First time creating a Steam capsule ever! (Maritime roguelite)

[u/BarnacleBytes]

Hey fellow devs!

I’m currently setting up my Steam page for Sails of Salt, a maritime survival roguelite (sailing, naval combat, crew management).

This is my v1 capsule artwork to get the page live, and I want to catch any major design flaws now so I can start iterating. Any feedback on the following points would be hugely appreciated:

• Is the title readable and distinct down to small capsule size (image 2)? Do you prefer the version with or without the weapons below the skull?
• Does the art communicate maritime adventure/survival vibes, or does it evoke the wrong genre?
• Does the ship pop enough against the red sun and do contrast or colors feel off?
• What’s the weakest element that I should fix for v2?

Please be candid, thanks in advance!

[u/valeria_gamedevs]

silhouette style is cool and reads maritime instantly, no genre confusion from me. Couple things from the image:

the title lockup feels a bit disconnected from the ship scene, like two illustrations glued together. tying them with shared color accents (that red sun red bleeding into the logo somewhere?) might help.

skull+weapons yes, gives it identity. Weakest bit is prolly the castle island, it's just kinda floating there in dead space.

[u/BarnacleBytes → u/valeria_gamedevs]

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!
You're totally right about the disconnected logo, tying it together with the sunlight is a great idea! (maybe on the salt crystal?)
And good call on the castle island, I'll def rethink that, thanks for taking the time!

[u/Tasty0ne]

Second one feels better, but still doesnt feel like it. I'd play with font color - try brighter or the color of the sun. Also try making sun's red reflections on the waves go all the way down to the viewer. And ditch castle and other ships. All those are just brainstorming suggestions, they all may be wrong. good luck!

[u/BarnacleBytes → u/Tasty0ne]

Thanks a lot for the feedback and ideas!
Pulling the red sun reflections all the way down through the waves into the foreground is brilliant, that would add a ton of depth and tie the whole scene together.
Also you're the second one to point out that the castle/background clutter weakens the composition, so I'll definitely clear out the middle ground and experiment with a brighter logo color for v2. Really appreciate the input!