Very nice, I do have a few critiques, but overall I think it's quite good. The cover art in particular came out perfect. But in general, I think it is in a really good place and nothing I'm about to say is what I'd consider a major issue. I'm mostly pointing it out as a way to share experience, since I think you could produce some very good covers with a bit of practice. And the whole point of the templates is to get others to help out. I don't personally have the time/energy to produce hundreds of these, and TF isn't likely to be up for it either. So getting folks to help out with games they are most interested in will help a ton, and make it easier for everyone to adopt this style for their collection if they choose.
Tips:
- You don't need to make the barcode fill the whole space. The example barcode is a good size to aim for. I use it when positioning the barcode so I get the same amount of white space on each cover, similar to an actual barcode. Too little white space (empty space) can be as bad as too much.
- The text box on the back is a bit too wide. The text box for the template was sized to a good width, and I'd recommend shrinking the font to make things fit rather than widening the box. This is another case of wanting just enough white space to let things breathe (something the official boxes sometimes fail at doing well). You can shrink the back bullet text to make room too. Oh, and before I forget, using fully justified text is somewhat preferable to justified left (the default).
- Also along this line, the logo on the back feels big. It generally works best if it fits within the colored panel. It doesn't need to catch the eye from across the room like the spine or front cover does, so it doesn't need to be giant.
- Try adding a drop shadow to Mega Man on the back. It helps add a little separation to the art and the rest of the cover (and matches what TF has done with his covers). Also, be careful about clipping the text with it.
- I may be imagining it, but Mega Man on the back and in the spine background (the panel behind the logo) look a bit squished in aspect ratio. Most people won't notice, but may feel it's "off" when they see it. So I try to avoid aspect ratio squishes if possible. The spine is fine though and I wouldn't change that one. If I am imagining it on the back, ignore this point.
- I personally try to avoid using a dark grey/black for the spine color (FF3 I lightened up compared to the original UGC I was adapting to avoid this). It becomes too similar and stands out less. There are a ton of colors in the artwork to draw from, and maybe even white would be interesting here. If text standing out is a concern, you can do a a bit of darkening behind the back panel text. I can add my background darkening layer to the template if it would help make this easier (can copy/paste the layer out for existing covers).
- I think TF and I differ on this last point, so feel free to land on either side. But my personal take is if the retail box doesn't have the "Only for Nintendo", then I don't put it on the custom cover, even if it was only released for the SNES, to honor the original design to some extent. But this is more for personal taste, so do what you like here.
