The Mask of Norro

Jules versus Xero Gravity Story: An up-and-coming company in your area is looking for graphic designers to update their current logo to fit more 'modern' standards. Along with this, they're looking for a sample of the logo on a business card, and it's up to you to make that happen. Basic Rules: Design a logo for a fictional company of and product, and design a business card for yourself as the said company's freelance graphic artist. Restrictions: Obviously must include the name of the company on both. For the business card, include a name, address, phone + fax number, and an email address (all may be fictional) Size: Keep logo sizes below 600x600(that would be a hi-res logo). Business card size should be 500x300 Deadline: Tuesday, April 11th

ZED ------------- Pros: Wow, two new members to the board that are skilled designers! That logo is excellent, and the placement certainly works with what you've done there. The title of the album also has a nice placement. Primary cut of the wolf is clean and crisp, effects used on the image are very nice, and all in all I could picture this being a front cover rather easily. Cons: The only problem here is the colors picked for the font-- because of the colors used all around the text for both the logo and the CD name, it makes that text almost get lost in the cover by the casual eye. It's very hard to read the "For The Sake of Revenge" text especially. DAN ------------- Pros: Nice colors, nice font placement, nice font choices and effects... Cons: ... but a poor design idea. The samurai you've put in there look tacky the way you've placed them, the blending seems unneccesary and just obscures them more then it adds to the cover. The idea to the whole thing isn't all that appealing or creative, unfortunately. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- zed's had a nice concept to it and nice execution, but that font is very difficult to read, knocking him down a few notches due to that. The casual observer would have a hard time reading it for sure, and that's not all too appealing. Dan's concept was sorely lacking and the execution of it wasn't too nice either. His font choice and placement of text was good and the colors were appealing to the eye, but other then that there weren't many pluses to his cover. zed takes this one pretty easily, his idea and the execution of it was just better all around. Thanks for participating though Dan, I do hope to see you next time Welcome to round two, zed.

THEDEREKEFFECT1 ------------- Pros: Where the hell did you come from?! This is really good, you should post here more! The simplicity works wonders-- your font placement is great, the logo was placed in a nice spot of the poster where it draws attention yet isn't too large or too small, and the layout to the poster itself is crisp and clean-- a very, very nice execution. Even the blue font-- which, at first glance, I didn't like all that much-- adds a really nice balance of colors there. Cons: The WB logo kinda looks 'flattened', as though you stretched it out wider then it was meant to be. EVANSFAN1 ------------- Pros: I... uh... yeah, sorry. Cons: This definitely doesn't look like a theatrical poster at ALL. Background is horrible and of poor quality, the font you've chosen doesn't work at all, the cuts are tiny and sized horribly in comparison to each other... there's just so many routes you could have gone with that movie and you didn't take any. I mean, I really hate to say this and sound overly harsh, but the whole poster itself feels like a con to me. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- thederekeffect1 came in at a great time with a great work to offer-- it looks like something I'd see in a theater. Crisp, clean, simple design for a simple idea that came off really well. Evansfan1, however... not so much. Sorry man, but none of this works, and if I saw this in a theater I really would cringe at the sight. thederekeffect1 obviously advances, but thank you for *trying* Evans, you at least put forth an effort to make your peice, unlike alot of people in this tournament. Maybe we'll see you next time man, just work on improving your skills. Welcome to round two, derek.

Kekekekeke I got my Photoshop legally and didn't pay a dime for it. The story's been told before, there was a mixup at Gateway when I told them a virus made me have to re-install Windows and I lost my Microsoft Picture It!, they thought I said Photoshop. So the lady at the Gateway store gives me a copy of Photoshop 6 for free. Here I am today, all thanks to a mistake made by the fine people at Gateway >_>

KEITH CLARK ------------- Pros: Oh, oh wow. That's an awesome attempt there Keith... I read about that movie recently too, and what you've done certainly fits it to a t. Nice font placement, effects and selection... quality picture choice and the broken beer mugs in the backdrop really work well to fill in those empty spaces. You've got excellent placement of the movie title, producing company, and the release date... and the actor names are really well placed as well, and not too large. Cons: You really could have picked a better line for the top there, it kinda leaves you hanging when there's no resolution to that elipse HIPSTER DOOFUS ------------- Pros: I *love* how you made it all grainy like an old painting might look kinda. Really fits well with the movie. Main cut was done well and looks nice, and to a certain extent even the images used on the left are blended well. Actor names are perfectly placed too. Cons: I really don't like how you've got all the grain going on up top balanced with the smoothness of black down below... and then suddenly there's a picture of someone amongst that at a complete random. That really put me off, the picture of the chick I mean... just seems way too out of place-- I'd have made the logo to the movie larger and centered it to add harmony. The blending on the left with the pictures, as said above, was done well to a certain extent, but there's some areas that would have been better off having some 'touching up', as it sorta just looks amateurish where the darker color abruptly fades into the lighter one (such as with the man's shirt fading into teh space over the man below's head) MATCH OUTCOME ------------- Keith's was great, it really did look like a movie poster-- especially one for a parody like that. He picked nice fonts, had excellent placement, everything was crisp and smooth... it just really, truly worked well. I was serious about the quote though, having it go from "THE SECOND RULE ABOUT BEER CLUB..." to "BEER FEST" was a bit awkward. Hipster's was well done considering the film he chose, the style he used fits it well. Like I said, the only *major* problem I have is that he used that picture of the woman where he did-- much less at all since had he not used it everything would have probably had a better harmony-- and pushed the logo off to the side and made it smaller then it needed to be. I really think it should have been centered, and at least a bit larger. The both of you made posters that really fit the film well though, and for that the both of you were excellent this round. Neither really was bad at all, just that one of you had one poor part to the poster that drug it below the other. That person who was drug down was you, Hipster... and thus Keith Clark will advance to the next round. A great, great effort from the both of you though. Thanks for participating Hipster... I really think you could do some great damage next time around if you sharpen your skills just a bit more until then. As for you, Keith, thanks for replacing Blink... and welcome to round two.

COLE ------------- Pros: Uhm... Cons: Okay, let's start with the thing that caught my attention first: You've got one person on that picture who isn't blended, and instead has very prominent colors coming from his attire and his skin. The rest of the graphic? Red, all red... except for the logo, which is BLUE. All of the fonts are white, except for the 'blocks' text, which is BLACK. The logo is of poor quality around the edges, that bevel is horrible, the blending of the pictures used is really, truly poor. That bottom area? Completely useless! Why would you have it fade off into a graphical-esque background when you're going for a movie poster look? Browse a few theatrical posters, when they put in hype like you tried to do, they make it really subtle, yet your text is bold and isolated yet huge. The poster really doesn't give off the idea to the casual viewer as to what the movie is about, except that there's been a witness and 16 blocks... you could have done a better way of explaining the movie subtley to the viewer then that. I really hate to be mean and all, but I honestly could find nothing good about this as a movie poster. AARON MAIDEN ------------- Pros: Your placement is great, and you picked some really crisp quality pictures there for the poster-- always a plus. The logo looks nice and sharp, the city looks perfect as the backdrop there, just all in all a nice, quality effort. Cons: I wouldn't have included a picture of Fraser, actually... it's unneccesary since the actor's name is already placed on the poster. What I would have done was find a larger picture of Ironman in the pose you have him in there, and make the 'flying effect' larger, so that Ironman took up the majority of the graphic with the city backdrop still behind him. Also, I'd have centered him, so as to draw more focus on him. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- I really am sorry if I'm coming off as an ass, but I can't seem to find anything good with Cole's attempt at a poster... and that in and of itself is the biggest thing bringing it down. Maiden, on the other hand, has a quality idea with a few chips that bring it down. Like I said, my suggestion would be to remove Fraser, enlarge Ironman and the flight effects, and center him. That's all you'd need to do and I'd have thought this was a really, really great quality effort. Just a few kinks to work out. In the end, I'm giving this one to Aaron Maiden without, unfortunately, any questioning of the decision. Cole's effort just wasn't even close to his best... and Aaron came out full stride. There was a huge gap between the two in this thing. Thank you both for participating, I hope to see you back and improved next time Cole; and welcome to the second round, Aaron.

FLOWZEN KING ------------- Pros: The background is really nicely done, not too attention-drawing that it pulls away from where the focus should lie on the cover, but not too dormant either. Nice work making the cuts, too. Cons: For what it is, this looks alot more like a graphic then it even comes close to looking like a jewel case cover. The cut placement could have been chosen better-- but really I think you should have made the cuts larger then what they are. Font selection is poor, font effects aren't really all that great, and seem too plain for what looks to be a very active cover. You've got empty space up top there, why not use that to have the "JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE & CHRISTINA AGUILERA" text? LBTN™ ------------- Pros: "Reuben" font works PERFECTLY with the background you've created there. Very fitting cover with a nice design put in over it. You've got the picture of the car placed perfect on the cover, I could just picture walking down the CD isle and seeing that cover there. Cons: The font selection for "RACECAR IS RACECAR SPELT BACKWARDS" text is poor, and doesn't work all too well with what you've made here. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- Flowzen made a nice graphic, but as a cover it really does fall short. He could have chosen alot better text placement and font effects for this, and the primary cuts really don't work all too well. Maybe he should have gone a route like centering Justin and Christina so Justin's elbow wasn't cut off by the edge, which would either make it overlap the spine or just abruptly cut off on the cover. Their names should have definitely filled that void up top if he didn't have the ability to up-size the cuts without losing the quality. LBTN™'s made an excellent cover. While his font selection for the title of the cover wasn't that great, he picked a perfect font for the band name, and placed it at just the right spot so it worked with the background. Everything really did come off nice here, and as I said... I can really picture this working as a cover. Thus, in the end, LBTN™ gets my vote to move on. Congrats LBTN™, and thanks for participating in this thing Flowzen... better luck next time

ALTERNATEYOU ------------- Pros: Really comes off great as a jewel case cover... loving the placement, the background style, the font selections. Just a pretty damn nice, simple idea. Cons: The picture quality is a bit off, and I *HATE* the effect you used on that primary logo. Man, you had a perfect font selection and placement, but that deep blue with a bright blue stroke and that ugly hard shadow really made it look too rough and of poor quality. Also, with teh "A Whole New World" font, I'd have maybe gone with a more *blue* blue, but not a deep one. Keep it faded, but maybe just a bit more of a tint of blue to it, make it match the cover more. LIVID ------------- Pros: The grimy, grungy feeling to the whole thing really works well here... logo placement and font selection is nice, colors work well together, and it really is a design that would stand out on it's own. Cons: Here's the proble [ Tyler ] encountered... it seems more like a graphic then a jewel case cover. That said, however, you did a better job then [ Tyler ] in making it at least look like a jewel case cover at the same time. "THE VICE" font could really use a light drop shadow to make it pop out from the cover a bit more, as it blends in a bit too much for the casual eye to catch what the name is, and normally you want the name to be apparent to the casual eye. That outer glow you've used for "Lamb of God" really isn't all that great either... I'd have just stuck with what you did with "THE VICE" font, only added a drop shadow there as well. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- alternateyou's cover works nicely as a front cover and all, but the quality brings it down. That logo really brought down the front, just because compaired to the rest of the cover it just looks way too rough. You've got such a great smooth feeling going on despite the poor picture quality, and then the logo just pops out in such a bad way because of the different color and the rougher appearence. Livid's cover would work better as a graphic to tell you the truth, yet it still works as a jewel case cover. The colors used really work well together, and the grungy style came off really well for this thing... really makes the whole thing more eye-catching, not many would pass that one by. However, the hard-to-read text for the logo brings it down, considering most people would like to casually look at the cover and know what band it is. Always great to have an attention-grabbing cover... but not if people don't know who the hell it's by. In the end, Livid takes this one by an edge. Although his works better as a graphic then a jewel case cover, the fact remains that it worked as a jewel case cover as well, and there were less factors bringing down the quality of it then there were for alternateyou. Alternate really cut it close though in the fact that his worked great as a jewel case cover... it's just that the execution really could have been better. However, it was a great showing by the both of you, and I thank you both very much for participating. Livid, congrats on your round-advancement... and alternateyou, I really do hope to see you again next time

BOXZY ------------- Pros: Placement, general layout to the poster and the way you've set everything up really does fit well for Superman. Cons: The Superman Logo, as has been said, is horribly cut. What people neglect to mention is that also the picture you've used with Superman throws off the balance of the poster as a whole--- everything is centered, and Superman's cape is flapping off to the side. I'd have gone with a frontal shot instead, keeping things center. Also, your fonts are too small-- "WHEN THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO..." could really use a bit of upsizing, as could "RETURNS 2006". The actor names seem alright though. DIGITALLYFADED ------------- Pros: My God, what you've done with the actors names is insanely clever, a very nice change of pace from the traditional side-style name placement. Colors work really well considering the movie, and the logo placement is nice. Also, I like the faded shot of them in the background for some reason, it really helps tie everything together. Cons: I think the effect you've gone with for the primary cut of the group is ugly, it sorta offsets the poster a bit. Maybe make it a bit less bold? Also, the edges around the 'snatch' text of the logo are a bit blurry, coulda done a bit of a better job cutting there, as it makes the logo look a bit off. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- BOXzy really had a nice idea for a Superman poster, and it really would have came off well... had he executed it the right way. Unfortunately, what seemed to be a nice, simple idea was weighed down by poor logo cutting and poor picture selecting, off-setting the center balance the poster has to it. digitallyfaded, on the other hand, did an excellent job making his poster *feel* like a poster, and shown alot less sloppyness in comparison to BOXzy. I don't really like how bold the effect he used on the primary group cut is, but the idea of the poster as a whole was quite nice. Probably my favorite use of actor names on posters yet, too... so simple, yet so clever and well-done. I'm giving this to digitallyfaded, as in the end his seems not only like a better poster, but that he put more care and effort into it. BOXzy's was weighed down with poor logo cutting, as I've said, and an off-center picture of ol'Superman. Would have looked so much better with a frontal centered shot, really. Thanks for participating to the both of you, thanks for the replacement to digital, and congrats as well... please come again next time, BOXzy

THANK you AJ, that really does help me alot. I've been busy lately so it's held me back from getting all judgements done right away, but they should be relatively done by today. Also, second round will begin probably late Saturday night. My girlfriend and my 2nd year anniversary is Saturday, so that day and most of that night is devoted strictly to her

I'm now up to 'P', have already finished Q but now gotta finish R before I upload Q. It's really coming along nicely

SEANDMAN ------------- Pros: Nice placement, love the logo and the whole idea behind the cover... really fits the title well. Cons: The quality of the picture/the small glow on it really bring the primary cut down. I'd have liked to have seen the 'radiohead' text either brought down just a little bit more from 'INSIDE MY HEAD' so that it didn't look like it was being overlapped. Also, the images used throughout the top are blended in a poor way... it just looks bad for some reason. RATED R SUPERSTAR ------------- Pros: I'm liking the whole feel of this cover... it's simple, yet it's effective. The whole cover fits the title AND the name of the band, the tree adds a pleasant eye-catching feature to the cover, as it off-sets the light and calm pinks and whites in a good way. I also like the 'Autumn' text and effect on it. Cons: I do not, however, like 'The White Stripes' text... the pink is much too strong on the bottom in comparison to the Autumn pink, and the font would have been better had it been the same as the Autumn font... rather than the different font you picked. The border was unneccesary as well considering the front would transition over to the other sides... I'm not so much marking you down for that as I am just pointing it out. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- SeanDMan's had a very nice idea which was brought forth in an average manner-- it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The quality of the images used, and the quality of the primary cut's edges, are what really brought this down for him. I'd have made the primary cut smoother, and maybe chosen a completely different way to blend those images around the man's head into the background. It just seems too cluttered with what he's done. Rated R Superstar's had a nice, simply idea that was surprisingly pulled off well. The only features bringing this one down is that the font selected for the White Stripes could have been better. Everything just really looks nice all together. I'm giving this one to Rated R Superstar, his seems to work better for a cover. Sean's was nice, it's just that the image quality was poor and that really brought it down. I mean, I really loved the area around the 'INSIDE MY HEAD' text... that looked great, but continuing up the cover it just didn't look all that great anymore. Thank you both for participating, and congratulations go out to Rated R Superstar for advancing! Come again next time Sean, you did good

CHRISSTEELEATEMYHAMSTER ------------- Pros: It has a really kickass oldschool feel to it... reminds me of 80s rock bands, actually. The balance is nice, it has a sort-of abstract feel to it which I really like. Easy on the eyes, attention drawing... very nice work. Surprisingly, that lens flare isn't all that bad either... normally they look tacky, but I couldn't see the cover working as well without it. Cons: Your 'ladytron' font effects suck for the rest of it. The blurred black stroke and the thick glow outside of the font just makes it look tacky. Considering how crisp everything else looks, it would have been nice to have a crisp logo and title, rather then a blurred one from the effects used. SLIMLAYZIE ------------- Pros: If it would have sucked, I didn't have to see it. Cons: Hamster gets through by default, and here I was hoping we wouldn't have default wins. Thank you. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- Obviously ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster wins, but like I promised, I'm giving my opinion. As I said in my judging, you did a great job giving the cover an old-school feel about it. Not sure if it was intentional, but it was certainly appealing. It would have all been great had the font effects been better, as the font selection actually worked with the cover. Make the font more crisp, maybe add just a little bit more contrast on the red in the font to make it a bit brighter, get rid of the blurred stroke and make it more solid... and I think it'd look alot better.

Actually, his met the replacement deadline dude. I had replacement call and zed answered, so he's in. I didn't want people advancing by default, so I gave 24 hours for anyone who missed signups to jump in as replacements.

Yeah, you got it in just in time: the battle lines are now closed. Judgements coming up today.

ADRENALINEJUNKY ------------- Pros: Where to begin? Your logo placement is superb, the quality of said logo is perfect for what you've done here, and it stands out really well. That chair and the effect you've used really brings it forward to the viewer's attention, yet not so drastically that it draws it in negatively. The shadow you've added for the chair really helps keep it balanced with the rest of the cover, too... making sure it doesn't pop out more then needed. Cons: I would have liked to see the chair just a little bit more centered, as it slightly throws off the balance of the cover. TOFFE CRISP ------------- Pros: Once again... where to begin? I'm loving your background, it's not too drastic and doesn't draw too much attention to it, and it looks very professional. That central film-esque thing you've used to bring forward the pictures of the band looks pretty damn nice too. The 'Seclusion' font and the way you've faded it is perfect-- not too obscured, but not too apparent. Plus, it fits the name. Cons: I don't know why, but your Aereogramme font being where it is and being as bold as it is really puts me off. I just feel like you could have done better then that, maybe made it a bit bigger and went with a blended font like you did with Seclusion. Also, with your film-thing on the right-hand side, I'd have liked to see it stretch across completely, as it cuts off pretty close to the edge, and also the cutting on it's left side is a bit choppy, in that there's a dip where the black-line edge of the photograph is visible and the upper and lower edges of the film continue out. That may have been intentional, though. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- adrenalinejunky's came out really nice-- exactly what I'd expect from a Limp Bizkit cover. It fits their style well, placement is almost perfect except for that chair, but it still works where it is. The logo and the chosen font work perfect, he made the chair look like it'd already been in the picture... just all around a great job. Toffee Crisp's came out really nice as well-- in that he went with a more graphical response to the design yet kept it professional and crisp, something that really impressed me. That film line stretching across the center with the photos was a nice idea, but could have been executed better, and I think the Aereogramme font brought it down a bit as well. I'll be honest with you two, this was a bitch to judge. I had some friends take a look at it so I could get ome casual perspectives on it though, and I continued to get the same response. Though I adore Toffee's graphically professional approach to it, the win goes to adrenalinejunky by a hair. His came off more to the style Limp Bizkit has used and thus fit it professionally, and the effort's he put forth also benefitted him graphically. When tested against casual viewers, everyone seemed to prefer AJ's... which, really, was the final push to have me decide he won. The both of you did a great job with this, I have to say. Incredible works from the both of you, I was dreading having to judge this when you both got yours in, but there it is. Thank you both for participating. AJ, congrats on the win... and Toffee, keep up the excellent work dude. I seriously want to see you back for the next one.

[ TYLER] ------------- Pros: I'm liking the balance here, very nice with the colors and the way everything seems in harmony with each other. Cons: This seems more like a graphic then a jewel case cover-- there's nothing that really shows it being music at all. It could allude to something dark and forboding, but not to an actual band... more like Halloween music, or dark nature noises of some sort. REFUX/THE MESSENJAH ------------- Pros: Placement is nice, I'm loving the transition in the center-- it's quite balanced. The effects used on the crowd are really nice too. Cons: That primary photo used for Disturbed is of poor quality. It's grainy around Draiman's face in spots, yet blurred as hell in others. Really hard to look at. Then, with the crowd, you can still see spots of the old orange background, primarily around the Disturbed figure's fist. Disturbed is a band known for intricacy with it's logos... and for a Disturbed album, you've not fit that with your logo design. That bevel makes it look cartoonish and, well, ugly. Here's where your balance ends-- you've got a blurred/grainy picture of the band, a cartoonish logo, and the drawings look smoother then said logo. Everything just sorta disrupts each other and falls short. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- [ Tyler ]'s had way too much empty space. I would have made a different Monty logo to go across the top, and fill in the blank area in the lower right hand corner with the 'Drunken Haze' logo. It's supposed to be the front to a Jewel Case cover, yet it looks more like a graphic. Refux/The Messenjah's looks more like a cover in style, yet everything disrupts each other and generally just looks tacky and/or of poor quality. I mean, it has the fact that it better resembles an album cover pulling for it, but even to the casual eye... it's just not that appealing. Neither really impressed me all that much, be it because of it's lack of relevance to the category or a drop in quality of the image. In the end, [ Tyler ] edges out Refux/Messenjah for the win. The reason? To the casual eye, the cover would stand out less negatively, and be easier to look at. While it wouldn't draw one's attention right away-- at least it wouldn't be drawing it in a bad way.

Red x, try uploading it to the boards. You can do so by selecting 'Attach Files' and picking the file from your computer. You can only do that in this forum as a non-donator (Y)

Flowzen has replaced Socky for this match up. He PMed me his graphic since he might not have access to get it up, so here it is: Link: http://69.93.183.37/902/38/upload/p2276222.jpg I'll get up my judgement later today.

No, people who've lost in other matches may not re-enter the tournament, only those who missed the sign-ups. I'd prefer not to have matches missing opponents, and I'm certain there's alot of people on that list who'd rather be faced against someone then to advance without an opponent.

CSAMH vs ??? LBTN™ vs ??? B0XY vs ??? Cole vs ??? Hipster Doofus vs ??? EvansFan1 vs ??? Dan vs ??? Kinda pisses me off we had so many no-shows, but what I AM happy for is that the number of entries far outweighed them. People interested in joining the tournament by replacing any no-shows must not only reply to this topic stating that they'll take the place in the battle against whomever, but they ALSO must post a graphic according to that match's guidelines within 24 hours. The deadline for all other matches is officially over, the only extensions have been granted to these matches. Note to those who may remain without an opponent: I will still leave the traditional review I've given everyone in the topic so you'll know what I thought, regardless of whether or not you're facing someone. Remember people: 24 hours to reply, and to post a graphic. If you want in on this tournament and missed out on sign-ups, now is your chance to enter.

Yeah, I didn't give a time frame, which pretty much means you have until 11:59 PM before it's no longer Sunday and you can't submit your graphic And I had better see alot of last-day graphics submitted, otherwise I'll see about replacements. I'd rather not have winners by default =\

Even though you guys are still waiting on the fourth entry, I have to say this: dawson, that's absolutely beautiful. Excellent poster dude, looks extremily professional

I've updated the uploads now, should be cut properly. I'm up to 'k' now, even though I've finished L, I won't upload it until M is done. Also, if you could, change "The Mask of Norro" on that page to "Norris Scott" Still working on this thing, I'll post whenever I make a new one. Once again, thanks man

MARSH ------------- Pros: Insanely clever-- I love how simple the whole thing is and yet how attention drawing it all seems to be. Nice name placement, nice idea... all around, I enjoy this cover quite alot. Cons: The quality of the monster blended on the box-- if anything, it detracts from the smoothness of the rest of the cover. Also, even though I like the placement... the text which reads 'One Eighteen' could stand to be just a tad bit darker, as it seems to get lost within the tones of grays. Just looking at the cover casually it sorta fades out of sight for me. Also, the box could stand to be centered a bit better-- it's situated moreso towards the right, based on the distance from the edges of the cover to the furthest ends on the box. FOURSTARFIZZLE ------------- Pros: Once again, you truly have to appreciate the simplicity of this design. Not neccesarily 'clever' as Marsh's was... it's just really well-thought out, really. The colors are brilliantly used, I'm loving the smooth effects on the image you've selected. Perspective is awesome... and the positioning of the fonts is pitch-perfect. Just a nice atmosphere to the whole thing, definitely works well with the title. Cons: This might sound a bit harsh, but if I were going through a CD rack looking for something to select... my eyes wouldn't immediately be drawn to this cover. It's not really downgrading the cover or anything-- it's a nice design, but because of just how subtle everything is, most would pass it by. Now, if you're an Atari fan, obviously there would be that acception. MATCH OUTCOME ------------- With Marsh, the idea was a really good one but I feel it could have been executed better. One of the things I might suggest for a design like this is to try cutting out a part of the box to fit with the teeth of the blended monster... make it seem more 'monsterish' for lack of a better term. The quality of the image used for the monster brought it down too, but the idea is class, and the positioning of the text was nice too. Definitely something my eyes would be drawn to. Fizzle, on the other hand, had a really nice and simple idea executed perfectly. The only problem with it is that to the casual observer looking for a new CD, alot of people might pass it by just because of how simple the design really is. Now I want everyone to understand something: this isn't too much of a con at all, but it gets mentioned because it likely would happen. The fact is, though... he's got some nice balance going on here-- that light at the end of the hallway might actually be the drawing point to the cover itself, as it seems to be the strongest source of light and, with such a dark cover, someone's eyes could actually be drawn to that. A pro offsets a con, so to speak. In the end, I'm giving this to fourstarfizzle in an extremily close contest. I loved the both of your entries-- Fizzle's being the simple yet effective one, Marsh's being the creatively simple one. Graphically, I'd have given Marsh the edge... but based on professional designs and the effectiveness of certain designs over others, Fizzle edges him out. Marsh's looks to have more effort, yet there's some rough spots that bring it down. Fizzle's doesn't seem to have taken as much, yet there's such a smooth feel to all of it that it was actually hard to find anything wrong with it. I have to say, this was the closest decision yet. Really surprised me with that cover, Marsh... it was extremily effective. Had that image of the monster been brushed up just a little to be less gritty, you might have actually beaten Fizzle.