Sideart: Opinions

[Minwah]

Pretty simple due to my artistic ability and general lack of inspiration atm.  I think it's lacking something, but I want to keep it simple & generic...

Any comments / suggestions?

Ta

Edit: didn't quite make sense 

[Minwah]

RGB version:

[Witchboard]

I like it.  In a hypnotising voice it says, "Play me." 

[menace]

very old skool--I like

[Minwah]

Thanks guys   I wanted to try to get the style of Atari's generic-ish sideart they used on a few machines...ie just lines, colours & 'ATARI'.

Having looked away from it for a few hours and then gone back to it, it has grown on me...I can imagine the 'ATARI' coming out and spinning as it gets bigger...

Anyone think I should change it in any way?

[walls83]

I like it.  I would put the spinning ATARI logo on there.  I think that would just top it off.

[mahuti]

Or, try off-setting the centerpoint of the lines... move them up a bit. Might be worse, dunno.

[BobbyG66]

Another idea is to add some "perspective" lines to the text.

That would give it some depth.

[darkmavis]

try making the text black with a white border or  vice versa, make it stand out more just my 2p's worth

[2600]

I suck at art, but since it's System1 base what about it being a tad bit more like System1.

System1 had horizontal lines and colors with varying thickness.

Varying the thickness between colors may add what's missing.

Also, don't know if you want to change the colors a little to have it tie in more to the rest of your cab.  At first glance, the art doesn't seem appear to me to tie in together, not that all of System1s sideart did.

[Chris]

I like it, but I would make the black sections a very dark blue instead.

[ras2a]

Maybe you could add some after-blur type lines to give the indication that it 'is' spinning towards you, as you suggested?

Craig

[Minwah]

I like it.  I would put the spinning ATARI logo on there.  I think that would just top it off.

I did try that but it didn't look quite right.  I don't think Atari used to use the logo much in sideart.

Or, try off-setting the centerpoint of the lines... move them up a bit. Might be worse, dunno.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

Another idea is to add some "perspective" lines to the text.

That would give it some depth.

I thought of that but I am not sure how to do it.  ATM the lines are actually rectangles...I suppose I would need to make them into triangles to achieve this - I'll see if I can do it.

try making the text black with a white border or  vice versa, make it stand out more just my 2p's worth

It does make it stand out more but somehow I don't like it as much...maybe because you don't often see the Atari logo/text with a border, I don't know.

Varying the thickness between colors may add what's missing.

Also, don't know if you want to change the colors a little to have it tie in more to the rest of your cab.  At first glance, the art doesn't seem appear to me to tie in together, not that all of System1s sideart did.

Good idea on the thickness   I've tried to use at least some of the same colours throughout, but you're right.  I don't mind the control panels not matching the rest as I am going for almost game-specific styles for different CP's (eg my Pole Position-esque one).  Maybe I should try to match up the sideart & marquee more...yesterday I tried to incorporate the System1 logo in the sideart, but wasn't happy with it.  I'll play around some more, maybe try out the sideart pattern in the marquee.

I like it, but I would make the black sections a very dark blue instead.

I'm a little wary of dark blues, since it seems hard to actually get one in CMYK - I tried it with a purpley-blue though and it looks pretty good

Maybe you could add some after-blur type lines to give the indication that it 'is' spinning towards you, as you suggested?

I gave it a go, but it seems to take away from the 'old-skool-ness' somewhat.

Thanks for all the replies, I have a lot of things to try out now!

[Minwah]

I haven't managed to do any of the ideas mentioned...I can't even re-do what I've already done, not sure how I did it - think I'll give up on graphic design!

Anyway I made a (very rough) mock up picture with the above design...certainly looks nice 'n' bright!

[mahuti]

Looks good. Cut, print, that's a wrap.

[Minwah]

OK I've had another bash at the marquee, just to try to tie it in with the sideart:

[Minwah]

I used grey since I think there would be too much black for a marquee...but then I suppose the side should look like this:

(not sure if I like this as much as the black)

[Minwah]

I think I'm nearly there:

[Minwah]

nt

[Minwah]

Wonky mock-up #2 

[BobbyG66]

Yea, the blues look way better than the grey color...

[ras2a]

Wonky mock-up #2 

Fook me, that looks beautiful.  Now I 'know' that I need to do side-art!

Superb!

[Minwah]

Fook me, that looks beautiful.  Now I 'know' that I need to do side-art!

Superb!

Thanks   I have a bit more of a reason to do the sideart than you in fairness.  I do think it is a good touch to finish the machine off, but I also have some protruding bits of filler (screw heads) to get rid of - for some reason it expanded after the paint had been applied.  The machine was in a cold & probably damp shed and all I can think of is that it remained slightly 'wet' and absorbed some of the paint (it was in the warm for painting).  I'm going to sand it down smooth before I apply the sideart - I've purposely gone for full side art so I don't have to paint it again.  Your cab has a good finish already so you could go with partial art if you prefer.

I think the grey one looks quite bad looking at it now...

BTW Ras, did you email me that pic of your cab running MW?  Just checking as my Hotmail has a habbit of blocking mails (& I don't get any notification).

[ras2a]

Your cab has a good finish already so you could go with partial art if you prefer.

>> Yeah, think I'll prolly do that...altough it's gonna have to be in a while as I'm skint at the mo

BTW Ras, did you email me that pic of your cab running MW?  Just checking as my Hotmail has a habbit of blocking mails (& I don't get any notification).

 

>> Nope, not had chance yet, gonna take some better pics this weekend and will email ya then, appreciate you putting it up for me.  Thanks Min - Switch to Yahoo for webmail, it's a lot more comprehensive IMO. 

Edit: Ahh, just noticed that you're sticks are on the right-side of the buttons, cool....or have you flipped that pic or sumthin?

[Minwah]

>> Nope, not had chance yet, gonna take some better pics this weekend and will email ya then, appreciate you putting it up for me.  Thanks Min - Switch to Yahoo for webmail, it's a lot more comprehensive IMO. 

Well I actually quite like Hotmail...does all I need really - at least I get hardly any spam.

Edit: Ahh, just noticed that you're sticks are on the right-side of the buttons, cool....or have you flipped that pic or sumthin?

I flipped the pic because the sideart I've made was for the 'wrong' side visible in the picture.  I like to grasp my stick with my left hand

[Grasshopper]

I like it, vaguely classic looking but not game specific.

I always think simple sideart looks the best.

Also, and I don't know whether you've already considered this, but with that design you do have the option of painting it on.

The background essentially consists of only straight lines in two colours (ignoring the black background) and no fancy fill effects. So you could in theory quite easily draw the lines on the cab's side with a ruler and pencil and then spray the two colours on in two stages using masking tape to mask off the areas already painted or black. You could then make a stencil for the Atari text.

Quite time consuming admittedly but painting would save you a fortune and if you paint then it's easier to repair damage at a later date.

[ras2a]

I like to grasp my stick with my left hand

Good for you, I like to use 2 hands sometimes - 

[Minwah]

Also, and I don't know whether you've already considered this, but with that design you do have the option of painting it on.

Funny you mention that...I hadn't though of it but someone else suggested it down the pub last night.  My only concern with spraying is the ridges that would be left from masking off.  How would I get around that?

[darkmavis]

marquee 4 is the one try using a drop shadow on the atari, make it really  tight tho the logo ad diffuse it slowly, should make it stand out but not effect the logo, just a thought.   

[Minwah]

try using a drop shadow on the atari, make it really  tight tho the logo ad diffuse it slowly, should make it stand out but not effect the logo, just a thought.   

Do you mean on the sideart?

[darkmavis]

aye

[acejas]

Mate

Slightly O/T but just mentioning it because of your sideart. When you come to apply it make sure you use heaps of water with methylated spirits (its used to evaporate the water). Even better and grab a bottle of vinyl applicator. If you want more info when you come to do it gimmie an email and I can fill you in.

Cheers
acejas

[Wade]

Why not use the repro system 1 sideart?  I think that is what I'd go with.

However, I like what you've done above pretty well.  Looks classic.  I'd be tempted to try something with more colors on it, similar to the Paperboy sideart, but I'm partial to very colorful designs.

Wade

[Minwah]

Why not use the repro system 1 sideart?  I think that is what I'd go with.

However, I like what you've done above pretty well.  Looks classic.  I'd be tempted to try something with more colors on it, similar to the Paperboy sideart, but I'm partial to very colorful designs.

The System1 sideart show some flaws in the shape of my cab (it is not an exact replica since I didn't have all the measurements / angles).

I think I like my art more now anyway, I tried to limit the colours similarly to the System 1 original sideart.

acejas: thanks for the tip...

I have now sent my marquee & the 360 deg wheel control panel overlay for printing from www.mamemarquees.com ...not sure about the sideart yet as it is a lot bigger than any of the offered sizes at mamemarquees - I may either paint it on or ask a friend who can do large prints.

[Wade]

Oh, well if the size is slightly different then I definitely wouldn't go that route.

You could mask and spray the lines, and then just put the logo over it in vinyl/printed vinyl, or even mask it too.  That's the beauty of a retro-style design. Simplicity.

Wade

[Minwah]

You could mask and spray the lines, and then just put the logo over it in vinyl/printed vinyl, or even mask it too.  That's the beauty of a retro-style design. Simplicity.

That's what I'm considering atm...is there a good way to not get such harsh ridges when masking & spraying?  Most things I have sprayed with masking before has had this problem...

[Guitarist19]

i like it

[Wade]

To avoid the ridges you need to spray the paint in THIN layers.  Paint it as thin as you possibly can.  It is the heavy paint "tearing" from the mask that causes the rough edges.  You might want to practice on some scrap with a similar texture first.  It's not hard, you just have to be careful.

Wade

[Minwah]

To avoid the ridges you need to spray the paint in THIN layers.  Paint it as thin as you possibly can.  It is the heavy paint "tearing" from the mask that causes the rough edges.  You might want to practice on some scrap with a similar texture first.  It's not hard, you just have to be careful.

Thanks for the tip, I'll probably give it a try.  My only other problem is where to do it...