Vintage Story Cover Art Rebrand

[Tyron]

We've been mulling over a potential game cover art rebrand, which is also a pre-requisite for me personally before we can do any merchandise, i.e. we need a consistent art style from an artist that's available. The original artist of the first logo left the team a long time ago. I'd like to gather some community feedback. Do you like the original more or the reworked one? If chosen, the new art style would likely get more broadly adopted in our visual language within the game and outside of it (=consistent with duargras art).

Original on the left, the new reworked one on the right

 

[OktoberTheYeen]

The original is great, but I do think the reworked has more of a stereotypical block game aesthetic to it as well as accentuates the gears/tech aspect more. They're more to the forefront in the reworked image

[Quickness]

100% new one. Old version looks like it’s from 2014. Please keep the new logo. Also looking forward to a complete UI overhaul in the game

 

 

 

[MattyK]

Honestly, I like the more painterly style of the original logo as it has the more earthy and gritty tones of the game, if you could incorporate that style into the new logo I think it'd be a good fit, but currently it feels just a teensy bit out of place.

[SoKette]

Pretty close to what @OktoberTheYeen just said, the new one is too "stereotypical block game" and not rusty and dirty enough, it's missing some of the mystery-horror IHMO, the painted style of the old one conveyed a little bit of that missing mystery-horror feel.

Edited April 24 by SoKette

[BuilderBoy02]

I think the redesign would be a 10/10 if it was more simplified. It looks amazing up close, bit if it's shrunken down onto my desktop it looks cluttered. I attached a screenshot of it on my desktop..

 

[Nicodemus]

In my opinion, a game logo should look good even when scaled down, and neither the old nor the new version does that.
But if I had to choose, I’d keep the old one because I think the new one looks too much like an “AI” design.

Edit: why not use a simple rusty gear  with moss and maybe mushrooms on top?

Edit: I've always had something like this in mind:

 

Edit: @Benjo pointed out it's way too similar to Factorio's icon, and he's right.
I made another try adding a clock here:

New way better version by @Zorkman here:

And tweaks of mine:

 

Edited May 3 by Nicodemus

[SoupInCat]

I love the artwork of the new logo! But i think the typography needs a little work, it’s a little muddied now that its overlayed on top of the artwork. The typography itself also feels maybe a little out of place or outdated compared to the new artwork as well. But other than the muddy overlaying, major improvement!

[NateDoesLife]

I think I like the new one but in the style of the original......(basically all the new items you added to it but not in the cartoon style you have)

[Quickness]

3 minutes ago, Quickness said:

100% new one. Old version looks like it’s from 2014. Please keep the new logo. Also looking forward to a complete UI overhaul in the game

 

 

 

The new logo looks good. But I want to point out right away that it may feel out of place in the main menu - the color palette is a bit different. The UI looks old, while the logo looks new

[ifoz]

I like both of them, though I do think the new logo is a bit too saturated given the game's generally more muted colour palette.
As @MattyK said, I think bringing the earthier tones of the original logo into the new logo would be a nice choice.
I also wonder if the new logo is a little too blocky-looking or cartoonish, but I'd also have to see it ingame to really decide if that was the case.
[EDIT]: Now that I've seen people edit it into the game, I do think it looks a little too cartoonish personally. It's a very cool style, but it makes VS look like a fantasy adventure block game, when the gameplay doesn't really reflect that. The leaves are my main problem, I think if the leaves were made less blocky I would like it a lot more overall.

I think leaning away from advertising the game as just another voxel sandbox might be a better choice, as VS already stands out on its own in the genre, and voxels aren't particularly novel branding for a game anymore. Something I enjoyed about the original logo was that it really conveyed the more 'natural' side of VS, and painted it as a more down-to-earth experience.

I do like how the clock(?) in the tree of the original is now the dials of a certain important story piece in the new logo, that's a really fun detail.
I also think having the 'Vintage Story' text underneath the logo instead of to the sides looks a little nicer as well.

[EDIT]: I also just had a thought about how the new logo features what looks like the metal box that is connected to translocators - I remember Elvas saying in a stream that the art team wanted to remodel translocators, and so the new logo might become inconsistent with them if they were to be updated. If the updated translocators still incorporate the design of that box though, it'd make sense.

In the poll, I voted for the old logo primarily just because I preferred the more muted colour scheme it has that matches the rest of the menu. 



[EDIT 2]: I just realised the mention that if chosen, the new artstyle would be worked more into the game to match the logo. I don't know if this would be the right decision, as a more cartoony artstyle for things like UI wouldn't fit with the rest of the game in my eyes. VS has always been a more muted, down-to-earth game, and having the UI use bright colours and bold lines wouldn't mesh well with the rest of the game's aesthetic, I think.
I'm all for the logo and UI being more consistent with Duar's artstyle, but the new logo looks a bit too saturated for Duar's usual style to me.

All that said, I do like the new logo as a standalone piece, but just not as much as the original when put against the backdrop of the rest of the game's artstyle and gameplay. I think the best choice would be a 'best of both worlds' scenario, where the good things about both logos get combined into a new, third one.


[EDIT 3]: This post sure has a lot of edits! Thinking more about it, I do think that redesigning the logo is the right idea.
Really though, I think if the new logo wins, it will probably look more in place with the game once other UI elements are changed to match it. If there was that level of stylistic consistency, I don't think there would really be a problem. It's just because the old menu doesn't mesh with the new logo very well. 



[EDIT 4]: I made this quick mock-up that removes a lot of the visual clutter and makes the leaves less blocky, as well as changing the colours of the little dials to the rusty red of the pipes to make them draw the eye less. Feel free to let me know what you think! It's by no means perfect or any better than the original/new logo, but I just wanted to experiment with it a little. 
I also colour picker-ed the colours from the original into this one. There's a lot of little artefacts, but again this is just me messing around with it.

Edited April 25 by ifoz

[jupi]

I do like the reworked version's style but I think it's way too detailed, like @BuilderBoy02 mentioned it just kind of cluttered when it's just an icon on a desktop

[7embre]

New design looks a bit too flashy in comparison to the game's visuals, which are actually quite grounded and not as vibrant. Gives off some stylized pixelated sandbox game vibes such as stardew, terraria or core keeper, visuals of which are more bright in general. What I personally like about current logo is that it actually tells you — this is nature-inspired game, but there're hidden horrors within. And that's how we experience lore for the first time, with scattered bits and pieces.

If you really want to change logo, I'd suggest going with something in Duargra's concept art style (old logo resembles it as well). It feels pretty unique to VS.

Edit: And yeah new logo might look cluttered when minimized, come to think of it

Edited April 24 by 7embre

[YuYo]

I caaaaaaaaaaaaan't choose. I love the original but the new one is so nice too.

The colors may be a bit too flashy though

[lostkeys]

i like the old one a lot more. The new one is really flashy and too polished in my opinion. It looks vibrant and doesn’t really fit with the grittiness of the game. If you made it fit more with that gritty aspect i’d like it a lot more.

Edited April 24 by lostkeys
Accidentally quoted

[Kerbourgnec]

I agree that there are still too much details for a logo. Confusing when small.

That said In still prefer new one.

[Muronelkaz]

It does look more professional, personally I like the idea of the logo being able to be rebuilt in the game or exist as part of the game so you can do those cinematic camera zooms that include them.

[Vuks]

New logo is far too busy and lacks the mystery/gloom. Not sure if accentuating the voxel style of the game is the right direction either.

[meikah]

As graphic Designer and logo maker (sorry I'm French, I do my best with English) : 

It's pretty cool, love the illustration BUT, a logo must be really really simple because it as to be readable in very tiny. That's why an illustration can't be a "good" logo, because it's too complex to be readable in tiny. It also need to be usable in black and white version (and it help with accessibility too).
That's why designing a logo is very long and complicated because you need to tell much information with the simplier design.
And the Font have to change, don't know how.... but it doesn't match I think. Maybe something more... mecanical ? Or Cubic ? So much things to try. But something simple, readable, with personnality.

[Ghaldur]

If we talk purely about logo design, none of them are what we can call a « good » logo (I say that without any negativity I don’t want you to think this is a mean comment).

 Usually a logo is to be simple, readable at any scale, without too much details (to ensure the previous point remains relevant). A good logo should be distinct and recognizable, conveying key aspects about what it represents. Not everything about the game has to be present in the logo to achieve that and yes, it is a difficult task to make a logo.

 Personally none of them appeal to me, even though I voted for the new one because it is a little bit clearer and easier to read.

 Good luck with the new visual identity !

[justOmi]

The new logo will indeed look better with the updated UI

[Mirok]

It looks like a Minecraft movie...

[Ian_Marcos]

As other said, whole UI should be updated to fit new style. But readalibity of logo is poor when it is zoomed out, but hey, don't worry about it.

 

Logo should be simple for easier to read and remember. I got many games, and icon for Vintage Story is specific and uniqe, while other sames got simple but easier to connect in mind. I see something interesting to do with tree, cog, V and S letter and it should be enought for game icon.

[Cathis]

While I don't dislike the new one, especially with the addition of more apparent Jonas tech, I prefer the airbrushed/watercolor aesthetic and more muted tones of the original. It would probably be best to stick to the older style if possible & include the new elements.

[yer average hunter]

I like the new logo in the sense that it looks good, but imo it doesn't really fit with the grittiness of the game, I love the old logo for that, the new one's too cartoony. If you want to change the logo I'd say to go more with the style of the old one, as it really fits with the colour scheme and general texture of the game. All of that said, even though I think the new one looks good, it doesn't feel good with me, I like the old one better, like what @Cathis said (::

Edited April 24 by yer average hunter