Artwork Questions

It's kind of like when you go into one of those stores where there aren't any prices on the merchandise. If you have to ask . . .

You don't have the skills to do this yourself, and you can not realistically achieve technical competence in less than two years. Graphic design falls into the category of things, like photography or writing, that amateurs think they do well at but generally don't. Therefore, you will be entirely dependent upon contracting an illustrator and graphic designer.

Most illustrators will provide you with a digital copy of their work. Make sure that you have purchased commercial rights (an artist may be selling digital copies of a piece for $20, whereas commercial rights cost $500, and this doesn't necessarily preclude them from selling the artwork elsewhere without an exclusivity clause). This is implicit in your needing to understand the fundamentals of contract law when drafting your agreement. Make sure that any digital copy is of sufficient resolution. For example, 300dpi is the standard for commercial printing, but you'll want a higher resolution for scaling, although most illustrators will provide you with a vector-based image that makes this a non-issue. That's especially important when dealing with that "friend who knows Photoshop." We all love that guy!

Your graphic designer will then take your text and art and compile it into a marketable product sent to you in PDF format. If your product doesn't use a lot of art then the layout and design elements are even more important. The important thing for you is to become conversant in the terms of the trade so that you can effectively express what you want and be able to differentiate value from overpriced and sub-par work. A good way to get a handle on the essentials is to actually contact whoever you have in mind for printing this thing and let them start hitting you over the head with technical specs. It is also worth noting that you'll be paying a lot of money for all of this -- like, getting your car fixed sort of money. While it is possible to cut corners hiring students and unknowns, the going rate for these services is a professional one.

I like to direct people to this site for examples of what not to do when dealing with a graphic designer and how frustrating uninformed customers are from the other side of things: http://clientsfromhell.net/

Question #1.
I do a lot of interviews with artist on my blog greenhookgames - because I think art is a big part of the experience - even in abstract games. Artist and their skills and strengths vary. Some artist work (like me) directly on the computer with a digitizer pen (like Wacom) so it is digital from start. And some artist like Vincent Dutrait (that I soon will post an interview with ) always start with pen and paper and then scan the artwork himself to adjust colors on the computer. MOST artist would deliver the art to you digital/online in 300dpi (highresolution / dots pr inch) and CMYK (because RGB does not print well). But an illustration could be the size of a poster - so if you need it on a card you cant just send it to the printshop the way you recieve it. They need it (and they usually have their own specs ) in the correct format layout - with bleed and crop marks.

That is why some games use two type of artists - an illustrator and a graphic designer / dtp layouter. Like my interview on Space Race - the artist Dalibor only did the illustrations and the layout (and I presume print ready files) was done by Zak Eidsvoog. Some artists can deliver the cards ready for print.

So in short. If an artist work on paper it need to be photographed or scanned to a digital artwork. Then it need to be setup for print (I would use InDesign from Adobe)

For the box layout you need a cutting die template with correct measurements from the manufacturer. So the artist can layout on top of this.

Question #2
I think that it is a good idea to let the artist give it a shot. Just be clear in your brief that you don't want too complex art. But I am sure that a good artist could elegantly lift the visual experience - even on a simple board.

Question #3
Try to write a clear brief. Note down the feeling you want the game to give the players. The tone - and maybe some examples. (but often I would leave out the examples and let the artist try something first.) Do you want the art to be jagged and rough and explosive - or do you want it to be soft and fluffy. Colorful or earthtones or dark etc. Sometimes a word like Cartoony seems descriptive - but it can be a lot of different things. Do some tests before ordering 20 illustrations.

Hope this could help. Daniel Solis is running a Class on Skillshare where he describe how to layout cards. (If you want to do it yourself)

http://thebmkdesign.com/character-design-and-3d-sculpting/