History of Pac-Man artwork style guides

Front cover to "Characters and Logo Style Guide - Pac-Man" (1992).

This page details Pac-Man artwork style guides issued by Namco (and later, Bandai Namco) for use as model references. These guidebooks were used both internally at Namco and for use in Pac-Man merchandising by licensees.

History

Following Pac-Man's immense popularity in the United States, Bally Midway (the game's U.S. distributor) began licensing the IP to numerous merchandisers throughout the 1980s. However, Midway did not mandate many (if any) specific guidelines as to how Pac-Man could be represented in official products; both for other companies' merchandise and Midway's own releases. This led to Pac-Man being inconsistently portrayed across virtually all released products; this problem was worsened by licensees, who would often create questionable, wholly-original interpretations of the character (such as the infamous Ben Cooper costume and Gabriel squeeze toy).^[1]

Concerned with the increasing amount of inconsistent U.S. portrayals, the Namco Design Office (of Japan) would create a Pac-Man style guide for use by licensees. The guidebook featured the master illustrations by Tadashi Yamashita of the Pac-Man characters, logos, and color values; in addition to the provided images being usable as merchandising artwork.^[1] Namco and its affiliates would produce further style guides throughout the decades, with the most recent verified guidebook being released in 2017.^[2]

Pac-Man Character Manual (1980s)

The initial Pac-Man Character Manual (パックマンキャラクターマニュアル Pakkuman Kyarakutā Manyuaru) was released in the early 1980s (likely 1982-83) by the Namco Design Office. The guidebook features Tadashi Yamashita-illustrated artwork of Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man, the four Ghosts, and the Pac-Man series logo; in addition to their designated color values. The characters are predominantly represented as the standard "limbed" designs, though are also represented as pixel graphics.^[3] Additional character manuals based on Mappy and Libble Rabble would be produced in 1983.^[1]

This guidebook was used as basis for virtually all Pac-Man merchandise pieces in Japan from 1984 onward (outside of inconsistent Tomy portrayals), up until the late 1990s. Namco's own video game releases also generally reflected the designs seen in the character manual. For unknown reasons, however, some later merchandise and media (from approximately 1995 to 1998) shortens the length of Pac-Man's nose, similar to the design seen in the U.S.-tailored 1992 guide. Notably, the majority of merchandise from the Entertainment Goods Store used designs based on the 1980s character manual, shortly before the more mandated 1999 character manual was published.

This guide has not currently been scanned online; however, all of its pages can be seen (albeit in low quality) in an Arcade Archives livestream from 2023, as part of an interview with Yamashita.^[3] Additionally, the Mappy character manual was scanned online in 2009.^[4]

U.S. version

An illustration reflective of the (presumed)-U.S. Pac-Man Character Manual (1980s). — An illustration reflective of the (presumed)-U.S. *Pac-Man Character Manual* (1980s).

A separate set of merchandising designs were reportedly created by Namco of Japan for the U.S. market; though it is currently unknown if this was in the form of a mandated style guide. The designs in question were still illustrated by Yamashita, but with varying alterations compared to the Japanese versions; in particular, the artwork was redesigned to remove the (intentionally)-jagged outlines of the characters, and presented Ms. Pac-Man with more visible makeup.^[5]

These character designs were used as basis for several pieces of U.S. merchandise from the 1980s and early 1990s. Curiously, many items using these designs seem to be somewhat "kiddie" in conception; such as being used on coloring books, the Colorforms set, and child-oriented wooden puzzles. It is possible that, for unknown reasons, Midway solely licensed this form of artwork on younger-targeted products. This also makes it unclear if the guidelines truly worked for Namco's intended purpose (i.e. standardizing Pac-Man's design across all products).

Characters and Logo Style Guide - Pac-Man (1992)

An illustration from the Characters and Logo Style Guide (1992).

The Characters and Logo Style Guide - Pac-Man book was produced exclusively for the U.S. market by Namco Hometek in 1992. The guidebook features character and logo designs reflective of Greg Martin's Pac-Man artwork, which was used in many U.S. Pac-Man releases at the time (e.g. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man for the Game Boy).

The 1992 style guide features the same characters as the 1980s character manual (Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man, and the Ghosts); the guidebook only features artwork designs and not pixel sprites. Many of the 1992 guide's images are directly modeled after preexisting Tadashi Yamashita illustrations, including then-modern artwork (such as artwork from the Namco 1990 calendar). It is unknown if the style guide's illustrations are from Martin himself, or if it is from another artist replicating his style.

Artwork from this guidebook was used in the majority of U.S. Pac-Man products from the 1990s (though the series itself was not widely merchandised during the decade). Most notably, it was used in MGA's Pac-Man handheld games, as well as numerous arcade prizes from Namco USA. Artwork originating from this style guide continued use into the 2000s, likely due to many of the featured characters not appearing in the subsequent 1999 guide.

In the initial filing of the Bandai Namco v. AtGames lawsuit, Namco (as the plaintiff) exhibited a scan of the Characters and Logo Style Guide in its entirety, in an attempt to show their ownership in the Ms. Pac-Man IP. As such, the guide itself is available in full online.

Pac-Man Character Manual (1999)

A second Pac-Man Character Manual, subtitled "Guidelines for the Reproduction of the Pac-Man Character", was published by Namco in 1999. This guidebook was intended for use worldwide (rather than having separate designs for the U.S. market), with artwork illustrated by Hideki Tanaami. The booklet also came with a CD-ROM.^[6]

The 1999 guidebook features both 2D and 3D portrayals of Pac-Man; alongside pixel sprites, the series logo, and flat circular designs. The guidebook is notably much more in-depth than previous versions; featuring exact specifications on printing requirements, posing restrictions, and other details. The guide specifically mentions that "all images of [Pac-Man] should be based" on the Hideki Tanaami design of the character, and is overall much stricter in comparison to the earlier style guides.^[7]

Notably, this book does not feature Ms. Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man, or the Ghosts at all, outside of pixel artwork of the latter. This resulted in merchandising and media from the time period inconsistently portraying the characters; either by using an earlier style guide as reference, or creating custom character designs (the latter was notably done in the Mario Kart Arcade GP series and several Namco Networks promotions).

The 1999 character manual was quickly enforced across virtually all Pac-Man products in Japan. This did not apply on as wide of a scale in the U.S. until 2005; likely being mandated by that point due to promotions surrounding Pac-Man's 25th anniversary, and early talks of the Namco-Bandai company merge. The designs of this character manual would be in effect until 2010, at which point they were completely replaced.

A copy of the 1999 character manual is owned by Pac-Man collector Ashum Besher, who has published its contents online.^[6]^[7]

Pac-Man 3D master model

Prior to the creation of the 1999 character manual, a wax sculpture of Pac-Man was created internally at Namco in 1998. This model was used to perfect 3D interpretations of the character, and was created for use as reference during the development of Pac-Man World. The majority of 3D appearances of Pac-Man, from approximately 1998 to 2010, are directly based on this master model sculpture.^[8]

2010s designs

An illustration reflective of the (presumed)-2010s style guide.

A new set of designs for Pac-Man were created in or around 2010, designed for worldwide use. The exact style guide they belong to is currently unknown.

This set of illustrations features a Pac-Man design directly based on the original Tadashi Yamashita design, though the artwork is redrawn in comparison. Unlike the 1999 guide, the 2010s illustrations include proper artwork of the Ghosts, who are also based on the Yamashita style. The (presumed)-style guide did not include Ms. Pac-Man initially, likely due to the legal issues surrounding the IP; however, she would be redesigned to fit into this art style around 2017, with the artwork available for use by licensees. It is unknown if these illustrations are from Yamashita himself; they are more likely from another artist imitating his style (possibly Hideki Tanaami, going by a credited picture from him in this same art style).^[9]

The four art styles present in the (presumed)-2010s style guide, of both Pac-Man and the Ghosts.

These assets were released alongside pixel sprites, rounded flat designs, and 3D-modeled "Pac-Mania"-like designs. Oddly, a 3D model of the standard "limbed" design was not part of this artwork set. A matching 3D design would later be created around the time of the Rio 2016 Olympics (in which Pac-Man made a cameo in the closing ceremony animation), but it was seemingly never made available for use in merchandise.

These designs have continued use within merchandising to this day, though some merchandise from 2022 onward appears to redraw the Ghosts' artwork in a slightly different style (possibly being substituted with genuine Yamashita illustrations).

Pac-Man Retro Style Guide (2017)

The Pac-Man Retro Style Guide was issued in 2017 by Bandai Namco. This guide is considered a separate license from the 2010s designs, with both art styles being concurrently available for licensees.

As its name suggests, the Retro Style Guide features reproductions of older 1980s Pac-Man illustrations, particularly ones from the U.S. market.^[2] While its exact contents are unknown, the available designs can be inferred from various products released from 2018 onward:

The Bally Midway logo typeface, which differs slightly from the more commonly used Tadashi Yamashita version.
The "red-eyed" Bally Midway design seen on the U.S. arcade machine.
The Don Mastri Pac-Man design, seen on many pieces of early 80s merchandise.
The artwork designs from the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man.
The artwork designs from Pac-Man Cereal.
Artwork from the flyers of the 1982 Pac-Man watches by Paxxon Corp., with the watch on Pac-Man's arm removed.^[10] This does not include the matching artwork of Ms. Pac-Man.
Artwork modeled after a "Pac-Man Fever" iron-on transfer, originally released by Factors FTC.^[10]
Oddly, the artwork to the fan-made game Pac-Man 4K for the Atari 2600. It is unknown if this artwork was included in error.

The original Bally Midway artwork for Ms. Pac-Man was made available to licensees around this same time period, though it is unknown if those assets are licensed through the Retro Style Guide.

Trivia

One design in the 1980s character manual resembles the side artwork of the U.S. Super Pac-Man arcade machine. It is unknown if the machine artwork was modeled after the character manual or vice-versa.
None of the official Pac-Man style guides are known to feature Jr. Pac-Man, in part due to the initial 1980s character manual predating the Jr. Pac-Man arcade game. However, a Jr. Pac-Man design matching those found in the style guide was later created for Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (albeit unavailable to further licensees).
- Similarly, Ms. Pac-Man would be redesigned by Hideki Tanaami in 2006, illustrated in the 2D style of the 1999 character manual. This design was ultimately only used for the Xbox Live Arcade version of Ms. Pac-Man.
One restriction listed in the 1999 character manual states that Pac-Man is prohibited from smoking, drinking, engaging in illegal activity, and more curiously, "eating anything picked up from the ground".^[6] This restriction seemingly led to all future Pac-Man games having edible objects slightly hover in mid-air (e.g. the Pac-Man World series). Ironically, Pac-Man eats objects directly off of the ground in the previously-released Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures.
- The Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures games also have food objects float in mid-air. Despite this, food in the games can also be taken out of trashcans and be eaten, among other unsanitary methods of consumption.
Like Pac-Man's master model in the late 90s and 2000s, the ghosts had a clay prototype model. However, it was discarded by Namco due to the model smelling bad; with no known archival material of the model(s) remaining.^[8]
During the 2000s and early 2010s, the style guides for Pac-Man would also affect the artwork for re-releases of older games (e.g. on screen bezels and box artwork). In particular, artwork of Yamashita designs would be redrawn into the Tanaami design in pre-2010 compilations, only to be changed back to the Yamashita-based artwork in compilations from 2010-2011. In the years following, Namco has generally used close approximations to the original games' artwork for re-releases (such as in Pac-Man Museum +).