First Attempt on Marquee...What You Think...

[Poker808]

Here is my first attempt on a Marquee for my Arcade...I am not completely finished with it yet but I just wanted to hear some comments about it before I do anymore to it...I will keep posting as I go if you like it...

[jopenner]

It seems to be coming along quite nicely.  I'll keep an eye out for the finished product.
Good luck.

John

[missioncontrol]

You need more going on in the background... also I think you should put a border around the letters for Arcade so that is stands out more. I like what you've done with the Ultimate part.

[Crowquill]

While it's interesting, I'm not sure what you're trying to show with the scaly, crystal-like pattern in "ultimate"? Maybe that texture would be better suited to the background.

Are there any other graphics that will need to match up to this artwork? (CPO, sideart, etc)

[Poker808]

After I get a good design for a marquee I am going to work on a CPO and maybe sideart...The texture of the word "Arcade" is going to be the same as the word "Ultimate"...For the time being I took the texture of the word "Ultimate" out to make it easier for me to mess around with the artwork but I will put it back in to both words on the final version so keep that in mind when view my samples...I got a design in my head but I just can't seem to make it in PhotoShop the way I want it...I made some more sample of marquees but I really don't like them but I don't really know what they need to spice them up...I am running out of ideas...Maybe someone here can help me...PLEASE give me suggestions...Here are the samples...

[Poker808]

Sorry about that they images were to big...I made them smaller so I could post them...here they are...

[Poker808]

OK like I said I really didn't like any of my Marquees that I made and I scrapped most of my ideas and came up with a better version of my theme I want to go with on my Cab...I FINALLY FOUND WHAT I WANT...I opened up PhotoShop and started at it and this is what I came up with...I am really proud of my Marquee this time and wanted to share it with everyone for their opinions...Let me have it good or bad...Thanks

[versapak]

I like it as a picture, but I am not sure about as a marquee. It seems more like a corporate logo than an arcade marquee.


I don't think the name is going to pop out from the background enough (Specifically on the right hand side that is).

Also...

It seems like some odd dimensions for a marquee. What kind of cab are you building?

[AceTKK]

Cool design, but the lettering gets lost in the background on the right-hand side of the marquee.  Also, like the poster above mentioned, that's a strange shape for a marquee.

-Ace-

[Poker808]

The reason it is in a weird shape is that I made it just as a mock up and didn't actually make it to size..it is made in a 400x200 pixel dimension because I wanted to make it quick and  not have to go through all of the loading of everything so I could make some Ideas up and then make it to size after I got the look I wanted...It does look like a corporate logo or something like that because i really wanted something that looked extremely different then everything that everyone else is making...I liked the look of GSXRMOVISTAR's design and wanted to use that as my own but everyone is doing that...I just really want something different and something that looks awesome...Also I made the text fade into the background on the one side because I want it to give off more of a glow look when there is a light behind it...I am not sure if these is a good idea or not but everyones options count and I am looking forward to more comments to help me better decide if I want to keep this look or scratch it and make something completely different again..

[Ad_Enuff]

One question, why use Photoshop when you coudl do this just as easily in Illustrator and have it in vector format?

[Poker808]

The first reason I used PhotoShop is that I don't have the illustrator program...I am going to try and get it but for now I wanted to make layout of what I was going to due for my theme just to get some ideas...Also what is vector format and what advantages to I have with use it...I am new to these programs and artwork so if you could would you try and explain this to me or lead me to an example of vector artwork...Thanks

[Ad_Enuff]

see my WIP re Rod-Land....this demonstrates what basic vectoring skills can acheive.

I took a flyer from http://www.arcadeflyers.net and then started to vectorise the scanned flyer's characters.

You can see what can be achieved quality wise...and once done the file is tiny! ie 355Kb instead of 5-6Mb of the low res raster image.

Now vectored the image quality is now 100% better and suitable for printing as sideart or whatever.

[Poker808]

Where can I find your WIP re Rod-Land at...Is vectoring a image very hard to accomplish or does it take a lot of time...

[Ad_Enuff]

Where can I find your WIP re Rod-Land at...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=44463.0

Is vectoring a image very hard to accomplish or does it take a lot of time...

If you can make it in Photoshop you can do it quite easily in Illustrator.

The graphics above are quite suited to your type of artwork.

Best thing about vectored art is that it scales with no loss...whereas Photoshop rasters will lose out when you scale and become pixelated if not drawn at the right dpi and size to start with.

[missioncontrol]

I like Sample 3

[Poker808]

Ad_Enuff I was just wondering how I can start my images out in vector format...Do you have a tutorial on this or now where I can find this out...Also if I make these in vector format and make them lets say 400x200 pixels which is really small, can I stretch this image to lets say 40x20 inches which is a lot bigger and not distort the image at all....Is this waht you are saying or not...If I can do this I will defently make it in vector format...

MissionControl, I do like my other examples but the backgrounds are really cheesy and need to be recreated...

[AceTKK]

One question, why use Photoshop when you coudl do this just as easily in Illustrator and have it in vector format?

Are you kidding?  Look at all those bevel and shadow effects.  There's no good way to recreate that in Illustrator.  This forum is vector-crazy I think. 

[Spbeyond]

I like!  Now i just need to make me a good marquee   Yeah right lol

[Ad_Enuff]

Ad_Enuff I was just wondering how I can start my images out in vector format...Do you have a tutorial on this or now where I can find this out...

Yes there is one in the library here http://localarcade.com/4images/download.php?image_id=223. If that doesnt help much and it is written by an expert who obviously knows a thing or two! Maybe Illustrator for Dummies maybe a good idea aswell.....and its cheap.

Also if I make these in vector format and make them lets say 400x200 pixels which is really small, can I stretch this image to lets say 40x20 inches which is a lot bigger and not distort the image at all....Is this what you are saying or not...

That is exactly what I'm saying. Because vector artwork is based on mathematical calculations and patterns you can take any vector image and scale from small to huge without loss every time. This is what most commercial companies do when they create corporate logos so teh artwork can be used for various uses such as billboards, tv commercials and magazines etc.

With raster based such as JPG (yuk), tif or Bitmaps, they all suffer from one major flaw ......scaling.

If your image isnt at the right dpi or image/print size your screwed when you want it bigger.