39,327
edits
Idiosyncratic Cover Art: Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (update links) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:Covenant.jpg|link=Chronicles of Thomas Covenant|frame|Epic fantasy, now in three designer colors!]]
So you've got a series planned out, and want people to instantly recognize that the thing sitting on the bookshelf there is part of it. What do you do? Give every installment of your series idiosyncratic cover art!
This is where cover art is basically the same motif repeated over and over with slight variations within a franchise. Collectors probably love this stuff. Until the scheme is switched midway through publishing a series, anyway.
Line 13:
* When all volumes of ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' are put together, the images on their spines form a huge mural.
** Similarly, the VHS tapes form different pictures when placed side by side in order, one for each saga. They even had alternative pictures for the uncut tapes.
* The English volumes of ''[[Darker
* The spines of the Finnish volumes of ''[[Ranma ½
** The original Japanese collected editions all had female Ranma's mugshot (in a variety of colors) at the top of the spine. Mainly comedic, romantic, or filler volumes would depict her with a whimsical or cute expression; volumes that were predominantly serious or action-oriented would instead give her a determined, or even ''fierce'' one. The final volume gave her a genuinely happy look.
* The spine art of [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] is this; each volume features the basic metallic gray, red and white color scheme and a single character on the side of the tanokban. Thanks to the series' sizable lifespan it ended up showcasing practically every major character, and the Elric brothers more than once, due to [[Character Development|significant visual changes]]).
Line 40:
== [[Literature]] ==
* As shown above, the latest edition of the first three ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' novels are clearly meant to go each other. When place next to one another, they form a complete illustration of the title character's white-gold wedding ring.
* The ''[[Discworld]]'' books have several different covers, but the newest North American editions all have a black background with a single inanimate object artistically shown.
* One edition of ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' series, when the books are placed side by side, forms a picture of the castle.
Line 75:
== [[Magazines]] ==
* Putting together a full year of [[Maxim]] shows yet another scantily-clad model on the spines.
* In [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]'s Nintendo Power episode, he noticed that a certain ten or twelve issues of the magazine put together revealed a picture of Mario on the spines. It matched up sorta, but was a little off, though.
** Nintendo Power used to do that with every year until they switched to the new cover style a few years ago. For instance, as this troper recalls, the combined spine image for 2003 was [[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|Link sailing on the King of Red Lions]].
* Putting together a single year's worth of ''PC Gamer Magazine'' together in order will form an image (ranging from a larger version of their logo to an image from a hotly-anticipated game.
== [[Music]] ==
* Be-Bop Deluxe: Six CDs where the spines spell out BE-BOP at the top and DELUXE at the bottom.
* There's a [[Pink Floyd]] [[wikipedia:Shine On (Pink Floyd album)|box set]] with repackaged CDs, whose spines when put together form the Dark Side of the Moon prism logo.
* The remastered [[Marillion]] CDs from ''Script for a Jester's Tear'' to ''Afraid of Sunlight'' have letters on the spines which spell M-A-R-I-LL-I-O-N (eight albums, nine letters, so the two L's go on one spine)
* The cover art for Nelly's ''Sweat'' / ''Suit'' albums can be placed side by side to form a picture.
Line 91:
* Everything by Demon Hunter has a [[Textless Album Cover]] with some variation on the band's logo (a silhouette of a demon's head with bullet hole) rendered in a different "medium": a seal on the cover of a leather-bound book, an appropriately-shaped dead tree stump, rust on a metal gate, a cow's skull on a bed of roses, etc.
* Almost all of [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]]'s album covers feature the band's iconic logo in a different setting. The only exception is ''Hot Streets'', which features a portrait of the band.
* Thus far, all Days Of The New albums have been [[Self-Titled Album|self-titled]], and all of their covers feature depictions of the same dead tree in different settings. The exception is the [[Greatest Hits Album]] ''Definitive Collection'', which opts for a photo of [[I Am the Band|Travis Meeks]] sitting down with an acoustic guitar instead. The next album has been announced as ''Days of the New Presents Tree Colors'', which breaks the self-titled pattern - given the title, that signature tree is probably not going anywhere though...
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Starting with ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind|Morrowind]]'', every installment of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series has featured [[Minimalistic Cover Art]] showing an emblem of some sort from the Elder Scrolls universe. ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion|Oblivion]]'' goes a bit further: the normal edition is printed in white, the collector's edition in brown, and the Game of the Year Edition in black.
* Each video game in the main ''[[Halo]]'' trilogy features [[The Hero|Master Chief]] staring at something with a gun in hand.
* When ''[[Starcraft]]'' was first released, it came packaged in one of three different boxes, each depicting a unit from one of the three races in front and colored, and the other two units toward the side and grayed out. If you put the boxes side-by-side you could create a sort of infinite loop.
* The first three releases in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' series (two games and an expansion) keep the theme of a close-up on a human and an orc staring each other down. Warcraft 3 broke from this trend by having four different editions, each featuring the face of a hero from each different faction. The expansion continued this trend, featuring a more recent picture of one such hero after his [[Evil Makeover]].
* Each game in the ''[[Star Wars Battlefront]]'' series (except the mobile phone versions, because they don't count) has had some kind of soldier facing to the viewer's right and shooting. They also had combatants from opposing sides until ''Elite Squadron'' bucked the trend. Additionally, [[Lucas Arts]] games in general since 2006 have had bright yellow spine art.
| |||