Hi friends,
Just finished up the latest card design theme for my game and wanted to get some impressions. The underlying theme is galactic/space, but I'm trying to avoid an overtly futuristic tone with the components. I'd love to hear some thoughts on design, layout, clarity, and character.
If you'd like to learn more about the game itself (gameplay, mechanics, etc) take a look here: http://www.bgdf.com/node/13502
Thanks!
That looks legit... The white background with faded symbols will save you money and it looks clean and straight forward. The black borders however might show difficulty while cutting them. If there's any mistakes in your cut you'll see them greatly. If there's any wear and tear from using the cards it'll show on colored borders especially black borders.
All ahead thrusters.
The icon box in the top center should not protrude over the banner.
Why the stripes in the top banner? Why not either leave it white with the colored text or make it a solid car and make the text white with a black border?
I agree with the posts that discuss the black boarder and the stripes making manufactuing problematic.
The colors and icons in the middle look great and clearly show their different functions.
Great Job
Very interesting game.
Thanks. I'll give that a try.
My original thinking about having it overlap was to increase the perceived depth in that section, since the card is so simple otherwise.
The top banner denotes the type/category of card so I wanted to make it more subdued. The stripes (same color as the block behind the middle banner) are supposed to give the text a place to rest so it can be visually processed as part of the background. I'll give the white text/black border a shot and see if it jumps out too much.
These look great! I only have one small thing.
As a player I don't want anything to interfere with the text I need for gameplay. The body text, the small black colored text in the middle of the cards, consider removing the watermark symbol behind it. Maybe frame it instead, something that looks like "This super clear text right here is what you need to read to play!".
As a player I don't want anything to interfere with the text I need for gameplay. The body text, the small black colored text in the middle of the cards, consider removing the watermark symbol behind it. Maybe frame it instead, something that looks like "This super clear text right here is what you need to read to play!".
I personally would keep the watermarks. Right now, as it is, the cards look great, but at the same time they are very simple. (This is good for some, bad for others). I personally love pictures on my cards. Dominion's cards don't always have the best pictures (they aren't even all done by the same artists and a lot don't have the same style)! I still enjoy looking at those pictures and it helps me enjoy the game a lot. The watermarks in these cards are the only things that really catch my attention on these cards.
As such I think the usage of your watermarks will all come down to personal preference. Do you want pretty pictures/watermarks, or do you want a simpler card that may be easier to read.
As a player I don't want anything to interfere with the text I need for gameplay. The body text, the small black colored text in the middle of the cards, consider removing the watermark symbol behind it. Maybe frame it instead, something that looks like "This super clear text right here is what you need to read to play!".
Thanks! I attached a version without watermarks so you can compare the two. It does give the body text more clarity, but I'm not sure it's such a difference that it warrants removing the watermarks.
I tried giving the text a few different frame treatments as well, but everything ended up disrupting the design.
As such I think the usage of your watermarks will all come down to personal preference. Do you want pretty pictures/watermarks, or do you want a simpler card that may be easier to read.
Thanks for that balanced critique. I agree that card art provides opportunities to draw players in, expand on the game world, and accentuate the theme... but the more detailed the art the more complex they become to visually scan. The detailed/simple preference is pretty subjective - where you're drawn in by the Dominion artwork, I lean towards the design of the new Glory to Rome which is about as simple as they come.
My game is 2 vs 2 and involves a lot of strategizing among teammates who need to be able to secretively talk about and share cards in their hands. My theory is that those gameplay goals are better achieved with a simple design.
As such I think the usage of your watermarks will all come down to personal preference. Do you want pretty pictures/watermarks, or do you want a simpler card that may be easier to read.
I must say I find the new cards without watermarks to be much easier to read. With that said, some games suffer more from this than others. Comparing reading time in Dominion and Magic the Gathering for instance. In Dominion players more often read to learn what the kingdom cards do before the game begins. In Magic it's more likely you read every single card (especially if you play drafting). So I would say that it depends on your game. If there are only three card types in the game, players will probably only read it once or twice, hence readability isn't as big of an issue as if you have 100 unique cards all with different texts.
One more thought! If there is bluffing in your game and some card type is harder to read than others some advanced players might just be able to see if others are squinting and draw conclusions...
Good luck!
Also there is a difference as well between pictures and watermarks. Pictures don't interfere as much with the reading of the cards while watermarks can. Of the three watermark cards, the trap card is the easiest to read because of the lightness of the watermark. Perhaps lightening up the other two may help the readability of the cards.
As with Dominion Vs. MtG, I don't have problems reading the cards for either game. Now, understanding what the rules for those cards is completely different.
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Good point on the black - I can leave it white and set let the colored bars on top and bottom bleed to the edges instead.
Thanks!