Can you help me pick a marquee background? (UPDATED IMAGES)

[vice350z]

Whipped up a marquee and control panel for a BARTOP cabinet I'm putting togheter but not sure which background I like best. Cabinet will be in black to start with. The marquee will be backlit.

Would you folks mind taking a look at my 6 options and let me know which you think works best?

OPTION 1




For OPTION 1 AND OPTION 5 I would keep the side panels semi-gloss black or use THIS texture


OPTION 2




OPTION 3




OPTION 4




For OPTION 2. 3 & 4 I would keep the side panels semi-gloss black or use THIS texture


OPTION 5




For OPTION 1 AND OPTION 5 I would keep the side panels semi-gloss black or use THIS texture


OPTION 6




For OPTION 6 I would keep the side panels semi-gloss black or use THIS texture



Not sure which i like best. Thanks

[nexusmtz]

1 Looks muddy to me
3 Gradient in multiple places on the cab can make it look lopsided
That leaves 2, if those are your only choices.

[PL1]

let me know which you think works best

I'll wait until you post the other artwork you're already working on.


Scott

[vice350z]

3 Gradient in multiple places on the cab can make it look lopsided

Good point...didn't even think about that. Although its a large image and i forgot to mention I'm doing a bartop cabinet so doesn't look too bad on the sides to me

I love how the cabinets look that I've seen with bright colorful graphics on it and stuff but I wanted to go for a darker "brushed metal" type of look. At first I just thought doing a marquee and the rest in carbon fiber vinyl...still not sure yet if only marquee or the whole cabinet in whicih ever textured wallpaper I pick

[vice350z]

let me know which you think works best

I'll wait until you post the other artwork you're already working on.


Scott

WOrking on them...same theme..brushed metal but lighter so the text could be black instead of white and so the black buttons would show up better on the control panel.

[vice350z]

Not that anyone cares, but change of design. I printed out the one stainless steel look I liked and put it on my cabinet..wasn't too fond. Just so not-colorful lol. So just deciding between these now.

SEGA Inspired cab




NINTENDO Inspired cab




Mix of the two since its not console specific but more about retro games from all systems

[yamatetsu]

Number 2 minus the logos on the CP.



If this was my cab, I would try to make dioramas for the marquee and the CP. Something like this:

   

This could easily done by using several layers of plexi, printing the marquee and the CP art several times, cutting out the '3D' pieces and glueing them to several layers of plexi.

[vice350z]

That would be a sweet idea for a marquee...a shadow box marque with the cabinet name on plexi and all those layers behind it.

The Super Mario World one does look a lot cleaner and less busy. Would probably get rid of the question mark boxes too...looking at it now its the only area with it and looks off. Only thing is I don't want it to look like a Sega or Nintendo only machine which is why I was going with that brushed steel look at first but then the no color bugged me...but then again this is just for me in my home. Not like people will be using it either.

EDIT: Just noticed you chopped a version without the logos on the CP...nice job. It looks even more clean without the logos/cab name at the bottom...figured it make it look more "official" or something. I would probably just lower the height of the grass/rock now that the logos are gone.

[yamatetsu]

Now imagine a nice diorama marquee+CP in addition to that...

[vice350z]

I'm still messing with this damn thing...i think i'm just going with this and calling it a day. Early 90's characters, 90's arcade looking font. 90's grid background. I'm stuck on having the game company names on the marquee for samples of what's playable. Good enough.

[proplayer77]

Id go to the darkest one

[yamatetsu]

I have been away for a while from the artwork forum and come back to... this.



- the art style of the characters clashes with the 8bit rock/grass wall

- the company logos are floating in the air, the legs and feet should be in front of them

- a grass/rock wall in front of a... grid?

- company logos in front of a grass/rock wall? Makes no sense.

- if you do this marquee and keep the 'Nintendo inspired CP', the art styles clash



I would simply keep the 'Nintendo inspired' marquee and maybe remove the joystick. If you absolutely want to do the new marquee, I would suggest replacing the grid with the green background of the 'Nintendo inspired' marquee, so that CP and marquee look more consistent. And ditch the logos. And replace Mario and Sonic with 8-bit versions so that they fit the art style.

Sorry if this sounds a little bit harsh, but I really think that this new marquee is a step backwards.