Marquee and Neon Ring Art

[jimdeprado]

I found this site about 6 years ago and was instantly hooked.  The people on this board have immensly more talent than I do when it comes to all aspects of artwork, woodworking, mechanical, design, etc.

My twins and youngest son are finally old enough that I have gotten a small amount of free time and would like to go ahead and build something for myself and something that my kids can play on.

I really like the overall design of Kneivil's Evolution.  I downloaded the plans in Sketchup and modified them just a bit.  The title for my cab is going to be Jim's Arcade Flashback. I know that it isn't anything original, but I figured that I could just bonus off of what everyone has done before me. 

My initial design were to have something simple like what gildahl http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=120946.0 has done.  I really like the way the blues pop out of his machine.  I tried to contact him to see if he were willing to share his artwork, but haven't heard back yet.  So I decided to go ahead and give Inkscape a try.  I quickly came to several conclusions.  1)  I suck at artwork 2)  I need help.  Here are my attempts at a Marquee and Neon Ring artwork.  Any help or comments would greatly be apprecated.

By the way, I did fail the color blind test while I was in the Air Force.  I'm not color blind enough to see everything in black/white/gray, but I have trouble with shades of colors all looking the same to me.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[lordnacho]

I'm not even close to being a graphic artist, so take this purely as my opinion.  But the marquee could definitely use some work.  Not very legible and has a Word/clipart feel.  I'd try it with bigger text and less blocky font.  The gradient colors make it hard to read, maybe try just 2 colors for it.  Mostly one color but fade at the end to the other.  That's how the one you linked to is.

For the sideart, I don't really like the see through font, maybe fill with a solid color for it to pop.

Then there's the blue and purple.  Not sure they compliment each other.

Sorry if this seemed harsh.  I can't create art, but I'm great at borrowing other people's ideas

[yotsuya]

Try centering the text on the marquee, and fill in the text on the ring and see what you get.

[griffindodd]

You might want to try looking for some images or characters on the web to dress up your art. If you search for images that are in .PNG format they sometimes have transparent backgrounds so you can just drop them into your art file...

some examples...

Hulk
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111228054445/streetfighter/images/0/04/Hulk_MvsC3-FTW.PNG

Rad
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111228060505/streetfighter/images/f/fc/Rad_Spencer_MvsC3FTW.png

Also don't be afraid to use up the empty space with larger text, it's a little bare right now

[t3design]

What size does the marquee need to be, both viewable and total (including the retainer).

What is the diameter of that circle?

Are you sold on "Jim's Arcade Flashback"

[jimdeprado]

t3desgin, The overall space for the marquee is 23.5" x 5.25".  I'm not sure about the marquee retainer.  Is there a standard for this?  Would .5" on top and bottom work?

For the circle I was going to use 15".  Does this sound reasonable?

I am not sold on Jim's Arcade Flashback and would definitely be open to any suggestions.

griffindodd, I will work at putting some characters in this weekend and post again.  Thanks!

lordnacho1, I appreciate the feedback.  I dont think that your suggestions are harsh.  I take them as contructive critism and will use them when I work on them this weekend.

Thanks again and I'll post something this weekend.

Jim

[Steven kurylec]

Hi jim :-)

What sort of theme do you want your cab to have? If you throw a few ideas at me I am happy to draw something up for you to help your creativity start off. The problem ive had with my artwork is the ideas ive come up with rather than the actual graphic programs ... :-(

Ste

[jimdeprado]

Ste,

I dont have a theme per se (or however you spell it).  I like the idea of the cabinet being something nostalgic.  I spent a lot of my youth in arcades and playing games.  It was one of the happiest times in my life (other than my marriage and birth of my 3 kids).  I think about it frequently.  That's where the "flashback" idea got started.  Sorry it isn't more definitive.  I sincerly appreciate the help.

Jim

[lordnacho]

Any favorite games that stand out from the rest?  You could look at the marquee for those and try to copy the style/fonts

[t3design]

Just taking a stab here:

[Vigo]

Ooh, I like that. 

[jimdeprado]

T3design,

I like it.  Can you send me the file in vector format?  Can you tell me how you made it?  If I wanted the blues to be more like the one's from the link in my first post (files below - not mine from gildahl's cab) can you point me in the direction on how to do that.  I feel awkward asking for help with nothing in return.

Thanks again!  I sincerely appreciate it,

Jim

[jimdeprado]

OK,

I've finally had a chance to work on the artwork.  I really like what t3design has come up with.  I tried to mimic that on the side art along with some of the comments from Lord Nacho and Ste.  I saw Rom's Character Fusion and thought that it would be perfect for my cab.  I downloaded it from the library and took a shot at some new side art. 

As you can probably tell, I am not very good with colors.  Is there a way to click on a jpg (in a certain location) and get the color values so I can replicate them in my art since I cant do that visually?

We are getting close and hopefully I will be able to work a bit in the shop this weekend on actually building my cab.

Thanks again for everybody's help,

Jim

[t3design]

T3design,

I like it.  Can you send me the file in vector format?  Can you tell me how you made it?  If I wanted the blues to be more like the one's from the link in my first post (files below - not mine from gildahl's cab) can you point me in the direction on how to do that.  I feel awkward asking for help with nothing in return.

Thanks again!  I sincerely appreciate it,

Jim

Sorry, got lost for a bit. I would be glad to work this some more for you. I will take the images you uploaded and see if I can get the blue closer. I can also try to get the round side graphic to match. Give me a day or two....

[jimdeprado]

Thanks T3design, I appreciate it. I'm sorry that I have taken so long to get back to the boards, but I have been out sick for over a week and to top it off, I stepped on 2 nails while working on my deck.

Please let me know what I can do to help,

Thanks again,

Jim

[t3design]

Jim,

I've pulled up the marquee I did and the one from Project X and the blues are very close. What makes it look different is the yellow in the sunrise over the earth image in the lettering. Do you want something different there? Do you want that darker or the background darker? Do you want a blue tomed image there or a silver toned image?

Can you PM me your email so I can send you files directly?

Thanks

t3