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Precinct Omega Podcast - Design #7 - Art, Artists & Commissioning
🕑 Added 2021-02-19 12:01:00 +0000 UTCCommissioning art for a tabletop game is one of those things that can be outside a designer's comfort zone and I've had a load of questions about it. To try to explain how to articulate your needs, find an artist, estimate a budget and compose a brief, I spent slightly over an hour in monologue about this subject.
I was going to do a feedback episode, but I got too tied up with other tasks this week, so we'll have the feedback episode in a couple of weeks. The good news is that I've not had any lawyers or financial experts get in touch to tell me my episode about VAT was substantially incorrect, yet!
Here are some links to websites or portfolios of some of the artists I talk about in this episode:
Comments
Precinct Omega
Wtaf?? (But thank you for telling me)
Marco Rinaldi
The link to David Sonderd isn't fixed actually.
Precinct Omega
Fixed the link! Yes, it's a tricky one. My approach has been to embrace the idea that the work is an evolving one and that the setting and art can evolve along with the games. Although I embrace the game's status as miniatures-agnostic, I would also like to gradually draw people into enjoying and participating in the Horizon Wars setting as it evolves. If you look at D&D, they did very much the same thing with early editions being super-generic, whilst specific worlds and settings for the game emerged over the editions until we reach the modern era with several well-defined and inter-related worlds, populated by familiar and established characters and storylines.
Jonathan Lupton
I find it odd that to play a miniature wargame you don't need art, the game is playable without it. However successful games do have good/great art, in fact the art can be more important to the success than the rules themselves. Miniatures companies that can combine their sculpts, art, background and rules into a single coherent product are typically the more successful ones. How do you, and other mini-agnostic companies like Precinct Omega, find the right balance between creating the art that evokes the world/universe of Horizon Wars but still remains open enough that players can use any miniatures? It feels like you have to balance between creating a unique art style for HW and having a more generic style that leaves the choice of mini supplier more open. I think GW actually have it easier as they can go all in on a unique style, rather than needing to find a balance. Ps. The link to David Sonderd is incorrect.
