While id Software's classic first person shooter Doom was a huge hit mostly on the game alone it didn't hurt that the box cover artwork for the game was incredible as well. Last month, the artist for the box art, Don Ivan Punchatz, died at the age of 73.While Punchatz had a huge career as a mainstream artist, handling covers for magazines like Time and Rolling Stone, his work on the Doom box art is instantly recognizable to a generation who played the game. In his obituary on the Spectrum Fantastic Art web site, there is a quote from him saying id offered him a flat fee or a percentage of the game's profits for his work. He took the flat fee (which was actually lower than his normal fee) but soon afterward realized his mistake, saying, ""So how was I to know this thing called Doom would make a jillion smackers?"
[Via Kotaku]
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While it wasn't the cover art that sold the game, it certainly added to the style and art direction of the game itself.
His son also designed and created the miniature sculptures for the archvile, mancubus, spider mastermind and other baddies that were then digitized and used in the game. Talented family.Posted at 10:13AM on Nov 2nd 2009 by Cornelius