EPTThe purpose of the assignment was to use descriptive detail to paint a mental picture of an album cover, game box, or dvd cover in such a way that someone could take your description and go to a store and find it. The last paragraph was supposed to be your thoughts on why the company decided to use that art.
This is what I wrote:
Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty box art
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000ZKA0J6.01._SCRMZZZZZZ_.jpg
At first glance your eyes will be immediately drawn to the lower half of the box that has the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty logo inscribed upon it. The logo has a very distinctive font that would be immediately recognizable by older StarCraft fans because of its uniquely beveled letters and metallic looking curves and bars that are used in pairs to create the letters. Not a single letter is made up of one continuous gunmetal bar that is stylized to look like a steel beam. Just below that is the Blizzard Entertainment logo which is has its own unique jagged stylized font donned by very icy but bright hues of blue. The background behind the lettering looks like the other shell of a futuristic machine. It is mostly a very dark, almost black, navy blue that has lighter highlights near the center of the StarCraft II logo. Just above this is a man that looks to be in his 30’s. Around the portrait of the main character, Jimmy Raynor, there are signs that there used to be yellow and black warning tape lining the bottom of the character but it has been worn down significantly. Jimmy is not immediately recognizable, even if you had played the previous game, because he looks much older and has weathered face. He is wearing a helmet that looks a lot like an astronaut’s with the golden sun visor pushed back and barely covering his forehead. He has a fatigued face with deep wrinkles around his eyes and nose, chapped lips, and beads of sweat rolling down his face. A few strands of pitch black hair peak out from under the visor and stop at his cheek bone. His beard is short but unkempt. The mostly dark facial hair starts under his bottom lip, continues into his chin and connects brown mustache. He has a stern look with his eyes pointed straight ahead with the reflection of his goal in his eyes. There is a blue light that looks like a cerulean spotlight peeking out in a cloudy night sky that etches unintelligible information on his right cheek. Surrounding him is some unidentifiable metallic pipes and brackets in various shades of metallic blues, silvers, and blacks.
After 10 years from the first successful StarCraft game, Blizzard needed to make something that was new but still had ties to the older game. The box’s portraying of Jimmy Raynor as a much older and much more detailed character makes the player want to play the game to find out what happened to him. The strong blue hues and space marine costume cement the idea of the return of the iconic Terran army and the Terran’s basic foot soldier the Terran Marine. By not including the other two races in the art on the box it adequately prepares the player for the new story line where the Terran army is the main focal point as opposed to previous games where all 3 races had some playable storyline.
Now I got a 90 on this assignment but the teacher's qualms were with the fact that I did not highlight any reasons why a person unfamiliar with StarCraft would decide to buy it based on physical appearance.
Naturally I thought this was unfair because to be quiet honest, the box is really dull if Jimmy Raynor means nothing to you. I emailed him and explained my position and got 4 extra points on my grade but he still did not think I was full correct. What's your feel? I feel that Blizzard's marketing for this was to make a box that looked as familiar and new as possible while banking on the fame and prestige of their franchises to draw people to the box to purchase it.
