@petercal,
Here is a render that I did using the basis of your idea. In keeping with Minimalist ideas... I ditched the loyalty and card type symbols in favor of simple color coding. Minimalist is about having pzazz, while keeping to a simple basic look. I chose purple for loyalty since like you said its from the heart, green for positive #'s, and red for negative #'s. I opted for a single textbox with lighter shading but opaque enough to not steal too much from the art, using only tiny spacers to separate text. I shift the mana cost a little higher since there's no symbol, which leaves room for long titled cards. Anywho.... just figured I throw something out there.
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petercal posted a message on [Official] Digital Rendering ThreadThank you all for your insightful input. Though this text may run a bit long, I think consolidating individual replies can take advantage of a new render I put together to explain my design decisions.Posted in: Artwork
Here's Wizard's new Ajani in its original standard frame (image upsized to match the size of my renders; so it may be a bit fuzzy):
Here's my interpretation using the "minimalist" frame:
Note that the variable width of the loyalty ability text boxes reveals the lower portions of Ajani's image. Such extreme clarity isn't possible with the traditional frame. The traditional frame tries to compensate through somewhat-translucent text boxes and image cutout overlaps (e.g., limited parts of head, limbs, weapons, etc. stick out on top of the frame).
Also note that the height of these loyalty ability text boxes are constant. This is important for keeping balance on the lower half of the right edge. This is an aesthetic feature I value more than constant width of the loyalty ability text boxes. More about this later below.
Quote from willows »I think that's a wonderfully practical solution. It's very well in keeping with the spirit of your template. The only thing I'd suggest trying (and it might not work) is tinting the text boxes to match the frame colors.
The primary reason I chose flat grey for the text boxes is to create separation between the text boxes layer and all the stuff below (art, frame texture & color piping). Traditional frame uses things like bevels to create the illusion of elevation and some separation. I prefer not to use such technique in line with minimalism. Instead, I believe color contrast coupled with translucency can create the illusion of separation.
To illustrate this, I re-rendered the Ajani, Valiant Protector v1 from above to tint the loyalty ability text boxes. In this case, I tinted them light gold to match the frame and show some translucency:
I believe that compared to the grey box in v1, this the gold box in v2 doesn't contrast as well where the box crosses the art frame (where the loyalty ability text area is visually separated from the loyalty cost number area). Also, the gold v2 text box seem to blend into the art more so compared to the grey v1 setup. In other word, the gold v2 box doesn't stand out as much as the grey v1 box and thus there is less separation created with tinting to match the frame.
It is possible that the visible degree of separation all depends on the art (it does dominate the card). Still, I think a neutral color like grey is best across the variety of possible configuration since it is, well, neutral.
Nonetheless, I like to see if anyone can tinker with it to make it better. I have the frame file for download at the bottom of the message.
Quote from Xenocyde3000 »I have a minor nitpick with the heart icon on Petercal's PW template. It usually stands for health or toughness so I suggest using something else to emphasize that it actually represents default loyalty. Maybe use a stylized shield-like thingie from the original cards?
In keeping with the minimalist theme, I'm reducing certain ornamentation where possible. One such thing is bevels, which is a key part of Wizard's styled shield icons.
I would consider using a flat shield for starting loyalty, except that is already used for the power/toughness part of the creature frame:
So I chose the simple heart icon to identify with loyalty, since loyalty is suppose to come from the heart.
However, this is just a personal preference. Icons can be readily changed if you play with the frame file at the end of the message.
Quote from pabi »Regarding new template - I really love the new approach, that textboxes are aligned to the right and that each ability has nicely looking separate textbox
Problem is that I'm really irritating UX researcher, who loves order and symmetry above all So just let me write down my doubts (personal opinions of course, just for your information):
* I love the fact that you don't have to look around the card for important information, but I have a feeling that now we have too many things packed on the right side of the card, resulting in name being squeezed between the cost and ability values. It looks ok for Daretti, but Ob barely made it. I just wonder how will it look like for a planeswalker with longer name or more complex cost.
* While I completely understand the approach to manageable text-area size (sometimes the original cards look really bad in terms of text-to-textbox size ratio), I don't like the fact that all textboxed have different size on each of those planeswalkers (yeah, call me psycho :P). That leads to different visual feelings when looking at those cards, as well as it forces you to change the size of the font (like in Ob's first ablility). Would it be bad to extend those textboxes to the full width of the card and only manage their height to remove unnecessary free space? This way you'd have the same approach for each card, as well you would still be able to nicely position the text without the need of decreasing the font size.
I came up with my frame by rethinking the basic assumption of text boxes. The standard and most proxy frames assume that the loyalty ability rules text boxes are constant width. Inside a constant height area (hardwired by the planeswalker frame border & different only between 3 and 4 ability planeswalker frames), individual loyalty abilities can have variable height. You see what happens when these assumptions are flipped.
I can understand how people may prefer the more familiar constant width setup. So I re-rendered Ajani to illustrate the consequences:
These renders look much more like the traditional planeswalker frame. However, there are a few things that bug me.
First, I am bothered by the uneven height of the loyalty abiity cost boxes, on the lower half of the right edge. My thinking is, the unevenness introduces chaos on the right edge that otherwise is strictly ordered (sidenote: chaos here is defined as a shape visually introducing info that doesn't correlate with what the shape represents; in other words, if the height of the box correlates with the magnitude of the loyalty cost, it would have been ok; otherwise, just keep the box constant to avoid adding more chaos). I rather have the chaos (variable width text) on top of the art since the art is already a "chaos" area.
Second, constant width text consumes A LOT of art real estate. Eyeballng it, I say the variable width text box uses only 70% of the space consumed by the constant text box. Also, variable width text box enables one to be creative in stacking the rules to shape around key aspects of the art. In this case, the variable width text box v1 reveals Ajani's full stature and shiny weapon unobstructed. Depending on the art, the variable width text boxes can be manipulated to better showoff/highlight the art.
Lastly, the constant width text introduces variability in the right edge card name centering. Compared to card name center point in the variable width v1, the card name center point in constant width v3 has drifted downward. This may not seem problematic until you have a bunch of the cards using this "minimalist" frame in your hands. Now you have cards with card names that don't line up by any consistent (consistent from one named card to another differently named card) fixed center points.
Variable width v1 doesn't have this problem since the right edge elements are fixed in their center points. While different cards may have different card name length, their center points are the same within same card types. Also, it should be noted that the v1 card name text length is about the same as that available on a traditional planeswalker frame (imagine rotating the example card name 90 degres and sliding it into the top of the card). Whatever planeswalker card name Wizards can squeeze (Wizards does manipulate the font & spacing, but it isn't so readily apparent given the spacious box reserved for the card name) into its traditional planeswalker frame, I can do so as well with the same manipulation.
All that said, I'm still of the opinion that my current configuration can be improved. I also believe multiple eyes increases the possibility that something better can come about. Thus, I'm releasing what I have done on the frame so far so people may play with it. Perhaps some may build something to their liking.
NOTE: This PSD file is converted from the Pixelmator software I used on the Mac. I haven't tested it to see how accurate it reproduces the render on Photoshop since I don't have that software. You may need to make adjustments to fix some things. Also, I haven't cleaned it up like the templates on Kentu's repository. However, it should be relatively simple to understand since my rendering abilities are rather rudimentary.
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Agreed. v3 is my favorite so far as well.
Hmmm guess I forgot to respond to this. In any case, it seems that #4 is the best option thus far. I think that most people will fall in this category as we want the cards to still look like them, even if everything is completely different. It's that familiarity with a new thing that makes change a bit more easy.
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Just so you know, these are not meant for printing purposes. Any discussion to the contrary will not be tolerated here.
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By proxies I can only assume you mean the DFC Checklist Cards. In any case, you could use some black acrylic paint. Put a couple of thin layers down and you should get the coverage you want. Sealing it will also go a long way to making sure the paint doesn't chip off, but shouldn't be necessary.
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