Five Video Games Posters of 2012 with Amazing BodyLanguage (2)

Continuing The Design and Body Language of Video Games Posters we now come to Borderlands 2 and Halo 4 

 The Video Games Posters for Borderlands 2 and Halo 4

Borderlands 2 Poster:

Here’s a body language cluster that speaks loud and clear. In the Borderlands 2 poster, the lead character has their body thrust forward, leading with their face, while they hold two imaginary pistols to their head.

Of course, the meaning of the body language in this Borderlands 2 poster is “I’m in your face, crazy and gonna kill everybody. . . including me.” Actually, there is one other meaning the body language of this poster could mean. The guy could be saying, “For god sake, will you listen?!” His hands are indicating towards his ears, he appears to be fed up (which is why he’s thrusting his head forward) and he’s staring wildly at the viewer as though trying to grab their attention.

Halo 4 Poster: In the Halo 4 poster, Master Chief has been drawn so as to have power, stability and dominance. By this poster alone, you’d say Master Chief’s character is one of toughness and resilience, and the reason, once again, lies in his body language.

In the Halo 4 poster, Matcher Chief is shown to be taking up a lot of space, with his arms and his legs held slightly outwards. Taking up space in this way is a sign of dominance (which is why any site talking about Alpha Males will advocate standing with the feet far apart). His head and chin are raised, which are signs of confidence and strength. Finally, he has his body turned towards the viewer even though his face is turned the other way. This is an extremely important part of the design because psychologically speaking, where we point our body is more important than where we point our head and eyes. It’s only because Master Chief’s body is pointing towards the viewer that we know that he’s on our side (this is a little secret fact that body language specialists know but which most people are unaware of. If someone points their body or feet towards you, even when their head and eyes point away, they’re interested in you).

As you can see, body language has a powerful effect in the way a character is presented in posters like these. Body language is the most important part of communication, and that’s as true for the communication of video games characters as it is for your interpersonal communications.

The artists who create these posters are only able to achieve such great sense of character by using the laws and facts of the science of body language. Next time you play a game, keep an eye on exactly how a character moves. You’ll find that they’ve been designed to communicate their personality through their body language.

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