Menu/Font problems
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9402
Printed Date: 25 February 2026 at 6:41am
Topic: Menu/Font problems
Posted By: GormenGhast
Subject: Menu/Font problems
Date Posted: 12 November 2009 at 5:41am
Hi guys. I'm in the middle of making a game which has been taking far too long - I'm completely stuck right now on menu buttons and fonts. I want the entire game to be pixel art based, and a bit of a theme in the game is black outlined sprites (well, grey outline). I want it to look snes-ish or nes-ish, but when it comes to fonts I'm completely scuppered. Here's a really shaky first draft: I want the buttons to be shiny / jellyish, but other than that I've got no real ideas. Any help? Thanks! :D |
Replies:
Posted By: Zeratanus
Date Posted: 12 November 2009 at 8:33am
| Those bits of the M's coming above the gray kills its readability. The yellow just blends in with the background. If you're going to use thin letters coming up above a background like that you need to use a color with more contrast so it stands out. The T in Mute is also a bit hard to read, i think because the top of the T is so short and stops right at the top bar of the gray area. |
Posted By: GormenGhast
Date Posted: 12 November 2009 at 9:19am
 Right... thanks for the advice. Firstly I scrapped the whole 80's cookbook 'text-too-big-for-the-box' thing. Second I got rid of the colour scheme... I then changed the t! So all the things you suggested, although perhaps not as well executed as you'd've liked. Does this look/read better? Thanks for your help, by the way! :D |
Posted By: Zeratanus
Date Posted: 12 November 2009 at 2:31pm
actually in all honesty it's just as bad, for the same reasons but in different areas  The words themselves are more legible now, but now instead of the tops blending into the background the whole thing blends in to the gray behind them. You need something with contrast to make it stand out. hmm... It may be easier to read if you just take out the gradients inside the lettering... in fact now that i think about it that'd probably go a long way in helping it. I know you want that kind of effect, but maybe tone it down so it's much lighter. |
Posted By: GormenGhast
Date Posted: 20 November 2009 at 5:25am
 Is this any better? I lessened the gradient, made the 'u' and the 'm' a bit less confusing and made the buttons wood textured... Still need help, though! |
Posted By: inphy
Date Posted: 20 November 2009 at 10:09am
It looks more readable, but it can be improved. Here's a quick edit as a suggestion. The second one is without the gradient, and the bottom one is bolder, tighter, background texture removed. Forum theme and text included for comparison. Try looking from a distance, say, about 1 meter. I can't read the topmost button and the middle one is barely readable, while the bottom one and the forum text are still fine. I'd say that effects on text that small is not a good idea, but if you still want to do it, I'd suggest a bigger font and more contrast between the background and the text. |