Which Of These Icons Is The Best for "The Barbarian", Action RPG

EDIT: I went with B2. C4 was also a top pick, but the actual image was poorly composed and had a lot of extra space above the head. For that reason, I went with B2.

QUESTION 2: Top, Middle or Bottom -- how close should it be? Keep in mind small phone screens.






[Poll: Can't do 16 options, so choose the row / column you like, and hopefully that'll show the right one. And maybe comment your choice too!]

I had an icon made, paid for it, but I really don't like it. So I decided to go to stock photo sites. I've narrowed down to these icons (small, on purpose). Which one(s) do you like?

The game is "The Barbarian", it's an Action RPG for mobile/desktop.

Let me know which ones you like! It'll cost about $150 to license the image, so I don't want to make the wrong choice! Also I've got to order my business cards for GDC by tomorrow

 

Well, they're all of different styles, so we can't give much feedback without knowing about the rest of the art it has to fit in with.

Edit: But for what it's worth, A1 and C1 look the most barbarian-y to me. Many of the others are more suggestive of knights, monks or magic users.

 

IMO they look like icons from cheap browser games, sorry Could you post some screenshots of your game?

 

www.thebarbariangame.com

I really wanted a classic D&D look, but haven't been able to find anyone who both can and wants to do it that doesn't cost a crap ton of $$. I'd love for there to be a stock photo site specifically for concept art.

 

Also, for whatever it's worth, the top two games on the iOS store I think are still these icons:

 

Does that even work? The purpose of concept art is to flesh out a concept through an interative decision making process. The iterations are where at least half of the value is. The picture you get out at the end is mostly only useful to show what the decisions resulted in. You can't just outsource that to a website, because then you don't get to make the decisions.

In any case, this is for a prototype or demo, right? If so, I wouldn't get too hung up on it. I'd also save the $150 and pick something cheaper or free that's "good enough" rather than "great", because I think you could probably get far more mileage for $150 elsewhere. That'd net you three bits of music for a demo, or a bunch of stuff from the Asset Store, or a variety of other things with a far bigger impact than the difference between a free/cheap stock image and an expensive one.

 

I chose 4A, though I think they're pretty much all suggestive of a knight. 2B would be my second choice. However, if it were me here's what I would do:

Print out one of those legal release forms (you can find them easily on the internet) that you make people sign if you want to use footage of them on TV or their photograph in professional print. Find someone who looks somewhat like a barbarian / professional wrestler / biker. Biker bars would be a good place to start looking. Explain that you'd like to use their image as an icon for a game and that you're willing to pay, and if you find someone who is agreeable to how much you want to pay (a lot of people I would think would hop at the chance for an easy 50 bucks), have them sign the form so you can use their image. Find a decent plain backdrop like a black wall or brick wall or something kind of plain and have them "model" in front of it for you, making a barbaric expression, while you take pictures of them. Then use photoshop or something similar to slightly cartoonize the image.

Another option is to do something similar with the release form but visit tattoo shops and find someone who would be willing to draw and color a barbarian icon for you. Most tattoo artists would be willing to do this (at least the ones I know) since it's easy as pie for them compared to actually tattooing someone, and they likely wouldn't charge anything near the cost of an actual tattoo. Then scan or photograph what they draw and use that as your icon. This way you could describe the exact look you want, and if the tattoo artist is worth their salt at all they'll be able to mock up something for you within minutes.

 

Everyone except of 1A and 2A looks really good.

 

I think these are horrible for icons. I voticed row 3 but honestly, an icon is symbolic, and needs to be easy to USE, to glance it quickly and not have to strain to see what on earth is even being shown. The contrast and color in all of these images is bad. There's way too much detail. I think I'd base an icon on one of these, but have it be drawn with vectors or something.

 

Yes, but... it depends on what the "icon" is for. I'm assuming it's actually for more of a "character portrait".

 

The game is meant for release. All the stuff is from the asset store, so no concept art was ever needed (nor could I afford it).

I've already paid for a bunch of images like the one in my profile photo here, as well as the attached image. The attached is my current icon -- a close up of the face -- but ultimately I'm not happy with it.

In an ideal world I'd have had concept art throughout and I'd have hired an artist to do the work in a style similar to Dungeons and Dragons. But that's not how it worked out.

I could do the photography myself -- I'm actually quite the good photographer, but nothing I produce will come close to what you see above, really -- it'd all be the same, in the end. (I even have a buff friend with some fake armor to use)

But really, I need to get cards printed tomorrow for GDC and I'd like to submit the game to the Mac App Store (a sort of soft launch) this week, and I won't be back to my camera/studio until after GDC.

 

I don't think the icon has to match the game 100%. Ultimately the look of the models in the game isn't good enough for an icon. So it has to be some sort of "concept" art. The style etc is dependent on what I can find.

Looking @ the iOS store, the mojority of icons don't actually "look" like the game.

 

They might not "look like the game", but all of the (good) stuff I've seen is at least stylistically consistent.

 

@angrypenguin -- can you show an example of what you mean? Game of War is one of the top iOS games and looking at videos it seems like it's not super similar stylistically.

I figure people will be buying this book by its cover. Or at least opening up the front flap by it's cover. I need to not have an ugly image for it. Any of the models from the game will NOT look good for the icon. They're game models. I have no concept art from production because everything is from the asset store. I have some art I had commissioned but none of it looks that good.

My goal is to get a similar vibe to the examples I put above: Clash of Clans & Game of War. Fortunately my game is "The Barbarian", so a tough guy looking tough fits perfectly.

So really, the questions are:

(1) Is there any stock photo site for concept art?

if not

(2) Which from the above is the best cover for this book? The one that will make the most number of people actually click in and then make a decision to buy or not based on the game images and video?

 

C4 seems like the most actiony icon.

 

Barbarian you say?

 

"Stylistically consistent" doesn't mean using game models for everything. It means, for instance, not having a raw photograph of a dressed up person next to a hand drawn chibi character next to a stylized 3D modeled character. Having done a quick search for images of Game of War, I'd definitely say its art is stylistically consistent.

 

Ok, noted.

Now, answers for the OP?

 

B1 C2 D3 D4 are my favorites. Your game looks really good. Do you have a blog or any other post about it yet?

 

I've posted a "Work in progress" thread here once or twice, but that's it. I have a real aversion to social networking. Ih ave a Facebook page, but nothing on it really I need to do a better job of all that.

There needs to be a company that for a small monthly fee will do all that for me.

 

Haha, yeah I need that myself!

 

I've added 3 options at the top for the one I chose. I may make it a bit more cartoonish or something, but for now, how close do you guys think it should be?

 

Well, I've made the decision, and you can see it now at my Steam Greenlight page! (and, while you're there, if you think you'd like to, click the "yes" button!)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=398144374