundwave wanted opinions/feedback so opt2not and I did that. In fact, I really like what opt2not had to say and he said it well. If it were me, I'd listen to an experienced artist like him. We all want to help make people's artwork better so the criticism is for good reason.

Of course, Soundwave can do whatever makes him happy but if he was 100% sure, then he wouldn't have asked for opinions in the first place.

Meh, maybe Opt can make Soundwaves art for him then? 

Oh and by the way, the original Donkey Kong marquee you have on your DK cab, I vectored that back in the day.  You're welcome.  So, I might have a little experience myself with this arcade art stuff.

[harveybirdman]

Nothing about their critique was mean spirited.


Soundwave:  Your first words were "I'm building a MAME cab,"  while there is nothing wrong with support for the 8 bit systems (as some games translate well for arcade controls) I wonder if it should be the focus of your cabinet?

With All due respect to edekoning and grippie, I'm not so sure I'd do a console themed arcade.  But if you are committed to you should check out what each of them did for their art.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=133712.0

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=141069.0

[yotsuya]

Meh, Soundwave wanted opinions/feedback so opt2not and I did that. In fact, I really like what opt2not had to say and he said it well. If it were me, I'd listen to an experienced artist like him. We all want to help make people's artwork better so the criticism is for good reason.

Of course, Soundwave can do whatever makes him happy but if he was 100% sure, then he wouldn't have asked for opinions in the first place.

Meh, maybe Opt can make Soundwaves art for him then? 

Oh and by the way, the original Donkey Kong marquee you have on your DK cab, I vectored that back in the day.  You're welcome.  So, I might have a little experience myself with this arcade art stuff.

Advice is free. Work costs money.

Yeah, I saw nothing wrong with the feedback those two gave. It wasn't mean, it was honest, and it was well-intentioned. You people need to stop with this "if it makes you happy, go with it" crap, especially when people are ACTIVELY SEEKING OPINIONS (hence the very title of this thread).

[opt2not]

Meh, maybe Opt can make Soundwaves art for him then? 

Hey BAMBOO, actually I've recently stopped doing artwork for the BYOAC community. It's a service I did for years to support the community as well as make a little money on the side to support my hobby spending. But the amount of time it took to create something from scratch, the back-and-forth communication, and the hours involved to actually create it is really hard to keep up as a side thing.  That and these days people don't really want custom art, at least they don't want to pay for it, which is fine since it was a struggle to keep up with these commissions anyway.

But what I can contribute now is a little `food for thought` when it comes to deciding on the overall art-look, because perhaps some people don't have that artistic eye.

Oh and by the way, the original Donkey Kong marquee you have on your DK cab, I vectored that back in the day.  You're welcome.  So, I might have a little experience myself with this arcade art stuff.

Thank you for your contributions!    I've never had to use your uploads, but I'm sure a lot of people, including vendors and ebay sellers appreciate you giving to the hobby.
But to be fair, I haven't seen anything actually created by you. Do you have a website of your own artwork? I'd be interested in seeing what you're capable of. But all we've seen is vector tracings of other people's work, which to be frank, doesn't really require any artistic-skills since it's not really creating.
If the OP was asking about how to trace something, I'm sure you'd be the best person to ask.  But he was asking for critique on his Art Direction...I gave him straight-up feedback about it and reasons why it doesn't work.

I'm sorry if that doesn't rub you the right way, but fortunately for us the intent of this thread was meant for submitting honest critique/feedback.

[BAMBOO]

Meh, maybe Opt can make Soundwaves art for him then? 

Hey BAMBOO, actually I've recently stopped doing artwork for the BYOAC community. It's a service I did for years to support the community as well as make a little money on the side to support my hobby spending. But the amount of time it took to create something from scratch, the back-and-forth communication, and the hours involved to actually create it is really hard to keep up as a side thing.  That and these days people don't really want custom art, at least they don't want to pay for it, which is fine since it was a struggle to keep up with these commissions anyway.

But what I can contribute now is a little `food for thought` when it comes to deciding on the overall art-look, because perhaps some people don't have that artistic eye.

Oh and by the way, the original Donkey Kong marquee you have on your DK cab, I vectored that back in the day.  You're welcome.  So, I might have a little experience myself with this arcade art stuff.

Thank you for your contributions!    I've never had to use your uploads, but I'm sure a lot of people, including vendors and ebay sellers appreciate you giving to the hobby.
But to be fair, I haven't seen anything actually created by you. Do you have a website of your own artwork? I'd be interested in seeing what you're capable of. But all we've seen is vector tracings of other people's work, which to be frank, doesn't really require any artistic-skills since it's not really creating.
If the OP was asking about how to trace something, I'm sure you'd be the best person to ask.  But he was asking for critique on his Art Direction...I gave him straight-up feedback about it and reasons why it doesn't work.

I'm sorry if that doesn't rub you the right way, but fortunately for us the intent of this thread was meant for submitting honest critique/feedback.

 

My hats off to you Opt2 because I may have done 3 custom art pieces and it was hell.  Probably frustrating more than anything else.  It didn't take me long to figure out that was not for me personally.  I never claimed to have any art skills.  I trace.  Simple as that.  No, I don't have a website, I have always submitted my art to Vectorlib and AAL.  Most of it was lost when my computer crashed and I lost count over the years because there are so many.  As far as skills for tracing, I don't see many people left busting out the art.  I see a lot of people recycling and reprinting the old stuff.  Which is fine but there is a ton of art that needs to be traced and no one is actually doing it, just a small number.  If this is a community like you say, then why aren't we pulling together, nailing the art that's left for everyone to enjoy instead of bickering over people's custom art. 

http://www.coinopart.com/ is packed full of unvectored and uncleaned art.  Let's crank out some art if everyone here has the skill to trace it since its so easy.

[opt2not]

Yeah dude, my hats off to you too.  I honestly don't have the patience to do what you do. I tried it before...I was going to trace the Namco Japanese version of the Galaxian Marquee (which I like better than the Midway one) a bunch of years ago, but ended up losing interest in it. I think eventually someone else took up the task so I didn't feel too bad about promising it and not following through.

[BAMBOO]

@ Opt2.  Its cool man.  No biggie on my end.

@Soundwave.  Sorry your thread got wrecked.  We're all passionate about about this arcade stuff and sometimes it shows.

[winnydapoo]

Good and fair feedback from opt and vwal here 

[Soundwave]

It sounds like you want some honest feedback and not just a pat on the back so here it goes...

I don't like it.

I get what you are trying to go for but its not working here. Trying to merge NES with Sega master system just doesn't work here. It seems forced and un-natural. Disjointed, if you will. It actually took me several looks to even understand what I was looking at.

I know you already had the marquee printed but that font is weird. There is something wrong with it. Each letter looks like a bite was taken out of the bottom of each letter.

The control panel also has some random pac-man graphic that doesn't belong.

My opinion: start over and go a different direction. Keep it simple. Less text, keep the number of colors low. Maybe more straight lines. Subtle indications that point to Nintendo but not blatant.

Pick Sega or Nintenfo. But not both. Good luck. Remember: less is more.

Thanks for your perspective, that's the type of response I was looking for.  The marquee font was actually Nintendo font...close to it I guess but I got to playing with effects and added a slight liquid effect at the bottom, that's why it is like that and I did regret it to some degree once I got it back and seen it on a larger scale but I guess it's too late now...I don't see it as a biggie though
What I wish I done was use Sega's font style with the lines as that's more inline with a sega/nintendo theme.

I've seen dozens of NeoGeo, Dreamcast or Nintendo themed cabs and I still want to mix it up a bit beyond that...just to be different I guess. The side art I've scrapped but not sure what would fit best with a dual theme....I may still go with the black cab and red line with vents seeing as it would match the marquee I guess.
If that route is taken I'll likely stick with the control panel there....just not sure what to do about side art.

[Soundwave]

Nothing about their critique was mean spirited.


Soundwave:  Your first words were "I'm building a MAME cab,"  while there is nothing wrong with support for the 8 bit systems (as some games translate well for arcade controls) I wonder if it should be the focus of your cabinet?

With All due respect to edekoning and grippie, I'm not so sure I'd do a console themed arcade.  But if you are committed to you should check out what each of them did for their art.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=133712.0

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=141069.0

Right, well there will be all the other emulators used including NES/Sega stuff....basically any type of game that I enjoy that would still play well with a joystick/buttons. There just isn't anything retro nostalgic to me about MAME itself. lol.  When I think of nostalgic gaming, a lot of it is for Sega/Nintendo and arcades.