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Finding cheap-ish artists for card design?

11 replies [Last post]
Thu, 10/08/2015 - 10:30
WhtANightmare
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Joined: 10/02/2015

Hi i was wondering if people had any good resources for finding people who may be able to help create designs for character cards.

Theme wise i am looking for fantasy, whether that be creatures, mages, witches, vampires, or just badass warriors with huge weapons etc etc.

Possibly similar to MtG style but maybe more comic book art.

Hopefully people will have some good suggestions as to where to source help

With some luck i might even then be able to produce a few example cards, with correct theme. My introduction post does show an idea of the type of game/mechanics i will want to reproduce.

Thanks in advance

Mark

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Thu, 10/08/2015 - 10:45
#1
Masacroso
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Joined: 05/05/2014
Drawing is one of the hardest

Drawing is one of the hardest jobs that I know. In my youth I draw some little comics.

What I can say is that draw is strongly more hard work that design a game... Maybe some artist want to participate of your project as co-developer, I think this is the cheapest way to do it.

(I dont draw anymore, Im not talking of me, just to point.)

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Thu, 10/08/2015 - 10:54
#2
WhtANightmare
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Joined: 10/02/2015
Thank you for the response,

Thank you for the response, and it is certainly a good option. Its always hard to find people who essentially have the same passion for a project as yourself. Hopefully i can find someone interested in the idea and that would like to help progress the game design :)

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Thu, 10/08/2015 - 12:38
#3
questccg
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Why do you think we want to Kickstart???

If ARTWORK was CHEAP (or inexpensive), why would we need Kickstarter???

Basically your artwork is the reason for HAVING a Kickstarter. "Tradewars - Homeworld" is going to cost $8,000 to get all the artwork done. YUP, you read right "$8,000".

In addition to artwork there is also things such as Advertising, Graphic Design, and Creative Writing that will also be part of the budget...

I don't recommend anyone choosing CHEAP artwork - when a Kickstarter is designed for that purpose. You should find a GOOD artist that can properly handle your subject matter and work with them to produce the artwork for the game.

In my case, I have ADVANCED $1,000 in preliminary artwork. Enough for people to have a look at and say: "That's looks pretty cool - I want to play this game." And there is no (Zero) substitution for GOOD artwork... It can make the difference between a successful campaign and a failed one.

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Thu, 10/08/2015 - 12:59
#4
JewellGames
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Art

Possible this section of BGG, Deviantart, or Graphicriver.

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Wed, 12/30/2015 - 23:33
#5
Zedrex
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You know where I go?

You know where I go? fiverr.com. Lots of artists there from the amateur to the pros and they all specify what genres or styles they do, charging from $5 upwards per illustration depending on degree of detail, colouring, backgrounds, etc. I had an artist doing a tarot deck there for me at $10 per illustration

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Thu, 12/31/2015 - 00:43
#6
questccg
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I disagree

Masacroso wrote:
What I can say is that draw is strongly more hard work that design a game... Maybe some artist want to participate of your project as co-developer, I think this is the cheapest way to do it.

Game Design is very complex and is not easy. Sure anyone with artistic talent can TRY to put together a game. But that's not to say that it will be a GOOD game!

It's a partnership: good art is worthwhile to spend on.

Most artist don't want to be partners, they would prefer getting paid upfront. So you do like most businesses: you negotiate a rate for the whole lot of artwork you need and then you Kickstart the funding of said amount.

But designing is just as difficult as drawing. It requires other creative talent.

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Thu, 12/31/2015 - 02:17
#7
Glide5
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Joined: 09/02/2014
The best thing you can do is

The best thing you can do is make a thread on deviant art with information about what you are looking for, and see if anyone gets back with you. Thats how I found my artist. You will be shocked on who you hear from. But make sure to be straightforward about what you can pay in the post, and what the project is.

You have to have great art to sell a game. You have to have great design to get people to come back. Best case scenario is you get an artist who both likes your game and can help you grow your world.

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Tue, 02/02/2016 - 20:05
#8
Neil Googe
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Joined: 02/01/2016
Hey I'm new to the forums,

Hey

I'm new to the forums, but I am actually a game designer by night and a concept artist for computer games and comic artist for DC comics by day :)

Excuse the lengthy reply...

So the first thing I would ask is realistically what is your budget? its going to largely dictate what you can get and who you can do it. For anyone who does art for their actual day job, like myself, as much as I do help out the small guy as much as I can, obviously I do have bills to pay so that sets either an amount I need to earn, or, means I have to be able to fit the lower paid work in amongst the work that covers my bills...

But...

There is a growing community of much younger artists who are exceptionally good, who really don't need the same money, usually because they are at college, and so doing the work is a few extra dollars and good for their portfolio (never mention the "good for your portfolio" part, its become a real anti term in the art community)

Great places are trawling deviant art and youtube (yep youtube) then just message people, see what you get back. Another approach is to trawl DeviantArt, find art you like, and ask if for a nominal fee you can use the art for the prototype cards... this gives an artist a small amount of money for art they have already done.

The other way, as this is a prototype, is to get a good designer to design a card template, for boarders etc. And then just use art from around the web that fits the feel. As I say, this can ONLY be used for the prototype as obviously you cant then use it for sales etc. But my like designers of all sorts with their mood boards, its a great way to get mood. Even top end companies use mood boards, which is art they find on line and collect together before they start a project so everyone working on the project understands the feel and theme of what they are doing...

Just some thoughts on ways you can approach it in the prototype stage, which might help get you to a more funding stage... And remember so long as you do not try to sell it, and make it very very clear where you have used work from and this is only for the purpose of prototyping, using most art you find online etc. is ok, so long as at that stage you are making it clear. Its only if you get to the kickstarter or sales stage you have to get your own art produced, but at that point, you still only need a few pieces of key art for your kickstarter video, web site, game box etc. As someone mentions above, the kickstarter can then be used to fund the rest of the art.

Hope this helps, and best of luck with the project, if you have any questions feel free to message me.

Neil

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Wed, 02/03/2016 - 05:33
#9
Fhizban
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Joined: 01/11/2009
Hi! *commercial

Hi! *commercial jingle*

excuse that plug, but it fits the topic quite well:

check out my stock art offered at RPGnow.com

http://www.rpgnow.com/browse/pub/7586/1manstudio

and while Im on it: check out the other sections on rpgnow.com, they have literally a shipload of stock art available at low prices. most of it is kinda low-quality but dirt cheap. it really depends on what you are trying to achieve here.

unique art is like 300 times more expensive

cheers
-Fhizban

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Sun, 02/14/2016 - 07:44
#10
JayProducer
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https://www.boardgamegeek.com

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/forum/974655/boardgamegeek/board-game-art-...

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Mon, 02/15/2016 - 01:29
#11
Masacroso
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Joined: 05/05/2014
questccg wrote:Masacroso

questccg wrote:
Masacroso wrote:
What I can say is that draw is strongly more hard work that design a game... Maybe some artist want to participate of your project as co-developer, I think this is the cheapest way to do it.

Game Design is very complex and is not easy. Sure anyone with artistic talent can TRY to put together a game. But that's not to say that it will be a GOOD game!

It's a partnership: good art is worthwhile to spend on.

Most artist don't want to be partners, they would prefer getting paid upfront. So you do like most businesses: you negotiate a rate for the whole lot of artwork you need and then you Kickstart the funding of said amount.

But designing is just as difficult as drawing. It requires other creative talent.

Yes, I understand, maybe I put too much emphasis on my perception.

It was just my subjective point of view. To be fair I never get into the world of trying to sell a game or making some commerce with it, it was just my subjective perception from the point of view of an amateur.

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