The Fate of Dr. Alvarenga

Pablo Moreno is the artist and gamer behind this collection of "Call of Cthulhu" props, including a small Cthulhu statue, handwritten notes, and an intriguing specimen in a bottle.

Arkham Sanitarium, Part Five

Here's the Arkham Sanitarium logo, at least for now. I'm still not altogether happy with it, but I've reached the stage where the more I fiddle with it the more frustrated I get. That's usually the sign to call it quits for a while.

Just click on any of the pictures below to get the high resolution versions. I've included four different color schemes for you to choose from, but the last one is my personal favorite.

Update: Of course, as soon as I finished posting this my significant other points out a suggestion from a commenter that would help me fix what I don't like. I still want to walk away from it for a few days to get some perspective, but I'll post the tweaked version sometime next week.

Old Paper

Crumbling sheaves of documents and forbidden ancient writings are some of the most common props in a "Call of Cthulhu" game. If you're making your own you'll want to visit the "Vintage Retro Grunge" website and their collection of 160 vintage paper textures. You'll find newsprint, notebook paper, stationary, hand thrown paper, and everything in between, with wear ranging from slightly soiled to falling apart.



My thanks to the invaluable Alban for the link.

Arkham Sanitarium, Part Four

Raven sent over this variation that I think has some possibilities.



I'm going to ink the designs today, so I should have some close-to-final roughs either tonight or tomorrow. In a related note, my apologies if you've left a comment or sent an email that I haven't responded to yet. I should be caught up with everything before this afternoon.

I Wear No Mask

A deliciously evil-looking mask from artist Nick Whitmore. It was crafted from the simplest of raw materials- sticks and paper mache. That's a strong endorsement of both Mr. Whitemore's talent and the principle that low budget doesn't always mean low quality.

Arkham Sanitarium, Part Three

A few more variations of the Arkham Sanitarium logo today. If you haven't already read the comments from earlier I'd suggest giving them a look. There have been some excellent suggestions, and Raven in particular has contributed some fantastic research on a variety of topics.



There is much to like here. First off, I beefed up the snake a bit and cleaned up his geometry to strengthen the psi symbol. Second, I dropped the full shield surround down to the lower part of the design so I could enlarge the title. The key and torch, representing efforts to unlock the prison of the mind and the light of knowledge, balance nicely.



Several commenters on the earlier post suggested a single silhouette behind the psi and this was the first iteration of that. The rayed sun motif doesn't look half-bad, but I'm leery of adding too many "pointy" elements because I want a passive, non-threatening design.

Then again, I may be thinking too much.



Another iteration of the background element idea, this time echoing the curves of the psi symbol to emphasize it even more. I like this, but I worry that it's too modern looking.




Another try, taking the basic idea from above and blending it with the shape of a beacon basket from heraldry. I think it's weaker, and the beacon thing is probably too obscure.



Going back to the beginning and simply swapping the white background for black. I'm liking it. The multiple symbolic elements echo the overly arty seal designs of the past, but it has the clean layout of more modern designs without being too abstract. The black and white print version of the logo could drop the dark field altogether. If I wanted to go really period I could hand ink each of the elements and import them to replace the current versions.

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Seeking Asylums

I'm still futzing about with the Arkham Sanitarium project, but Alban was kind enough to send over a link to the extensive collection of vintage asylum information to be found in the Internet Archive. There's a little bit of everything there- trustee reports, case evaluations, physical plant details, etc. One thing I've learned over the last few weeks is that asylums in the classic era were a mix of brutal horrors and surprisingly progressive compassion. I think it's fair to say that Lovecraft's perception of his parents' treatment, and his own breakdown, helped shape the generally positive depiction of Arkham Sanitarium.