"Celebrating a more innocent time when purchasing decisions were often influenced by the quality of a game's cover, The Art Of The Box shines a long-overdue light on the talents of legends such as Bob Wakelin, Tom DuBois and Susumu Matsushita, and is a must-have for any self-respecting retro gamer" 9/10, Nintendo Life

Before the days of brand awareness campaigns and digital marketing, a game’s only source of advertising was often limited to the box artwork you’d see on high street shelves. With early game graphics offering little visual interest, it fell to the packaging to conjure up engaging images of deep space battles, medieval knights and wizards, explosive military operations, and monstrous alien creatures. And every cover had to be hand-crafted by an artist using traditional media – often with a short deadline and the vaguest of briefs.

The Art Of The Box features 26 biographies of those artists who, at some point in their careers, found themselves illustrating video game packaging, including Bob Wakelin, Steve Hendricks, Ken Macklin, Tom DuBois, Steinar Lund, Marc Ericksen, Julie Bell and Susumu Matsushita among many others. With information drawn from live interviews wherever possible, we discuss their beginnings as an artist, their inspirations and influences, the games they illustrated, and where their artistic careers have taken them.

Some artists created just a handful of covers over a short period; others were instrumental in developing the look and feel of video game brands, such as Ocean Software, Konami and Capcom. But all have their left an indelible mark on the industry, with sumptuous pieces of original art, many of which now command high prices on the collectors’ market.

With artists from the UK, Europe, North American and Japan, The Art Of The Box encompasses the full gamut of game packaging illustration, from the early days of Atari’s iconic VCS box art, to modern-day collaborations between designers, CG artists and game developers for the latest AAA games. Each biography is accompanied by lavish, full-colour box artwork, supplied by the artists themselves, and each piece is presented without the usual logos and retail elements, so you see each piece as the artist intended.

As the gaming world moves irrevocably toward digital downloads and gaming subscription services, traditional box art will one day become a thing of the past. But a small selection of these vivid flights of the imagination will be forever celebrated in The Art Of The Box.

This substantial and exhaustively researched book is 564 pages in length, with over 100,000 words and more than 350 full colour images. The Art Of The Box is produced to Bitmap Books’ usual high standards, available in hardback format with heavy, gloss paper, incredible print quality and including a ribbon bookmark.

Featured artists:
Charles Bae, Julie Bell, Gerald Brom, Frank Cirocco, Grzegorz Domaradzki, Tom DuBois, Marc Ericksen, Oliver Frey, Steve Hendricks, Paul Kidby, Michael Koelsch, Denis Loubet, Steinar Lund, Ken Macklin, Lee MacLeod, Susumu Matsushita, Rodney Matthews, Roger Motzkus, Shinkiro and Eisuke Ogura, Stephen Peringer, Dermot Power, David Rowe, Junior Tomlin, Dudu Torres, Bob Wakelin and Mike Winterbauer.

GAMES FEATURED
2020 Super Baseball
8 Eyes
A Sound of Thunder
Adventure Island
Adventure Island IV
Adventure Island, The: Part II
Adventures of Bayou Billy, The
Aerobiz Supersonic
After Burner
Alcatraz
Alien Legacy
Alien Storm
Alien vs. Predator
Alpha Mission
Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm
Ant Attack
Archipelagos
Arcus Odyssey
Armalyte
Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting 2
Art of Fighting Anthology
Ashen Empires
ASO II: Last Guardian
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök
Asteroids
Athena
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe
B.A.T.
B.O.B.
Back in 1995
Bad Company
Bad Dudes
Baku Baku
Baseball Stars
Basketbrawl
Batman
Batman: The Caped Crusader
Battle Arena Toshinden
Battle Clash
Beach Head II
Benefactor
Berlin Wall, The
Bill Elliot’s NASCAR challenge
Bill’s Tomato Game
Bionic Commando
Blades of Steel
Blazing Chrome
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
Borobodur: The Planet of Doom
Bounces
Bubsy II
Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, The
Burai Fighter
BurgerTime
Cabal
Castlequest
Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Chariots of Wrath
Chase H.Q.
Chase H.Q. Secret Police
Chess Player, The
Chiller
Choplifter!
Computer Chess
Continental Circus
Contra
Corporation
Creatures
Creatures 2: Torture Trouble
Cybernator
Dandy
Darius+
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager
Death Bringer
Death Wake
Deathloop
Deathscape
Defender
Defender of the Crown
Defenders of Oasis
Delta
Delta Charge!
Demon’s Crest
Demon’s Forge, The
Demon’s Tomb: The Awakening
Derby Stallion ‘96
Diablo II
Discworld II: Mortality Bytes!
Dishonored
Dishonored 2
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
Disintegration
Distraint Collection
DOOM
DOOM Eternal
DOOM II: Hell on Earth
Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls
Double Dribble: 5 on 5
Dynatron Mission
Déjà Vu
Earthworm Jim (25th Anniversary Redux)
Earthworm Jim 2
Earthworm Jim: Special Edition
Eidolon, The
Elevator Action
Elfaria
Emperor of the Mines
Empire of Steel
Enter Digiton: Heart of Corruption
Epic
Escape from Monkey Island
Eternal Champions
Evil West
Evil Within, The
Extreme
Eye of Horus
F-15 Strike Eagle II
Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final
Fatal Fury Special
Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 1
Feud
Final Fantasy Legend, The
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest
Final Fight / Final Zone
Fist II: The Legend Continues
Flying