why all the fuss about cover art, inserts, etc? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Parham]

Ed St. Clair
In Post #72 of this thread you quote one of my posts from a couple of days ago and ask if it is OK with me for others to have higher expectations. Normally I wouldn't respond as I would think your question rhetorical and leave it at that. However, in light of your response to others, I can tell that this issue really burns your butt. You obviously feel very strongly about this issue and have taken umbrage with those who are on the opposite side of the fence from you.
As my original post indicates, I do not feel strongly either way. While I myself would never not by a title because I didn't like the cover art, I support wholeheartedly your right to do just that. I even encourage you to rant about it on this forum so that I, as a person who does not feel strongly about this issue, can gain a better understanding of those of you that do. I don't understand the name calling or judgments that some in this thread have resorted to and you will find none of this in my original post.
Short answer to your question - It is more than OK with me that others have higher expectations. However, I personally don't care as the size of the packaging precludes anything that can be done with it from matching the specialness (is that a word?) of some of my special edition Laserdiscs IMHO!

 

[Jon Baker]

I guess it's a matter of aesthetics for me since I'm a fan of movie poster art and graphics, and am a graphic designer. Personally I wish every title would utilize the original poster art like Warner Bros is doing (it would also save studios money not having to hire a designer to come up with a new cover idea). This is highly unlikley though since some poster art may not make a DVD marketable, especially if it's being marketed towards kids and teens. Bad cover art will not deter me from purchasing a DVD, but bad cover design will. I have passed up on some box sets simply because the packging was either too gimmicky and cumbersome or not very durable (as was the case with Season 2 of the Munsters). I actually sold my initial Eraserhead Box as a collectors item on eBay and repurchased it when it was repackaged in a simple keepcase - all mainly because I had no place to store it. I stopped purchasing the Speed Racer sets after volume 2 since the sets are now becoming toys for kids to play with. Studios really do need to keep things simple when it comes to packaging design. As for the inserts and booklets I could care less. I do prefer a nice cover design as opposed to a bunch of pictures badly photoshopped over the film title. There are people who get paid to do that sort of thing and it's probably a good thing quite a few here are voicing their opinions, especially if the people responsible for hiring graphic designers are reading this forum.

also, one of the reasons I questioned (in another thread) whether or not the Mel Brooks collection will feature original poster art is because those original posters for his films are some of the best yet. I could never afford to own an original "Young Frankestein" poster, but to at least have in on a DVD cover IMO would be very cool.