So here we get to the knitty gritty. We have our conventions set up, and we have some examples to refer to. Now we need to make something.
To begin with, a recap of the conventions, and deciding which ones are applicable to be put on the ad, and then from those, which ones I'll actually use:
1. The Game's Title shown Prominently
- Applicable - Yes
- This one's a staple. I'll absolutely need this one. Even adverts for games still in their concept stages have some kind of title.
2. A Release Date
- Applicable - No
- I won't actually be releasing the game, just making a fake advert. I can still put coming soon on however, just to make it seem like an upcoming release.
3. Images that Pay Relevance to the Themes of the Game
- Applicable - Yes
- This one again is a staple. The advert wouldn't fit with the theme of the game, or any of its other promotional icons otherwise.
4. Images showing actual Game Footage
- Applicable -Yes
- Actually the answer should be yes and no. I don't have any game footage to show. What I can do is include parts of the cinematics I've made. Other games have done this in the past with their own ads. Nothing to say I can't.
5. Information on the Mechanics/Elements/Characters within the Game
- Applicable - Yes
- I have a whole section of this blog devoted to the concept of this game. It should be easy to create some short captions to accompany the images.
6. A Promotional Catchphrase
- Applicable - Yes
- I have one waiting in the wings. I believe I showed it on one of the concepts pages. I have every intention of including it.
7. Quotations from reviewers
- Applicable - No
- You can only get reviews if you have a game to show in the first place, which I don't. Dishonesty is a very bad policy to have, especially in the world of advertising, so I won't make up any reviews to take quotations from.
8. Game Rating, Platform Details and Trademark/ Copyright Information
- Applicable - No/Yes
- I can't own rights to something that isn't even commercial, so that won't be there. I also can't get any official rating for the game for the same reason. I can however state what platforms I would intend to release the game on ideally, if I was to make the game.
With that covered, as it stands the conventions I can and will fulfil will be:
- Inclusion of the title
- Game footage and details
- A catchphrase
- Platforms it'll be aimed at
- No actual release date, but just a coming soon message
So that's out of the way. With that it was off to the drawing board. My concentration for each one was not so much the detail, like the icon ideas were, but rather on the format of the ad, the layout and also its images to a lesser point. For that reason they're not too visually impressive, but they do the job of portraying my ideas for the layout.
To start off I decided to just look at how best to arrange the various features. I established fairly quickly that I wanted the title present at the top of the ad, and the platform and release details at the bottom of the image. One thing I contemplated was how I was going to incorporate the game's title to fit in with the format of the rest of the image. I decided in the end to have the hexagons bordering the title have their outlines stop after a certain point, the black outlines first, followed by the blue inner line.
The catchphrase, 'Making the Mainframe Mainstream' was a little more tricky. I was tempted to put the catchphrase beneath the title, but when I drafted the ideas it didn't work with the other images. The first picture I did had the catchphrase included at the bottom of the ad, just above the platform details. I'd also seen other adverts that I'd analysed do a similar thing. As such I decided the bottom of the ad was where I wanted the slogan.
I also decided to change the slogan to something different, which you'll see when you look at the advert.
Secondly were the images. Regardless of where they were positioned I wanted space underneath them to include captions detailing various game elements. I experimented originally with three images arranged horizontally, which seemed fine until I did some further designs, and the images didn't fit well with the other elements. I instead chose to use only two images, and have then arranged vertically along the right hand side, which worked better with all three.
Finally the big question mark landed on what I would use as the main image for the advert. I definitely wanted Mobo himself to be present in the ad, along with the hexagons that the game's key concept revolve around. What I couldn't decide on was how I should portray them. I came up with three different choices in the end, each one showing something different.
The first was a shot based on the events that take place in the game's trailer, where Mobo tries and fails to complete a level, and ends up getting stranded on one of the platforms before the end. The first idea shows him standing on that same platform, with an annoyed look on his face, and the out of reach exit platform shown teasingly in the background.
The second idea was of an action shot, showing Mobo in action as he goes through the level, stepping on a platform whilst another that he'd just stepped on falls down behind. The image shows Mobo from the front, so that the level's beginning is shown rather than the end.
The third idea was of a shot of Mobo from the back, looking partly from his perspective at the level spread out in front of him. He hasn't started the level yet. He's just looking ahead at the challenge in front of him.
These were my three key ideas, each of which portrayed the same scene but at different points. I had to remember what the point of magazine ad was, and what purpose it could serve in the game's promotional package. That's what I based my choice on and in the end the one I chose to take forwards was my third idea, showing Mobo from the back.
I had several reasons why I picked it and not one of the others. To start with the first advert, though it provided consistency with the trailer, it didn't provide anything new to contribute to the whole promotional package, and if the viewer hadn't seen the trailer, the advert wouldn't make that much sense. As for the other clip, though it did provide a look at the gameplay itself, the image didn't feel like the right thing to use for promotion at the game's current stage of development. If the game was already well established and better known about, maybe it would work better, but that's not commercial position that the game is currently in.
The third ad just worked best for me. It clearly showed the level and it's features, and it also showed Mobo, but showing him fro the back provided a certain level of mystery to the mood of the ad, which works well considering the game is still very much only a concept, and it's not very well known about. The style of image also has good compatibility with the other elements of the ad that I'd be including, making it the best choice of the three to use.
So with that my idea was set, and now I can show you the finished result of that. This is the completed picture to be used for the magazine ad, single page, and without any printing marks:
And hey presto! That's the second ancillary task done! I did an all-nighter and onwards into the next day to get this post and the advert done, and I must say I'm incredibly satisfied and incredibly tired.
Given my time frame this almost certainly will be the last ancillary I do, as I've done all the ones I need to. From here on out there's very little left. There are just a couple of research posts, the Main Task and the Evaluation left to do now, and you can expect them to be up very soon.
Until then thanks for reading and stay updated.
To start off I decided to just look at how best to arrange the various features. I established fairly quickly that I wanted the title present at the top of the ad, and the platform and release details at the bottom of the image. One thing I contemplated was how I was going to incorporate the game's title to fit in with the format of the rest of the image. I decided in the end to have the hexagons bordering the title have their outlines stop after a certain point, the black outlines first, followed by the blue inner line.The catchphrase, 'Making the Mainframe Mainstream' was a little more tricky. I was tempted to put the catchphrase beneath the title, but when I drafted the ideas it didn't work with the other images. The first picture I did had the catchphrase included at the bottom of the ad, just above the platform details. I'd also seen other adverts that I'd analysed do a similar thing. As such I decided the bottom of the ad was where I wanted the slogan.
I also decided to change the slogan to something different, which you'll see when you look at the advert.
Secondly were the images. Regardless of where they were positioned I wanted space underneath them to include captions detailing various game elements. I experimented originally with three images arranged horizontally, which seemed fine until I did some further designs, and the images didn't fit well with the other elements. I instead chose to use only two images, and have then arranged vertically along the right hand side, which worked better with all three.
Finally the big question mark landed on what I would use as the main image for the advert. I definitely wanted Mobo himself to be present in the ad, along with the hexagons that the game's key concept revolve around. What I couldn't decide on was how I should portray them. I came up with three different choices in the end, each one showing something different.
The first was a shot based on the events that take place in the game's trailer, where Mobo tries and fails to complete a level, and ends up getting stranded on one of the platforms before the end. The first idea shows him standing on that same platform, with an annoyed look on his face, and the out of reach exit platform shown teasingly in the background.The second idea was of an action shot, showing Mobo in action as he goes through the level, stepping on a platform whilst another that he'd just stepped on falls down behind. The image shows Mobo from the front, so that the level's beginning is shown rather than the end.
The third idea was of a shot of Mobo from the back, looking partly from his perspective at the level spread out in front of him. He hasn't started the level yet. He's just looking ahead at the challenge in front of him.
These were my three key ideas, each of which portrayed the same scene but at different points. I had to remember what the point of magazine ad was, and what purpose it could serve in the game's promotional package. That's what I based my choice on and in the end the one I chose to take forwards was my third idea, showing Mobo from the back.
I had several reasons why I picked it and not one of the others. To start with the first advert, though it provided consistency with the trailer, it didn't provide anything new to contribute to the whole promotional package, and if the viewer hadn't seen the trailer, the advert wouldn't make that much sense. As for the other clip, though it did provide a look at the gameplay itself, the image didn't feel like the right thing to use for promotion at the game's current stage of development. If the game was already well established and better known about, maybe it would work better, but that's not commercial position that the game is currently in.
The third ad just worked best for me. It clearly showed the level and it's features, and it also showed Mobo, but showing him fro the back provided a certain level of mystery to the mood of the ad, which works well considering the game is still very much only a concept, and it's not very well known about. The style of image also has good compatibility with the other elements of the ad that I'd be including, making it the best choice of the three to use.
And hey presto! That's the second ancillary task done! I did an all-nighter and onwards into the next day to get this post and the advert done, and I must say I'm incredibly satisfied and incredibly tired.
Given my time frame this almost certainly will be the last ancillary I do, as I've done all the ones I need to. From here on out there's very little left. There are just a couple of research posts, the Main Task and the Evaluation left to do now, and you can expect them to be up very soon.
Until then thanks for reading and stay updated.
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