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Thread: Compass Design for the world of Midgard

  1. #1
    Community Leader Facebook Connected torstan's Avatar
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    Default Compass Design for the world of Midgard

    The Midgard iPad Atlas was released this week (see the News story here). I thought I'd show the final compass art, as well as a quick behind the scenes of the process that led up to the final version. Check out the app on the App store (search Midgard Atlas, or go here).

    Here's the final version of the compass:
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    Here's a breakdown of the iterations that led to the final version:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    I wanted to create a compass that was evocative of the setting whilst also working on an iPad. The setting has old Eastern European themes, some hefty norse influences (no surprises given the name) and a liberally seasoning of steampunk with some gnome automata makers and a couple of airships. So there's a wide spectrum of influences to draw from. I started by creating three rough draft compasses - 1 to 3 above.

    1. Very abstract - with a slight hint of a curling dragon.
    2. Again some hints of dragon in the head and tail, with some features reminiscent of stylistic elven design from the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies.
    3. Straightforward Victoriana pocketwatch compass - harking towards the steampunk elements.

    The guys at Open Design went with 2. but wanted to go more explicit with the dragon motif, ideally mimicking the dragon in the Midgard logo. I worked up a version which was 70% complete with detailed line art and some basic shading - 4.

    They were pretty happy with 4, but concerned that the aspect ratio would cause it to take up too much space on the screen, or that it would need to be shrunken down so small that the detail would be lost. I shrunk down the tail and worked up the metal finish to create the final piece.

    All images are © Kobold Press, 2012, used with permission.
    Last edited by torstan; 09-19-2012 at 02:26 PM.

  2. #2
    Community Leader Jaxilon's Avatar
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    Very nice and thanks for sharing the process with us. I for one learn from hearing these kinds of things. If for no other reason than I know it's the normal process when things bounce back at me from the customer.
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

    * Rivengard * My Finished Maps * My Challenge Maps * My deviantArt

  3. #3
    Guild Adept Facebook Connected Mateus090985's Avatar
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    Excelent work. The result is beautfull!

  4. #4

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    Lovely!

    Cheers,
    -Arsheesh

  5. #5
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Schwarzkreuz's Avatar
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    Its a realy nice design!

  6. #6
    Guild Member Facebook Connected Kolyana's Avatar
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    What a great looking compass - I love it.

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