Something else to consider, and it's an exercise I'll still do from time to time myself, is a whole campaign. Create a fake company (Continental Lint, for example) and create a business card, a letterhead, an envelope a full page print ad and, just to make your head explode, a billboard. Doing billboards taught me a lot about print design because you've got to create something that can be easily read and have an impact viewing it for 8 to 10 seconds (or less) while zipping down the highway at 70 mph. It's sort of like doing banner ads for web sites, only larger...and they aren't animated, but it's the same basic concept. Copywriting ain't easy either. If you're lucky, you won't have to do it much. If you're not lucky, practice, practice, practice....

I'm late...noting new there, but I thought I'd throw my two cents in anyway. I think it looks fine as is. As an Art Director (in a totaly unrelated field) I'd only have one question. How does it print? Often times what looks really good on screen doesn't print worth a darn. Just as an aside, if you want to do something to really tax your creative brain, try doing the back cover. Lots of information, lots of pictures, lots of credits, lots of little bitty type. It's the back covers that drive me nuts.

It's a very nice piece. Sort of a graphic explosion of color and light that really catches the eye. I've been a pen and paper artist for the last 30 years (I used to do color seperations by hand, no less!) and have been with computers for the last 20. I've never understood why a client gets so excited over something you just slam together while the pieces you slave over doesn't even raise an eyebrow. Go figure... Best wishes.

http://members.aol.com/fontner/frontpage.html This is one I forgot to add. It has some really strange, wonderful and downright goofy fonts that are sometimes useful. Thanks for the kind comments about my gallery posts. "Why I Can't Sleep.." was just one of those weird things that came together one afternoon. I'm glad I don't have to explain it because even I don't know what it means! Happy Hunting!

http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~luc/fonts.html It's a bit of a chore to slog through and some of the links are dead, but it's a great site. There are several hundred links to both free and pay fonts. I've been using it for several years and am very happy with it. Just steel yourself for a little digging to find exactly what you want. Good luck!

xantor: The goblin has some japanese characters in the cr2 that might be a problem for some people. So that's what's wrong with the little devil. When you bend the wrists at some angles, you get spikes where the mesh starts to fall apart. There seems to be some problems with the textures across his chest and stomach, but I'm on Poser 4, so that might be part of the problem. I don't know if it was set up for P5 or P6 or not. Can anybody give some hints on how to solve both of these problems? I'd like to us him (it?) or a bunch of them for a couple of renders.

Great map! However... Any more shots taken in the Muir Forest? The single shot you posted on your site was stunning! They'd make some wonderful backgrounds.

Design wise, it might not be too different when you get right down to it. Do a search on the artist Larry Elmore (who worked for TSR for years and years) for ideas. Any of his older D&D paintings and designs as well as his new material are a wealth of ideas. Just a thought...

This has got to be one of the best workable armor sets I've seen in a long time. Unlike a lot of the "cheesecake" armors out there, this one looks like it would be of some use in an adventuring situation. Is there any chance that you'd do something along the same lines for V3? I'll be waiting for this one.

Here is another little tid-bit Back in the 1800's when the goverment was taking the Native Americans land, they were kind enough to send blankets to a group of Native Americans (I don't remember where Utah, Nevada ??) the blankets were laced with small pox. I couldn't resist jumping into the fray... It was in the 1760s and it was the British who did it to the Cherokee of the lower Tennessee towns. It was done after that as well, but this was probably the first use of the method. Sorry...History nut....

The radio is a nice touch. The phone's about right, but it might be a tad to tall. You're right, though, those things were heavy! And for good reason, they were made of pressed steel. In the movies, when somebody knocked somebody out by thunking them in the head with a phone, yeah, you could do that. They weighed about 2 1/2 tons. The banker's lamp might be a tad undersized, but they came in different sizes too. I do agree with sturkwurk that B&W textures would be a great addition. Or, just load an image into Photoshop and do it there. Black and white with film scratches as an overlay. Hey, shouldn't there be a .38 in one of the drawers?

If you have a local library that's any good, sit down with a years worth of Life magazine or any other magazine of the period. For visual refference, it's worth their weight in gold and better than any book on the period. Loads of period detail to be found.

Could I throw in a few tidbits? It's the historian coming out in me and the mid to late 1930s and 1940s are sort of a passion with me. About the phone, the style you've got here went out of fashion around 1935 (give or take) with the invention of the rotary dial and switching system. By 1940 the old "goose neck" phones were about as rare as they are today. The chair for the "client" probably should be a straight backed ladder chair, not one on casters or a swivel pivot. I agree that the water cooler needs to have heavier legs. Many of them were cast iron and quite heavy! I'd also change out the lamp. It looks almost too modern. The general character of the room is great as well as all the furnishings and hardware on them (drawer pulls). Great wall texture, looks like it hasn't been washed in a year! Is there a reverse view on the room, overlooking the city? If so, the windows should have wooden blindes on them. One last point, are you going to include some sort of a template so a name can be put on the door? In reverse, of course. Thanks for letting me throw in on this and sorry for any misspelling. Too much time spent drawing and not enought paying attention in elementary school! Makes me want to get out my Bogart films again...

"..a fantasy character's prom picture." Now if that doesn't spark an idea! I wish I had DAZ'z troll. Turn out a prom picture that would be everybody's worst nightmare! Or, a reflection of reality for some of us... Looking forward very much to your future work, gandok.

Ah! So, you can do that with a bow and no body will get bent out of shape. I guess I wouldn't know much about that, I don't use one myself. I'm a flintlock person. I'll have to keep that in mind for some future illustrations.