I’m working on a game that involves protecting a Gubby from “the world.” Yes, I know, that creature is dying out, but please take into consideration that it takes months to create a game.
I decided to cook up a pixelated thumbnail in Fire Alpaca (not Microsoft Paint). I’m wondering if I can improve on it, and if it is a bit too noisy or messy. It might also look like the average image that a 10 year old cooks up for a thumbnail in Paint, which can kind of drive potential players away from the game. I’m trying to encapsulate literally everything that happens in the game within the thumbnail, which can have some people see it as messy and unattractive.
I kept the background less contrasting, but it’ll still be yellow since that’s the entire tint of the game (it’s in the desert). I colored everything and added some extra details, and I included some shine to shiny stuff. Does this look better?
Black (not full, very little purple) bg, yellow characters.
Make them stand directly on a dessert with whitish colors (not full 255) as they look way better.
Donot use gradient. espacialy a yellow one
Always use a palette
Color, not fill. Let your coloring go beyond edges
The one you colored in doesnt have good colors. The background is way too plain and the words couldve been white
First try yellow bg with black characters unless ur racist lol. The drawing itself looks amazing. I have created posters like these so im telling from experience.
There is to much going on. I didn’t even see the title until having 3-4 glances at it. Not only does it have no highlight to its on opposite sides of the screen.in my opinion keep the top two characters inside and one extra character at the bottom. The increase the size of the title and change its color as well. Change the background color to something more right. Since your top two characters are darker. I recommend something the would compliment both but not blend in with them.
This video helped me a lot^^^
The art is really good but I’m not sure if it’s the best w bringing new players especially when it will be small and you’ll have gag probably right next to it.
I took your suggestions to try and improve the thumbnail a bit more. I added more details, removed the comic-style shading, removed yellow gradient background, used different shades of colors for shadows, and made Gubby stop staring into the void.
I was planning to add a yellow tint but uh I forgort.
I rlly like this most recent version. My main critique would be that the title needs to be more prominent. Overall, very good art and interesting thumbnail
Thanks guys. I’ll add more desert stuff in the background and emphasize the thumbnail a bit more, then I’ll put it as a thumbnail for my game. I do hope I get better at making drawing-style thumbnails since I barely even draw for games no more.
You can instantly fix the “messiness” by making the title more prominent in these ways:
Increase the size of the title
Give the title a contrasting color (something that stands out against the colors behind it; it should not blend in)
Bring the title towards the center as much as you can
This will make your thumbnail easier to figure out, as there will be an obvious title and a background, which is a familiar visual setup for most people.
This main game thumbnail of yours looks EXCELLENT! Awesome job on creating it! You’re a great artist! How long did it take to make this thumbnail? I rate it 10/10!
The first version, since there is barely any filling, probably took an hour. The second version took the same time so that it can be colored. The third version took a lot longer, probably 1/2 to 2 hours cuz I had to remove all the comic-style shading, recolor everything, shade everything, and refine the title.
This last version is the final product ig. I decided not to hand draw the title, I moved General and Eunoia (the two top characters) a bit downwards, made the desert look desert-y, and finally added a yellow grainy filter. it didn’t take too long, probably half an hour or smth.
I like your style, I don’t think it will drive potential players away from the game
