Who makes official box arts?

[Spiderpig24]

Well, I had always thought it was the game developers/publishers themselves, but apparently that's not the case for most. After completing World at War earlier I saw in the credits "Packaging designed by Petrol", and after viewing their website it seems they have done the websites/key art/branding/packaging for several prestigious games and other forms of media (God of War III, Homefront, CoD World at War, Ratchet and Clank, Gran Turismo, CNBC, Sons of Anarchy, inFAMOUS, Dark Souls, Arkham City, Turtle Beach, etc.). Just thought it was interesting, many of you may be interested in this considering this is, well, a box art website. I'm sure there are several other companies that specialize in this, but this is the one that has done several high caliber gaming and TV designs.

http://www.petrolad.com/

[woopwoop11]

Petrol should come to vgba when they need to hire someone

[Crotale]

Interesting stuff. I find it odd that game developers would have an outside agency do any of their branding/logo work. I could see this for movies/television, but most game devs do their own branding, as far as I know.

It's also surprising that game developers hire outside companies to do their promotional artwork. I mean, I get the whole graphic design on promotions, but principal artwork too? Wow. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since Epic "lets" me do promotional art for their products.

[Eggboy'13]

I wonder if petrol has any job openings..

[Mariolee]

Dang, all of their stuff looks really good too.

I wonder if petrol has any job openings..

Was thinking the same thing.

[Throavium]

Dang, all of their stuff looks really good too.

What stuff? There are just thumbnails.

[Crotale]

I wonder if petrol has any job openings..

I found two. They both require the applicant to be able to work directly in the office.

Account Executive

Web Design Intern

[tmrd]

Theyve done glee omg

[mchapra]

Bob.5char

[RAiDeN-209]

They did Peace Walker. They win.

[Daemon]

Quite a variety of work. Arkham City and Infamous's box arts are awful but Dark Souls and World at War's are pretty great.

[Throavium]

Arkham City and Infamous's box arts are awful but Dark Souls and World at War's are pretty great.

I'm guessing I'm the only one who just sees unclickable thumbnails.

[RAiDeN-209]

I'm guessing I'm the only one who just sees unclickable thumbnails.

They're unclickable for me too. They'll probably make them clickable once the full site is up.

[Spiderpig24]

I'm guessing I'm the only one who just sees unclickable thumbnails.

It tells under the thumbnails what they have done, for the most part.

[Necromancer]

Guys. Seriously, half the boxes you guys are saying they worked on they never even touched.
Look under the image. They only did the boxart for it if it says "packaging,"

[RAiDeN-209]

Guys. Seriously, half the boxes you guys are saying they worked on they never even touched.
Look under the image. They only did the boxart for it if it says "packaging,"

Yeah, but it also says Key Art. At least in Peace Walker's case, I would assume they mean the art used on the front cover, since it's so different than the other Kojima art and since the back cover sucks compared to it.

[Adhiboy]

I always knew that there were separate companies after reading something on Kotaku once (can't find a link. it was a good read).
But can you guys imagine being hired? Has that happened on VGBA before? It would be so cool to be a deciding factor in the official box.

[Spiderpig24]

Guys. Seriously, half the boxes you guys are saying they worked on they never even touched.
Look under the image. They only did the boxart for it if it says "packaging,"

The key art for the game, as well as the branding, is quite a big deal when it comes to video games/TV series/movies, etc. in regards to advertising and representing the image behind the product. They have done several well known box arts, like the World at War, Modern Warfare 3, Dark Souls, God of War III, and Homefront. They have even done some of the Game Informer covers. It just goes to show that the actual companies sometimes don't do the work when it comes to campaigning, creating the image behind their product, and forming the advertisements.

[Mariolee]

What stuff? There are just thumbnails.

Under the thumbnails, it says what they've done. I am familiar with their work and advertisement, and am thus impressed.