Complete Noob Card Game Design

[mcrow]

I have never used any sort of graphic design software of any sort outside of paint once in a while. Working on building a prototype for a game and this is my first creation. I realize I'm not good at this yet but feels good to just create something and it's a good learning exercise. Any tips or suggestions on improving the design are welcome. 
 

 

[GarryP]

It looks like you're off to a good start. I always find that trading card designs are a challenge because of the need to get lots of information across in so small a space.

It's difficult to know what sort of advice to give as I have no idea where you want the design to get to but I have a few comments/questions/suggestions:

• Will the number in the tear drop go above single figures? If so, I would suggest making the text smaller. And maybe change the text colour too.
• Is the tear drop shape significant? Will other shapes also be used? Have you checked how they will look together (even though they probably will never be shown together)?
• It might be an idea to put the name of the character on some kind of long banner across the top of the card but behind the tear drop. Nothing too conspicuous but something to take it off the background. It also might be good to rotate/skew the text a bit to give it a more dynamic feel.
• The text in the bottom panel has too much space below it. You could either centre it vertically or change the text slightly to fill the panel more. Or you could come up with some "filler graphic" that can be optionally used when you have extra space.
• Have you thought about making some of the elements overlap? You can sometimes get a better overall look if elements overlap rather than them all having their own separate space. Maybe make the Viking bigger and put some of him under the bottom panel.
• The background of the panel might look better if it was more in-tune with the overall theme of the card rather than being so "stark". Making it a dark texture or a slightly blurry and dark image of a Viking hut (or something similar like a barren landscape) might be good.
• There doesn't seem to be enough information on the card to make a game out of. What extra information might you be adding and where will it go?

I hope I've not said anything out-of-line and I'm looking forward to seeing the next version.

[Cealcrest]

Have you sketched or otherwise outlined all the various cards already along with the instructions for each? That will help you know how much space you have to dedicate to each element. Looks fun!

 

As a side note: I used that same viking photo as a drawing reference recently. ha