I’m going to take my classmates’ examples and assume it’s alright to submit my entry in the comments section of this assignment. To best represent my industry, video games, I’ve chosen only the most tasteful, most artistic image I could find on three seconds of thought and eight seconds on Google: The cover art for Duke Nukem Forever.
Duke Nukem, so fortunately named (though we are suspiciously never told that that is his birth name; WHERE’S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE, NUKEM?), takes front and center, him and his rather simple Metroid-style logo rudely obscuring the mayhem behind him, headed by a disconcertingly near nuclear explosion, as if to suggest that in the presence of Duke Nukem, the apocalypse is an afterthought.
The prototype for this image was very similar to the final product, but Duke did not smile and did not have the cigar that adds so much personality, machismo, and overcompensation to the cover we now know. A genius man in the art department at Gearbox Software must have seen this prototype and said, “No! This will not do! Would Duke be unhappy to finally be back in the spotlight after twelve years? Would he not be smoking for some reason?” And indeed, this revision only makes sense for the art that introduces us to the game. The prototype artwork, featuring Duke frowning, is meant to be displayed at the end of the game, his celebratory cigar long ago thrown across the room over a frustratingly uncontrollable vehicle section.
From bottom-to-top, as we are clearly meant to scan the image, Duke’s groin area has curiously been obscured by a smoking semi-automatic pistol, its barrel gilded to allow for more accurate aiming and better stopping power. Duke’s undershirt is a striking color I can only describe as “red”, which is slightly less descriptive than “a burning vermillion” but far less pretentious. Though we only see one of his gloves, it is at the perfect angle for us to see his signature logo. With no need for sleeves, his arms would make A-Rod wince. A couple holstered grenades later, we arrive at his face, clearly unconcerned of the aliens to one side of him and the strip joint on the other. Though his eyes are hidden from the world, Duke’s expression assures us “Do not worry, my player, for I am not afraid, or sane.”
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~ Team Tilde, director