Image Policy

This page covers Project Daybreak's guidelines for using images. For our policy on canon overall, see here; for a general introduction to Daybreak's spin on the Halo universe, see here.

In Project Daybreak, visuals are curated to an extent to maintain a consistent vision and standard of originality. The Visual Style Guide provides an overview of the project's aesthetic goals and guidelines. Still, it should be noted that all visual canon is granted some degree of fluidity for the sake of creative freedom. Same with canon in general, it could be said that all visual media is a representation of the internal reality of the fictional universe, but not an objective expression of that reality itself.

Ideally, all art used in Daybreak would be either original or from the sources listed as "canon" on the Canon Policy page. In practice, most Halo sources may be used, apart from those that sharply deviate from the universe's mainline stylistic continuum (e.g. Halo 4 & Halo 5 and their ancillary media). For original subjects, self-created images (2D or 3D) are encouraged, but not strictly mandated.

As a general guideline, images from other franchises should be avoided, at least if those images are easily recognizable. Asset reuse is a tricky area; most of what can be said is apply it at your discretion. Maybe it isn't a good idea to use very recognizable designs like Imperial Star Destroyers or Doomguy, but, say, obscure concept art for a game or movie whose visual style can pass as Halo (or concept art for the Halo games themselves) may be acceptable. Ideally, reused assets should at least be modified in some way (e.g. photobashing or changes/additions to the model); however, the original source art and artist should still be identified in the image description.

Images created with AI generation tools are tolerated, but only as concept art or provisional representations similar to reused assets. Uploaders are responsible for the ethical use of training data for the image generation algorithm; the appropriation of the styles of artists who have not permitted their work to be used for algorithm fodder will not be tolerated.

If you plan on using fan art or screenshots, concepts or models from other fan projects (e.g. games/mods like Sins of the Prophets), always ask the original creator's and/or owner's permission first and make sure they're okay with their work being used outside its original context; proper credit and links to the original submissions should also be provided.

Primary
Pictures from Daybreak-canon Halo media (e.g. screenshots, concept art, illustrations), or original artwork unique to Daybreak. Visual depictions from Halo media deemed "apocryphal" in Daybreak, as outlined in the Canon Policy, should be judged on a case-by-case basis. Though they are not "canon" by default, some visuals from otherwise "non-canon" media may be used in a representative manner in Daybreak. Illustrations from outside the project may be promoted to this tier as long as they are deemed to match the project's visual style and design guidelines; one notable example is the fan mod Sins of the Prophets and its starship designs.

Concept art
A tier between Primary and Provisional artwork, concept art is original artwork developed for the Daybreak project that depicts a non-final iteration of the subject. Concept art can be used in articles to convey a rough idea of what the subject might look like, but in practice it's subject to change, and occupies a place similar to provisional illustrations.

Provisional
Illustrative art that is not regarded as canon, but an approximation used to tentatively represent a given subject. Assets reused from other franchises or projects, as well as AI-generated images, are placed in this category by default, and can only graduate to Primary canon under special circumstances. In principle, the goal would be to eventually replace these with primary-tier artwork.

Image policies
When uploading existing images released by either Bungie or 343 Industries, they must be categorized and marked with a template which of the three canonical tiers they belong to. In addition, they should have some indication as to where they came from, either in the title (e.g. pictures from Halo: Reach are named as 'HR-FILENAME') or in their description (e.g. a Halopedia link to the source they came from). In addition, if the image's artist is known, it is good practice to name them in the description, along with other information that may be relevant.

For any fan-made content not created for Daybreak, it is recommended that you receive written permission from the authors before they are submitted for approval; should they later change their minds, the offending images should be removed. You will need to link to the page that they came from, give credit to the illustrator/s, and mark them with the provisional template in their description.

Image licenses and categorization
The Project Daybreak wiki uses a system of image license templates to both communicate the origin and copyright status of images, as well as group them into a set of source-specific categories. When uploading a file (through the "upload file" page), use the "Licensing" drop-down menu to pick the license most appropriate for the image. The image licenses can also be found in this category.