I made some Amonkhet proxies for my cube for those interested.
Thank you for showing how the Aftermath cards work just fine in the well-established old split card frame. Any chance you will do the rest of them? I much rather use your work than gag everytime I have to use the official Frankenstein.
Also, does anyone know if high-res art for Jonas De Ro's Irrigated Farmlands & Sheltered Thicket are available anywhere?
I made some progress on a new specialty design (along the lines of Expedition & Invention) with my Minimalist frame. It isn't exactly a minimalist Invocation, but rather an extension of the idea to have a frame for each card type. For example, Expedition and Invention are basically land and artifacts, respective. So my take is to do ancient runes, stone carved or in written scroll/books, to focus on sorceries. The concept is the art shows the power of the sorcery as if it is coming off/out of the carving/scroll/spellbook.
Unfortunately, my rendering skills isn't sufficient to make the idea look right. For instance, the runes/carvings don't "glow" (color-matched to the card color) right. The blending makes the frame look more curved instead of suggesting layered separation. Anyways, you'll see what I mean with these examples of Mind Twist:
petercal: I like what you are doing. I like the stone carving (v4)one. The one positive thing i have to say about the invocations (i'm not that much of a fan of them) is that they have nice, hard lines. The art doesn't overlap the border or fade into it. I would like to see the v4 layout get cleaner and sharper. Overall i'm a big fan of your minimalist layout.
Can anybody see this image? It's coming up as a broken link for me. And the same goes for every post I've got in this thread. None of them are loading an image for me now.
Dropbox has changed how hotlinking works. Check this out:
Delete the red characters in the image URL -- https://www.dropbox.com/s/rfvrfcm39w28nqv/Shielded%20by%20Faith.png?dl=0 And replace with the blue characters like so -- https://dl.dropbox.com/s/rfvrfcm39w28nqv/Shielded%20by%20Faith.png
If anyone's looking to do an oddball card, I'd really love to see a Riding The Dilu Horse digital render. If it were in an alternate frame (alt 8th, FUT, or Magic Player Rewards), that would be quite nifty.
Sorry for all the artistic license taken. I get carried away.
EDIT: Fixed some coloration issues. Corrected and repositioned copyright notice.
petercal: I like what you are doing. I like the stone carving (v4)one. The one positive thing i have to say about the invocations (i'm not that much of a fan of them) is that they have nice, hard lines. The art doesn't overlap the border or fade into it. I would like to see the v4 layout get cleaner and sharper. Overall i'm a big fan of your minimalist layout.
I appreciate your inputs. My earlier efforts demonstrate how easy it is to get mired in fanciness (for the sake of fanciness). I think that was what happened with the official Invocation frame, where too many "good" ideas got cobbled together. A bunch of fancy ideas (e.g., hieroglyphic fonts, perspective distorting frame, building/alien texture, etc.) may not be so great as a whole, if one takes a step back to look at the whole thing together. Yours words made me recall the underlying principle of a minimalist frame.
Thus, here's v5 of Mind Twist, stripped to the basics of what I identify as Invocation.
@Petercal: I might be a bit late to the feedback train, but I really do like your V1 take. It really reminds me of what people had in their minds when the word "Invocations" was announced and how people speculated that it would be some sort of scroll frame. I also think that the flavor of a scroll being used to cast an instant or a sorcery is much better than what wizards settled (although I know im not the only one with this opinion).
That being said your V5 is very clean and evokes the feel of a premium card (which I think is the purpose of the masterpiece series altogether). It sticks to your minimalist frame principles and keeps the art center stage while giving the slight effect of a protruded slab (this might be just me). I only wish we had access to a sharper edged - less painted looking invocation border as it looks only slightly out of place in your clean modern frame. A fantastic effort and definitely going in the right direction in my opinion.
@Petercal: Nice! I like this one. Maybe too many Bolas horns at the bottom? Upper part of the frame could use some Horus-like wings and head maybe?
I cut out so much of the Invocation ornamentation that I need to keep some obvious cues to remind people this is still an Invocation. Bolas horns will do that (That & I have no idea what to fill the otherwise blank space with).
Speaking of visual cues, I made one last revision to incorporate the color-striped stones on the sides.
Now it is pretty obvious this is a minimalist Invocation. Hopefully this better captures the spirit of the Invocation design without all the clutter.
@Petercal: I might be a bit late to the feedback train, but I really do like your V1 take. It really reminds me of what people had in their minds when the word "Invocations" was announced and how people speculated that it would be some sort of scroll frame. I also think that the flavor of a scroll being used to cast an instant or a sorcery is much better than what wizards settled (although I know im not the only one with this opinion).
That being said your V5 is very clean and evokes the feel of a premium card (which I think is the purpose of the masterpiece series altogether). It sticks to your minimalist frame principles and keeps the art center stage while giving the slight effect of a protruded slab (this might be just me). I only wish we had access to a sharper edged - less painted looking invocation border as it looks only slightly out of place in your clean modern frame. A fantastic effort and definitely going in the right direction in my opinion.
Thank you very much for your kind compliments. I fixed up the minimalist Invocation (v6) as you can see above. What's pertinent to the points you raise is that I added a very subtle shadow gradient on the right and left edges of the art to make the color-striped stones stand out. This better matches the top & bottom gold protrusions (I purposefully chose them to make the card "pop" out without using other eye candy). Also, I think it better approximates the feel (idea, anyways) of the official Invocation without all the clutter.
As for the scroll idea, I'm making it my "sorcery" card frame (like Expedition for land, Invention for artifact, Theros for enchanment). Here's my first try:
Things I'm currently tinkering with are:
1) left & right edge of art should be jagged to suggest parchment connecting top & bottom rolls
2) glowing arcane font characters (gold letters with glow color to match color of spell) on left and right edges (can anyone give me tips on how to do this?)
@Petercal: Nice! I like this one. Maybe too many Bolas horns at the bottom? Upper part of the frame could use some Horus-like wings and head maybe?
I cut out so much of the Invocation ornamentation that I need to keep some obvious cues to remind people this is still an Invocation. Bolas horns will do that (That & I have no idea what to fill the otherwise blank space with).
Speaking of visual cues, I made one last revision to incorporate the color-striped stones on the sides.
Now it is pretty obvious this is a minimalist Invocation. Hopefully this better captures the spirit of the Invocation design without all the clutter.
@Petercal: I might be a bit late to the feedback train, but I really do like your V1 take. It really reminds me of what people had in their minds when the word "Invocations" was announced and how people speculated that it would be some sort of scroll frame. I also think that the flavor of a scroll being used to cast an instant or a sorcery is much better than what wizards settled (although I know im not the only one with this opinion).
That being said your V5 is very clean and evokes the feel of a premium card (which I think is the purpose of the masterpiece series altogether). It sticks to your minimalist frame principles and keeps the art center stage while giving the slight effect of a protruded slab (this might be just me). I only wish we had access to a sharper edged - less painted looking invocation border as it looks only slightly out of place in your clean modern frame. A fantastic effort and definitely going in the right direction in my opinion.
Thank you very much for your kind compliments. I fixed up the minimalist Invocation (v6) as you can see above. What's pertinent to the points you raise is that I added a very subtle shadow gradient on the right and left edges of the art to make the color-striped stones stand out. This better matches the top & bottom gold protrusions (I purposefully chose them to make the card "pop" out without using other eye candy). Also, I think it better approximates the feel (idea, anyways) of the official Invocation without all the clutter.
As for the scroll idea, I'm making it my "sorcery" card frame (like Expedition for land, Invention for artifact, Theros for enchanment). Here's my first try:
Things I'm currently tinkering with are:
1) left & right edge of art should be jagged to suggest parchment connecting top & bottom rolls
2) glowing arcane font characters (gold letters with glow color to match color of spell) on left and right edges (can anyone give me tips on how to do this?)
Any other ideas/suggestions?
I think v6 is the best. Obviously the Invocation ornamentation and the color-striped stones on the sides are very important elements to make it a Amonkhet Invocation like Minimalist Template. Hope you can complete it for all the color-striped frame. Really like the v6 one. Thanks for sharing.
rodolri87, these are looking great so far. I have just a little critique for you:
- The textured frame along the sides of the card drop off too sharply at the bottom. It doesn't look clean to my eye.
- The area of the textured frame right below the card art looks too big for being so empty.
- The drop-shadow along the top and right edges stands out too much, I think. You could get away with reducing opacity on top, and replacing it with a thin, dark line along the right edge.
I'm pretty new here myself, but welcome aboard, anyway.
yes, i deleted the post because an admin erase the proxies due to that i didnt put "not for sale" on them, my mistake.
i will work more on the template and repost soon
Thank you for showing how the Aftermath cards work just fine in the well-established old split card frame. Any chance you will do the rest of them? I much rather use your work than gag everytime I have to use the official Frankenstein.
Also, does anyone know if high-res art for Jonas De Ro's Irrigated Farmlands & Sheltered Thicket are available anywhere?
Unfortunately, my rendering skills isn't sufficient to make the idea look right. For instance, the runes/carvings don't "glow" (color-matched to the card color) right. The blending makes the frame look more curved instead of suggesting layered separation. Anyways, you'll see what I mean with these examples of Mind Twist:
Any tips/suggestions welcomed.
As for an alternative template for the invocations, has anyone had time to work on one?
URGEDH Biovisionary.dec BShirei WBSelenia
The brain is the muscle that pumps stupid through the body
Dropbox has changed how hotlinking works. Check this out:
Delete the red characters in the image URL -- https://www.dropbox.com/s/rfvrfcm39w28nqv/Shielded%20by%20Faith.png?dl=0
And replace with the blue characters like so -- https://dl.dropbox.com/s/rfvrfcm39w28nqv/Shielded%20by%20Faith.png
Silverfur Partisan.
EDIT: Fixed some coloration issues. Corrected and repositioned copyright notice.
Riding the Dilu Horse
Original artist: bitrix
I appreciate your inputs. My earlier efforts demonstrate how easy it is to get mired in fanciness (for the sake of fanciness). I think that was what happened with the official Invocation frame, where too many "good" ideas got cobbled together. A bunch of fancy ideas (e.g., hieroglyphic fonts, perspective distorting frame, building/alien texture, etc.) may not be so great as a whole, if one takes a step back to look at the whole thing together. Yours words made me recall the underlying principle of a minimalist frame.
Thus, here's v5 of Mind Twist, stripped to the basics of what I identify as Invocation.
Again, any inputs/comments welcomed.
That being said your V5 is very clean and evokes the feel of a premium card (which I think is the purpose of the masterpiece series altogether). It sticks to your minimalist frame principles and keeps the art center stage while giving the slight effect of a protruded slab (this might be just me). I only wish we had access to a sharper edged - less painted looking invocation border as it looks only slightly out of place in your clean modern frame. A fantastic effort and definitely going in the right direction in my opinion.
I cut out so much of the Invocation ornamentation that I need to keep some obvious cues to remind people this is still an Invocation. Bolas horns will do that (That & I have no idea what to fill the otherwise blank space with).
Speaking of visual cues, I made one last revision to incorporate the color-striped stones on the sides.
Now it is pretty obvious this is a minimalist Invocation. Hopefully this better captures the spirit of the Invocation design without all the clutter.
Thank you very much for your kind compliments. I fixed up the minimalist Invocation (v6) as you can see above. What's pertinent to the points you raise is that I added a very subtle shadow gradient on the right and left edges of the art to make the color-striped stones stand out. This better matches the top & bottom gold protrusions (I purposefully chose them to make the card "pop" out without using other eye candy). Also, I think it better approximates the feel (idea, anyways) of the official Invocation without all the clutter.
As for the scroll idea, I'm making it my "sorcery" card frame (like Expedition for land, Invention for artifact, Theros for enchanment). Here's my first try:
Things I'm currently tinkering with are:
1) left & right edge of art should be jagged to suggest parchment connecting top & bottom rolls
2) glowing arcane font characters (gold letters with glow color to match color of spell) on left and right edges (can anyone give me tips on how to do this?)
Any other ideas/suggestions?
I think v6 is the best. Obviously the Invocation ornamentation and the color-striped stones on the sides are very important elements to make it a Amonkhet Invocation like Minimalist Template. Hope you can complete it for all the color-striped frame. Really like the v6 one. Thanks for sharing.
Welcome!
But please don't forget to add "Not for Sale" to your renders.
- The textured frame along the sides of the card drop off too sharply at the bottom. It doesn't look clean to my eye.
- The area of the textured frame right below the card art looks too big for being so empty.
- The drop-shadow along the top and right edges stands out too much, I think. You could get away with reducing opacity on top, and replacing it with a thin, dark line along the right edge.
I'm pretty new here myself, but welcome aboard, anyway.
i will work more on the template and repost soon
How about the Aftermath cards in regular (Ravnica) split-card frame?
Calibretto did Commit//Memory & Never//Return very nicely. The rest of the series can use the same treatment.