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Steps and tips for designing cards?

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jedite1000
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Can anyone give some tips and steps when it comes to designing cards whether it be TCG,CCG, cards for boardgames ect

What are the most crucial elements for designing cards

And how do you go about arranging the card info like attack/defense stats, abilities, name ect

Is too much Design or text a turn off as well as lack of detail?

Adam Leamey
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As I have had to create my

As I have had to create my own card designs I'll try and answer your question.

To much text is a put off my old designs had a lot of text making the both confusing and difficult to read. Generally having a few icons and some keywords helps to cut down on the amount of text you need but only use icons/keywords for key elements or mechanics that are hard to explain.

Keep your designs simple, card costs should be at the top of the card preferably on the left hand side.

If a card represents a monster the information should all either at the top, bottom or on the left hand side though I believe the top and bottom are best.

Make sure to leave plenty of room for a picture as card art is what draws people in.

radioactivemouse
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Communication is important.

I've seen plenty of card designs and I've designed cards to say that the most important thing is communicating the information you need to the player.

I know that's a broad statement, so I'll try and break it down.

Text: Text must be clear and simple. The color of the text needs to contrast well to the background so it can be read. For example, if you use black text, make sure it's on a background of some white, whether it be straight white or off-white or a white box overlay over your art or just a white outer glow (Photoshop term) to the text.

In addition, text needs to be large enough to read. 10 point is ok, but going any smaller is not recommended (even though many Japanese TCGs do this liberally).

Adding flavor text should be secondary...or even tertiary. The most important is the functionality. What good is the flavor text if you can't understand what the card does in the first place?

-Symbolism: If you use symbols to represent certain things, it is recommended that they represent the action or element effectively. Personally, I start with clip art of something and modify it in Photoshop. I use the "Keep It Simple Stupid" theory, not making them too complicated because it can really be hard to read on the card level.

As far as usage, too much can confuse players...see reviews for Race for the Galaxy.

-Layout: Laying out your card (graphic design) can take many many different forms, but keep the following things in mind: 1) Americans typically read from left to right, top to bottom. Decide what information is the most important and make sure the player can easily access it. Things like "type" or "class" may not be as important as "card title" or "resource cost". And certainly flavor text, like I said before is not pertinent information, so maybe put that in a place that can fill some negative space.

-Look at other cards/mechanics from other games: You want to give a different look to your game, but many TCG/LCG/CCG games have the same card format. Try looking to other card games like 7 Wonders, Race for the Galaxy, etc. for inspiration on how they layout their cards. Do cards have to be a portrait layout? Does a card have to "tap"? Can it just be flipped over? What about positioning on the board? Can that indicate something?

Card design is crucial. There's a thread on color here, use color to your advantage. It's easily recognized when it's crappy (coughYuGiOhcough) and admired in good games (7 wonders).

I hope this helps.

jedite1000
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I have 3 templates, just

I have 3 templates, just wondering if any of them works well or if you like 1 of the templates but should change some elements around, or if you have a good paint template design i could get inspiration from.

http://i.imgur.com/itjafyh.jpg

krone9
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I don't like 3 but 1 and 2

I don't like 3 but 1 and 2 look fine

Evil ColSanders
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I'm being a BIG jerk by

I'm being a BIG jerk by saying this: Have your art take up 40-50% of the card, hitting the left and right sides. "Everyone" dislikes art which is "boxed" or isn't the main focus of each card. The reason, I'm assuming, is you can memorize what a card does and commit it to memory through image. I personally like tabs or buttons (which contain card information) which overlap the art or art box or art that "jumps out" of the box it is confined in. https://brooklynwargaming.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/legendcards1.jpg (but shrink the art to allow for more card information) If you have reoccurring themes (draw a card, can attack immediately) or take place at certain times. (instantly, only on your turn, upkeep) Single words are recommended. Even icons will help (though when used in a text box, will eat line spacing due to size.) Example: https://www.gamesmen.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab...

Example of a bad card: http://fowhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/WhereDarkThingsSleep.png WALL OF TEXT
http://client-cdn.crystalcommerce.com/photo/coretcg/file/409993/large/PE... Doesn't have a muted background for the text, thus making it difficult to read.

Example of a good card: https://tcgrepublic.com/media/binary/000/082/191/608466.jpg Though I'm not a fan of "see-through" boxes, this box is white and extremely plain, so it works.

Depending on how simple/complicated your game is will determine how much you put on your card. https://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic1940833.png DC has super simple mechanics.

http://imperialassembly.com/oracle/showimage?prefix=printing&cardid=1621...

jedite1000
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I see, well maybe something

I see, well maybe something like this?

http://i.imgur.com/0QLbxvb.jpg

more detailed of course

but thing is how big is too big for the character, like little boxes of information would obviously cover parts of the image and wouldn't want too many see through boxes, except for the text box which shown in picture

Im also not good at backgrounds so, not sure leaving the background 1 solid color is a bad idea, i did something different with my last game, the backgrounds matches the character's element but i want to try avoid everything i have done in my last game for this new game

examples of my old card game
http://imgur.com/a/DBDo5

that wasn't my only design though i completely changed my card design as it looked horrible once printed and also the text was impossible to read, so i made mistakes along the way

http://imgur.com/a/brKyF

Evil ColSanders
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Yep, the ogre orc dudes

Yep, the ogre orc dudes layout looks pretty clean. Cost would probably go in a corner somewhere. Maybe make it the faction circle and have the faction underlapping that circle?

radioactivemouse
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2 questions

jedite1000 wrote:
I have 3 templates, just wondering if any of them works well or if you like 1 of the templates but should change some elements around, or if you have a good paint template design i could get inspiration from.

http://i.imgur.com/itjafyh.jpg

I got 2 questions about your layout:

1) How important is faction to your gameplay?
2) How important is region to gameplay?

Knowing these things will help figure out your layout.

FrankM
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Factions

radioactivemouse wrote:
I got 2 questions about your layout:

1) How important is faction to your gameplay?
2) How important is region to gameplay?

Knowing these things will help figure out your layout.


It also depends on whether multiple factions will be mixed in the same deck. If the symbol is really just there as a backup in case cards get jumbled, it doesn't need to be taking up that valuable top corner.

Of course, you could make the faction symbol the image background.

BenMora
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I thought I replied but I

I thought I replied but I guess I forgot to save it. *facepalm*

My suggestion is to use Google Docs if you aren't already, and list all of your cards and info on a spreadsheet or database. This helps with balancing because you can create formulas based on the info to help determine costs.

For instance, in my game I have a lot of variables that go into someone ultimately earning points. To balance the ways to get points, I created an abstract "score" for each of my items that I call an "effort" score, then I edit my variables until the "effort" required to get them is proportional to the VPs they could earn, if that makes any sense.

jedite1000
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radioactivemouse

radioactivemouse wrote:
jedite1000 wrote:
I have 3 templates, just wondering if any of them works well or if you like 1 of the templates but should change some elements around, or if you have a good paint template design i could get inspiration from.

http://i.imgur.com/itjafyh.jpg

I got 2 questions about your layout:

1) How important is faction to your gameplay?
2) How important is region to gameplay?

Knowing these things will help figure out your layout.

sorry for late reply, post must of got lost on the side from new posts and i didnt see it

Anyway faction are the most important part of the game, it determines what cards to have and its the most crucial part of the game, without factions it would just be random creatures attacking everything. Also obviously only 1 faction card per deck as its your main card to keep safe from attacks

Region cards are somewhat important, they determine what i guess you can say element school it belongs to, though you can play creatures without the region cards, they just give special bonuses and buffs and also some with special effects

I have already done a spreadsheet on openoffice, but since my game has changed drastically (creatures mostly) ill need to do a new spreadsheet, but i would like to have the core mechanics and what i should have on a card before i start with a spreadsheet

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