illustration

I wanted a romantic sixties romance vibe for this, so I used that slightly sketchy inky line that seemed to be popular in book illustration. In the game Princess Peach's super powers come from her emotions while several hearts act as a health gauge.

Some iconic Monster’s from Konami's Silent Hill series. A friend told me number three reminded her of a romance novel, I think the literary world is sorely lacking in the zombie nurse genre don't you? I was shamelessly aping Paul Rand and Saul Bass here.

What is this you ask?

On a forum I lurk at the topic of designer Olly Moss's marvelous "video game classics" came up. Moss had recreated video game covers in the style of highbrow Penguin book covers, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ollym/sets/72157612646893506/

Video games are generally marketed to adolescent boys; this means covers are jam packed with explosions, improbable weaponry, and Elves in metal bikinis- all painstakingly rendered in exquisite detail. So viewing Moss’s gorgeous minimalist covers, the elements of the games rendered into pure geometric forms was a real revelation.

If a designer can make a game about stealing cars and shooting hookers look like a tome by Plutarch then anything is possible.

As a designer and a bona fide nerdess I felt it my duty to have a go too.

-Kathy Smythe