Don Punchatz passes away

[Janizdreg]

Donald Ivan Punchatz, a distinguished fantasy and science fiction artist who also illustrated the acclaimed Doom package art and logo, has passed away on October 22 at the age of 73 following cardiac arrest 11 days earlier. The Doom community would like to send its sincere condolences to the Punchatz family. Rest in peace Don Punchatz!

EDIT: Kotaku has an article with some more information.

[eargosedown]

Hate to hear that :(
Rest in Peace

[The Pursuer]

My condolences

[MP2E]

This guy made my favorite logo in the world.... :(

[punnyone]

My sympathies to his family. RIP

[pritch]

The Doom box art and logo encapsulated all that the game did - i.e. something that went beyond what a PC game meant traditionally at the time, and into the realm of creating a world people could actually be immersed in. It perfectly fitted the game.

Mr. Punchatz had a lot of talent, RIP.

[Scuba Steve]

Doom's box art is a testament to great video game covers. It's a goddamn lost art.

[DuckReconMajor]

RIP. Looking at the Ultimate Doom poster it's hard to believe one person did all that. If you zoom it to actual size and look at the demon in the bottom left corner, it's actually quite frightening. The expressions on the marines' faces were done very well, too.

[Mechadon]

RIP Mr. Punchatz :(. I think the Doom box art is probably one of my all-time favorites.

[Doom Marine]

Your Doom boxart always put a smile on me. RIP Mr. Punchatz.

[sargebaldy]

That was great work. RIP, Don.

[Xtife]

The one who gave Doom a face deserves to be up there with the developers themselves. RIP

[Dittohead]

I actually remember looking this guy up on wikipedia just because of how cool the Doom box art really was. It's a shame that he died so young. After all, 73 isn't that old anymore these days.

RIP.

[lupinx-Kassman]

Probably the best cover art I have seen for a game. Much better then what you usually see nowadays IMO.

RIP Punchatz

[chungy]

This is fairly sad news, that was such a great piece of art. (Although 73 years old isn't exactly so unusal to pass away at... yes, people live longer than that, but it's still expected...)

Scuba Steve said:

Doom's box art is a testament to great video game covers. It's a goddamn lost art.

I wouldn't say it's totally lost... although generic in-game screenshots are plentiful... Borderlands comes immediately to mind for at least having creative boxart, although it's definitely not the best (and probably not the best example either, but like I said, it was the first thing to come to mind)

[kristus]

No. Scuba was right. It's a lost art.

[Cutman]

That poster of Doom has been burned into my memory ever since childhood. His artwork will live on for years to come I'm sure. RIP

[Mr. Freeze]

RIP Don. You were such an inspiration to many, and will continue to be. I just hope that Gregor is doing alright.

[Csonicgo]

MikeRS said:

I wouldn't say it's totally lost...

Doom's Boxart could stand as a work of art in itself. "Borderlands" Couldn't. In my honest opinion, that example is pure crap.

And I sure wouldn't put it on my wall. Doom is on my wall, however, and everyone that has seen it has commented on it.

[SteelPH]

And another legendary man passes on...
RIP.

[Patrick]

Rest in Peace

[Scuba Steve]

L4D and Borderlands are pretty decent as far as covers go, I like them... but they just lack the brilliance and creativity of old game covers. Games like Doom and the other games of that era inspired the Urban Brawl boxart.

[Necros20]

That's too bad. :( This guy created what is arguably one of the best video game boxart covers ever.

[40oz]

RIP

It's not the exact logo but it's derivative of his art.

[Philnemba]

Shame, But he will be remember for creating the best video game box art in the world. RIP Don Punchatz.

[Dutch Doomer]

R.I.P. Don Punchatz. I love the doom boxart. Who made the Doom2 boxart, I really like that one also.

[kristus]

Gerald Brom (he also made the Heretic box art)

[DuckReconMajor]

Does anyone have a picture of the non-Serpent Riders box art?

[Quasar]

DuckReconMajor said:

Does anyone have a picture of the non-Serpent Riders box art?

http://images.ravengames.com/heretic/base/box_heretic.jpg

[kristus]

http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1144791128-00.jpg
http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1144791521-00.jpg