Carmain2K
commented
2 years ago Hello. I'm really not sure how to answer this but I'll try. When we designed the new icons we went purely on aesthetics and how high quality the assets were. In National Populism's case, we found the best quality eagle head (because the old icon was low quality and blurry) and used it, knowing that an eagle is a good generic symbolism for nationalism. If we want to go deeper, one can argue that since Russia is the birthplace of National Populism instead of Germany the design language could be different as we're not trying to replicate Nazi designs here. In the case of Authoritarian Democracy, again its a case of working with the assets that the icon designer had to make something that looks good and is accepted by the team at large. A downward facing gauntlet didn't look as good as an upwards facing one (we did try it with both) so we went with this design.
Overall these are highly subjective opinions that I think are reading far too deeply into what the icons. At the end of the day, Ideology icons are supposed to be a very clear and obvious visual aid to summarise the ideology at a glance. Going into discussions about art theory will be lost on 99.9% of players and the mod team, who likely only care about how cool something looks. Also, as an aside, the Kaiserreich team doesn't see a penny of the KCC money (its a completely separate and independent project), so I'm sorry that you've potentially wasted money to try and get yourself heard here.
kr0mium
ZimbabweSaltCo
Please Note (click to expand)
Suggestions that don't match this template will be closed. We understand this can seem harsh, but in order to ensure we are able to keep on track of bugs other serious issues it is vital our issue tracker is kept organised. The kinds of suggestions that will get close and directed elsewhere include, but are not limited to: - Anything that suggests adding new content - Anything that is focused around changing lore - Anything that will take a significant amount of time to implement - Anything that isn't specific and actionable change about existing content, as the template specifies Please know that this isn't out of any disrespect for the ideas you might have for the mod, and encourage people with a passion to get involved either on the subreddit, the discord or even via joining the team itself. But that being said, suggestions that don't match this template will be closed.Quick questions HOI4 version: Latest Kaiserreich version: Latest
Describe the specific change you would like: A change in stylization to the eagle and fist of the Natpop and Authem ideology icons, respectively.
Explain the reasoning behind this actionable change: As an art history graduate, I'd like to take this opportunity to suggest a personal take upon what I perceive to be a universally acknowledgeable design flaw with the current Natpop and Authem ideology icons, more specifically, when compared to the original iterations of them.
National Populist: Sharp lines and aggressively geometric forms are commonplace in the nationalist art we seen in the works of Albert Speer, Kurt Schmid-Ehmen or Stanislaw Szukalski, which combines modernism and classicism. The original Natpop eagle does a fine job in representing this stark modernism in the form of a eagle's head - it's resemblance to Kurt Schmid-Ehmen's (sculptor considered to be the creator of the National Socialist reichsadler) eagle is discernible. While I understand the goal isn't to replicate the OTL reichsadler, the current icon goes in the opposite direction of what I believe universally defines the modern, militant nature of what we would consider "national populism" with its soft lines and uncanny realism. My suggestion is reverting the design of the current eagle to be more in line with the original natpop icon which visually articulates the ideology better.
Authoritarian Democrat: This is rather straightforward, as I believe a downward facing fist would better represent the very notion of 'Authority' better than a downward facing one. I believe in not a stylistic alteration as per the eagle but a simple change in orientation of the gauntlet would go a long way in communicating the ideology it is meant to represent
I understand these are subjective opinions at the end of the day, but I firmly believe them to be rooted in artistic, symbolic and historic sense. To say I am a huge fan of the mod would be an understatement and this suggestion is not meant to slander in any way. Should anyone express their interest in my proposition I would be absolutely delighted to personally submit proposals for what I believe would be effective replacements (or inspire reiterations) for the current icons. I have extensive photoshop experience, funds to outsource tasks beyond my skills and of course will work within the strict framework given for a Kaiserreich ideology icon GFX; but most importantly I have a clear vision of potential reworked designs.
Additional context or comments: I've subscribed to the KCC Patreon at the highest tier offered as a gesture of goodwill in the hopes this suggestion will receive some attention.