Visual Analysis Blog #2 Jeremy Johnson

Magic the Gathering is a widely known game, and is enjoyed by a vast variety of individuals. A deck building game with so many combinations of cards that you can summon any kind of beast, cast any kind of spell, or even propose to that special someone in the middle of the game with a very unique card. Over the years Magic the gathering has changed a lot not only playstyle wise, but also art wise. The changes to the art style since 1993 have been drastic, but necessary.

When Magic was first designed art wise, too much attention was put on designing the frame of the card. Designed to simulate a picture frame, very little attention was given to ease of gameplay. Choosing to use dark backgrounds with white fonts for the card names and illustrator credits, the difficulty reading them was immense as it is more difficult to read white text on a dark background then dark text on light. Reading difficulty was also increased by the font choice, the original artists chose to use the font Goudy Medieval. While a wonderful font for fantasy, it made it more difficult to read the already difficult to see text. Along with this, the darker colors were less eye catching, and dull. Though it shows great unity by pushing a real medieval feel with its background texture matching even through the text box, It draws too much attention away from the actual art on the card, and from the text. Along with this, the art on the card is minimal, and more cartoonish then realistic, with very little to actually see. Around it lines are put into place, creating a three dimensional frame, as if you were looking into it. This does add to the old ancient medieval feel, but adds more emphases on the frame, and less on what you are intended to be seeing. It also forces the art itself to be smaller in size, hurting the proportion of picture to frame. Though it does effectively use color to show a sun set, the islands blandness fails to give you any sense of scale for the size of the island itself, and damages the look of the image.

In contrast, the modern card fixes most of these issues. Replacing the dark background with a light one, and turning the text to black, you can clearly read what is on the card with no issues. Along with this, the font was switched to Beleren, which is much easier to read. Along with this, the frame distribution is greatly improved, leaving more room for the art box and rules box, as well as room for more text on the card. This improved version also focuses more heavily on the art of the card. Unlike the old version, your eye is instantly drawn to the art. Using vivid colors and angling, it appears as if you are standing on a high mountain looking down on this beautiful landscape, as the clouds move to partially uncover the sun in a bright blue sky, with slight ripples in the water, implying motion of the clouds and rivers, giving this world a real feel. The contrast between The cool blue water and the warm yellows and faintly yellowish green from the suns light also greatly adds to the beauty of this world. You feel like you have been whisked away into this beautiful serene world.

Not only was the art improved, but the layout of the frame was as well. As I mentioned previously, more room was left for text. With the main titles on the card in long rounded rectangles, it provides extra framing for the art, while also providing greatly improved organization. You know exactly where everything is on the card the second you look at it. The card name above the art, and the card type below, it very clearly separates the card into sections. This does not hurt the design however. Since the text boxes along with the art sport the same light blue background surrounded by a darker blue border, your eye sees them as important, and connected. because of this, instead of the box at the top of the image feeling distant and out of place, it instead pulls the image into a primary unit, designed to contrast with the grey and black border of the card, with the title boxes seemingly popping out ever so slightly with dark shading immediately inside the darker border, with the rest of the bordered sections having a darker inside on the left, and brightening on the right. This serves to provide subtle contrast on these borders, and though hardly noticeable, drastically change your view on the image. The grey rocky texture along the outside serves to provide a less drastic transition to black, making it easier on your eyes. The rules box also has replaced its text with its symbol instead. As this is a basic card, its rules are now implied, with no real need for instructions for even the newest of players. This blue goes along with the cards dark blue border, bringing it all together. All of this gives a wonderful sense of unity in this card. Unlike the old version, where the only real unity was in the main frame of the card, this newer version uses every element at its disposal to bring it all together as a unite. With improved proportion and organization, this card masterfully gives the feel that you really are looking at an island, while also being easily understood gameplay wise.