The Design Method

There is one section in particular that will contain steps on how I achieve the visual tone of the book we are working on. I want to emphasize the importance of establishing a replicable framework or workflow from start to finish. My personal design philosophy is that design is not art; art is just one of the tools involved in the design process.

There is a method, a series of steps a designer of any kind has to follow in order to create a product. No design process comes from random inspiration coming down from the muses; we have to extract that creativity through tangible actions. If you want to read more in depth about this process and way of thinking about design, I recommend a book called The Design Method by Eric Karjaluoto. He demystifies a lot of the preconceptions of the design discipline and offers a clear workflow for those interested in design. Give it a read if you want to clean up your workflow or if you are having creative blocks.

This method, or my version of it, is used in the creation of design briefs and style guides for rule books. In the module, I want to dedicate one section to teaching the reader how to create a design brief based on the input from a publisher or game designer. Then use this brief as a guide to create what is known as an “art bible.” This term is used a lot in video games and animation studios. These documents are vital to maintain that graphical tone and flavor across all pieces of the rule book, game components, and marketing material. It is what makes a game look like a real piece of entertainment media. In conclusion, it is what sells your game. People do judge books by their covers.

Main sections of Chapter 2

The name of chapter 2 will be something like “Design Foundations.” This part of the guide is meant for designers who are working from scratch and have no assets from an art director or publisher. Think of it as an intro to visual development for tabletop game design. The industry is very small, and unless you are working with big publishers, designers will most likely end up being the art directors themselves. Here are some elements that can help them have more control over the project:

Create a Design Brief. This document has all the essential information for designers to start their research phase. Don’t skip this step. It’s an important collaborative document, and having it for all parties involved is key.

Gathering References. Using some of the tips from the previous chapter and the information collected from the design brief, this section expands on it by giving you more tools on where to find these references.

Create a Mood Board. This section explains how to filter content from the library of references students will collect, how to make useful notes, and distill the content. This is key to form connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of media.

Create a Quick Mock-up aka The Blueprint. This is a very small section since the result of this quick mock-up layout is different for every project. But it’s basically using all the notes from the mood board and designing the graphics that will be used in the book.

At the end of this chapter, the reader will be able to confidently replicate this process to create their own designs and get feedback from the game designer and publisher. All of this process should be done before working on the actual layout and typesetting of the book.

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In my previous post, I outlined the modules and topics I plan to cover in my comprehensive Rulebook Guide. One section in Module 1 covers formatting manuscripts. While researching related topics I lack expertise in, I’ve realized the necessity of establishing writing style guides—an important aspect of rule book writing I want to explore further.
Since starting working at a small tabletop game studio with basic knowledge of publication processes, we’ve had to figure things out as we go. After 7 years, we’ve learned and improved a lot. Now we work with many designers—some have great mechanics but little writing experience. I want to help them, and myself, write better by establishing standards for experienced authors to follow. This led me to develop a quick style guide—critical for writers, editors, and designers alike to ensure clear, consistent communication.
As a designer, I’m still learning about style guides. But a section of my manual will cover this vital knowledge missing from design programs. Like typesetting—another under-taught area we often learn on the job. For style guide examples, I recommend The Chicago Manual of Style and Elements of Style. Major publishers like Wizards of the Coast use them to manage projects and people. These style guides provide cohesive communication for readers.

Here are some useful style guides tailored to tabletop games:

Stonemaier Games

This is a very specific style guide for tabletop games. Stonemeier specializes in board games. While these type of games have simpler rule books, the rule writing process share a lot of common ground with RPGs and Wargames. This guide is very concise and a great source to use in your manuscripts.

Wizards of the Coast D&D Style Guide: Writing and Editing

This comprehensive guide is a good starting point since D&D sets the RPG standard. But WotC uses the Chicago Manual of Style as its basis.

Other Writing Style Guide references from the web

https://www.errantdreams.com/2003/01/roleplaying-game-authors-style-guide-i-general-rules/

http://www.sjgames.com/general/guidelines/authors/author.html

https://peginc.com/about/writing-for-pinnacle/

Hopefully by the time I finish this Guide I can share a document with tips for authors who want to learn how to format their manuscripts properly.

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Guide Modules

I decided to break the whole thing into modules, similar to how online courses structure their classes. I’m a huge fan of Domestika, and all of their online courses have a pretty defined structure. Maybe they just use an industry standard, but I believe they excel at breaking down content for an online course. Here is a rough breakdown of a typical Domestika course:

Module 1

This introductory module contains content summarizing the whole course, background about the instructor, their influences, and definitions of terms used throughout the course project.

Module 2

I call this the foundations module. Every design project has a similar structure: a brief and a style guide. This module will teach students my personal method for creating both.

Module 3

The technical module contains tutorials on using tools and software.

Module 4

The delivery module teaches preparing the project for hand-off to others – in this case, the editor and/or publisher.

Introductory Module

Module one is nearly complete. I’ve focused on where I draw inspiration from and described the types of games and books the guide will cover: tabletop RPGs and miniature wargames. This module will include formatting tips for authors’ manuscripts and a glossary of terms. Here is an outline for the module:

1. Guide’s Summary. This is a short introduction paragraph that will contain a summary of the entire course. How to get inspiration. What makes a game rulebook unique. Why using Adobe InDesign and its alternatives. Finally explain who is the guide for.
2. Finding the right Inspiration.
   1. Art and Design Books: A few examples of art books I use for inspiration. What elements I look for in those types of books the most.
   2. Reference and Coffee Table Books: These books are thematic and contain a lot of interesting information and images that can contribute to the theme of the game. History and Niche books are great to seek a particular visual flavor.
   3. Video Games, Films and TV Shows: Video Games, films and tv shows are a great source for visual references that designers can use as inspiration. Specially those pieces of media that share themes with the projects the designers are working on.
   4. RPG and Wargame Rulebooks: These are the last source of information. They should be only good to see how standards and formatting is used. However, I don’t advise designers to use these books as a visual reference from the get go.
3. Print or Digital Books. This section is to explain the differences between Printed Rulebooks and Digital Rulebooks. Why and how both format are used in tabletop games and finally some best practices for each format.
4. Game Types. This section is use to offer a brief description on the differences and similarities between RPG Formats and Wargame Formats.
5. Formatting Manuscripts. This section will include a series of tips to set up text manuscripts to make the importing of the content into InDesign as smooth as possible.
6. Glossary of common terms.

I have a lot of writing to do but I’ve already have quite a lot of notes for the rest of the modules. Especially on module 2 where I’ll be explaining how to create a Design Brief and an Art Bible aka a Style Guide. This covers my progress so far. Stay tuned for more updates as I keep making headway on this guide.

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It’s official! I’ve started writing a comprehensive guide aimed at assisting graphic designers and self-published game authors through the process of designing a tabletop rulebook from start to finish using Adobe InDesign. This process can be overwhelming, especially since I have little experience doing this type of writing but I am committed to do something that junior designer me would totally have used when she started working on Game books. I only had a vague idea what tools to use if I am being honest. Magazines and small publications were probably something I was familiar with but designing, laying out and type setting books this complex was a daunting task I decided to get into because it was honestly a lot of fun and despite the complexity and the amount of information one has to learn, it is still very fun. This is going to be a comprehensive guide aimed at assisting a designer through the process of brainstorming, gathering references and laying-out a tabletop rule book from start to finish using Adobe InDesign. This is not just strictly to aid in the process of layout and typesetting. Despite not teaching how to create graphic assets from scratch using other apps like Photoshop or Illustrator. I’m also adding step by step processes on how to create those graphic assets.

Here is a small tease of what this guide is going to contain

References and Examples

Before diving into the intricacies of layout design and typesetting, it’s essential to gather some inspiration and understand the different styles of rule books and reference materials available. In the guide I want to help you get a better sense of what you want to create. I will also provide practical examples on how to gather references and organize them in a way that it’s useful in the creative process.

Adobe InDesign: The Essential Tool

The core of this guide, is Adobe InDesign—a software that has become the industry standard in the publishing world. InDesign offers a collection of tools designed to make the layout and typesetting process efficient and professional. As we progress through the course, we will delve into handling large-format texts, how to create a variety of reusable page layouts, and essential tips to optimize them for accessibility and legibility. Some of these key features are:

1. Guides and Layout settings: Learn how to establish a grid system and strategically place your text and images.

2. Page Masters and Styles: Understand how to utilize page masters and styles to streamline the typesetting process.

Exporting Your Rule book

Once the design is complete, the next steps involve exporting your rule book for further editing, proofreading, and eventually, publication. Whether you’re looking to print physical copies or publish digitally, the course covers the best practices I’ve learned for each format.

Alternative Software Options

While Adobe InDesign is the go-to software for designers, it’s worth noting that some of its features can also be found in alternative publishing software like Affinity Publisher, Scribus, and QuarkXpress. If you’re a self-published author using those alternatives, you can still benefit from the course by looking for similar tools and features.

Who is This Guide For?

At the beginning I thought this could be used by any person. However, InDesign is a very dense app that not many people have used, even graphic designers. The tools I use are specific to make my workflow as easy and smooth as possible and also to minimize errors. This last bit is so important. It’s even more important than speed. This is why I think this guide is for only two types of students:

– Graphic Designers: Especially those who already have some experience with Adobe InDesign and want to create tabletop rule books. The guide offers advanced tips and techniques to enhance your existing InDesign skills.

– Self-Publish Game Authors: If you are a self-published game designer and want to improve your rule book’s quality. If you are a home brewer and a tinkerer, someone who is used to learn any software or skill to make your hobby projects come to life then this guide is also for you.

The road is long and it will take time but I’m exploring the possibility of publishing articles here to help me assess the quality of the content and then compiling the useful information into a fun and simple to understand PDF guidebook. Wish me luck!

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