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HD-DVD cover art design by Universal (is crap) (1 Viewer)

Will_B

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So which format has the absolute worst cover art? I thought BluRay was pretty bad with it's curved banner across the bottom of most titles, but the following takes the case. Less attractive than an 8-track tape. Reminiscent of the days when people thought it would be reall cool to have the "compact disc" logo on the front cover of music. All in all, somewhere beyond ugly and into the land of "I was thinking about buying these but not if they look like that!":

Universal's HD-DVD cover design (courtesy of DVD Times)
 

Travis Hedger

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I kinda like it. It's different than what we get now, and it isnt just a movie poster plastered on the cover. But I wont let my decision of the cover influence what I am really after, high definition video goodness.
 

Steve Tannehill

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The only thing crap about it is Doom. We're back to silliness if a cover will influence a purchase decision.

The design achieves what is necessary: a new size and color of case to distinguish itself from regular DVD.

- Steve
 

Will_B

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Hyperbole aside, it is typical that when a new format comes out, cover art aesthetics are sacrificed.

On CDs back in the early 80s, RCA's CD covers featured a postage stamp sized image of a CD so you'd know what was inside (!). Many other companies put the CD logo on the fronts as well. It took years for these unattractive ideas to be phased out.



But I did not expect it to happen with the new formats, because in more recent years we saw companies come up with ways to distinguish new products without ruining the art:

Many DualDisc releases (love them or hate them) featured a clear slip cover - clear save for the ink that was plastered with DualDisc logos to ensure that the customer would know what they held in their hand. The ugly slip cover came off once the product was bought, and you could once again see the cover art underneath.



HD-DVDs from Universal appear - from these renderings - to be sacrificing the art in the name of making sure the customer knows what they are buying. The sweeping silver curves of Universal's covers is heavy handed, it won't last, and it did not need to be this way.

Here is an old VHS tape with a cover template similar to Universal's proposed HD-DVD template:

 

Will_B

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Did you look at the link? The new size and color of case aren't at issue. Universal's "Looking at the poster through the curved portal of a space capsule" template is what I am calling excessive.
 

Steve Tannehill

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It does not bother me, but then again I'm in it for the movie, not the packaging.

- Steve
 

Brent M

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They do look like crap. Looks like generic beer in a white can with the word "BEER" in big black letters. :thumbsdown:
 

ChristopherDAC

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Whaaa? Repo Man isn't an announced title on either format, as far as I know. ;)

And nothing beats LaserDisc packaging, so who cares where on the scale of "crappy" these things fall?
 

Jon Moss

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They're not the greatest design wise, but they're not awful either. My guess is Universal will change the design after a few months, this is just to get people's attention there's a new format on the shelves next to the DVD's.

Anyway I'm not looking at the packaging for 2 hours I'm watching the film, so it's not a biggie...
 

Ron-P

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They all look fine to me.

I honestly don't see why people fuss over a picture on a box. I don't sit and stare at it, it's what's inside that counts. The picture the dvd produces is what's important.
 

RobertR

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Same here. Honestly, who's going to say "I won't buy this movie because of the cover art"??
 

Jesse Skeen

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And apparently the format still isn't capable of providing both the theatrical and "unrated" versions of Doom on the same disc.

The best cover designs were the first MCA DiscoVision laserdiscs- the entire cover was silver with the only actual coverart in the middle of the big "V".
 

Ethan Riley

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I think it looks crappy, but how else do you distinguish a HD from a regular ol' dvd??
 

Ed St. Clair

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The design has to shout out at you in an extreme way.
It's a new format & can not afford to get lost in the shuffle. It's look was made to get a reaction from you. Wither that reaction is all good or all bad for any one person, is far beyond the capabilities of current design teams. Just know that it does it's job & it is what it is.
See if Blu-ray does any better, at pleasing everyone!
 

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