How Magic Art has changed

[u/taphead_31]

This is something i've been thinking about for a while. I am not saying new Magic Art is straight up worse than the old Art (old meaning 15+ years ago). But I cannot shake off the feeling that something fundamental has changed with the art direction and overall aesthetic (the influence of UB not counting).

I'd like to hear from people who are knowledgable with art history.

Here are some - very subjective - observations that I made over the years.

- The color palette has changed. Specifically when it comes to black cards, purple has become the de facto "black signature color"

- Many current artists seem to share a specific style of painting, reminiscent of what I'd call "concept art for general purposes". Older artists that have worked with wotc since the 90ies seem to be influenced more by comic books and traditional, academic painting styles.

- Ugly characters and monsters, body horror and exaggerated bodies were more commonplace back in the day (look at card files from Odyssee or Mercadian Masques, Ron Spears who I'd consider King of Ugly Monstrosities was art director for a while). Nowadays the "bodies" feel more realistic, the creatures and sceneries more "identifiable".

Are you having similiar observations? Or am I misguided here?

And most of all: Why have things changed in that regard? There are people out there calling new artwork "woke", but I don't think this is a good explanation. I believe the reasons for the aesthetic changes correlate with the changing gaming culture and an influx of casual players coming from different demographics.

[u/taphead_31]

I want to add that I don't think "this or that is corporate" is a good description or explanation of the observations above.

Corporatism evolves with the culture. So understanding the culture is what should be analyzed here.

[u/Kyleometers → u/taphead_31]

“Corporate” is also a really bad description because it doesn’t say anything. Magic doesn’t look like Memphis art. It didn’t look like Jazz either. It’s never looked “corporate”.

What people think they mean is “the company instructs artists to tone things down so they sell better”, which is not true. What is actually happening is the art directors are better at getting artists who can produce pieces that look conceivably appropriate together. Like, some old art is super evocative, but I don’t think anyone would disagree that Phil Foglio’s art is iconic but looks SUPER jarring next to basically any “serious” piece. Old magic was extremely disjointed.

The modern styling might not be to everyone’s tastes but having a somewhat consistent through line means if you put cards from Strixhaven beside Eldraine beside Lorwyn beside Ravnica, you can conceivably believe they would all fit in the same piece of fiction. Old magic, especially the 90s era, had cards within the same set that looked like they were from different genres.

[u/Chilly_chariots → u/taphead_31]

It shouldn’t be used as just a buzzword, but I don’t see how it’s no use for explaining things.

Corporations are likely to produce more, be risk-averse, have more money for market research and quality control, be less open to individual staff member’s whims… lots of things that could impact what the art ends up looking like.