Dredge - a long one, too.
Creating covers for the Star Wars movies is something I've been itching to do for ages, but I've only recently learned the software I need to accomplish that.
Earlier when I was designing covers, I went for the more uniform "Episode I"-type logos, and each cover highlighted with gold and silver, like the official covers. But recently I've become more nostalgic for my first experiences with the movies back in the '90s, when the movies were set apart from each other more. (The logos and color schemes are pretty directly inspired by the '95 "face" videos).
Logos
I took the basic idea from this tutorial, which I liked for the grungy look it had. Here's what I've worked on:
I made an alternate version of the New Hope logo, basically cos it was close to this on the '95 and '97 videos, plus casual viewers identify with the movie as just "Star Wars" anyway.
This is a logo I was working on for the front of the box set. Going back farther, to the '80s, for inspiration this time - the action figures' logo.
Covers
I plan on using official artwork for each movie, instead of those photo collages on the official DVDs. The main covers will all use Drew Struzan's poster art (but I'm making alternative covers for the unaltered OT, using art from the original releases).
I'm considering altering some of the posters, though. Struzan's art for the '97 special editions feature stars shooting out from inside the frame, starting in Empire and spreading out to Hope and Jedi. I wanted to incorporate these features in the other posters for consistency (since there isn't really a consistent style for the Pre-SE posters, this would also provide a greater sense of unity throughout the set). Here's an early attempt I posted on DeviantArt. I know it seems blasphemous to alter the original artwork at all, but I'm open to alternatives.
It took me a long time to figure out how to line up the artwork consistently on each cover, but I've got a layout working now. Here's a mockup of what I plan for the fronts:
As for the back covers, I'm still playing with a few ideas. One idea I want to try is to use the old "face" covers in some way (with original creations for the prequels).
Box
Somehow, I want to include Noriyoshi Ohrai's "starfall" poster art for Return of the Jedi on the actual box cover. On the other side, my idea is to play on the the "faces" concept again, this time with Vader and Hayden.
The End?
It's all a work-in-progress, and I'm not exactly experienced, so I'd like to hear opinions and suggestions. I've got scraps and brainstorms on my DeviantArt profile, and I upload stuff there a lot of the time, if you want to take a look. Later.