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in the future when I have a bit more time I'd love to do something like office hours where I talk to other designers about how I made Quest. the two big things I did that influenced how I did layout/design for it:
1. I looked at anything but rpg books except for what I saw on Kickstarter when I surveyed the market. I just didn't want the baggage. I focused on coffee table books, magazines, and art books.
2. this: https://practicaltypography.com/
2. this: https://practicaltypography.com/
3. I abandoned writing in Google Docs early on. I switched to an 8x10 layout in InDesign with HUGE margins. I literally forced myself to be economical with words by restricting how much I could fit on any page. A physical constraint forced me to think about every word on the page
4. This isn't right for everyone, but it was right for our book: I worked with a small group of artists. One ( @grimwilkins) did all of the color illustration. @binwizard did all of the B&W illustration. Two distinct, but consistent styles that make it feel cohesive
5. One big concept per page. The physical book has a left/right system on many pages. Left: big text that introduces a large concept. Right: smaller text that goes into detail to expand.
The left/right logic also appears elsewhere. Each Role's learning path shows how you advance with abilities from left to right. Goal was to make the ergonomics of reading subconscious by the middle of the book
6. Two words: white space. Don't be afraid of it. Embrace the void. Even on text-heavy pages, 1" margins on all sides; 1.5" margin against the spine.
7. Audience. Every decision I made about design flowed from who I expected / intended to read: new players. Meaning people who have *never* played a game like this before. I figured for them to even look at the book and not feel put off by it they would need everything above ^
8. A probably unhealthy obsession with the layout. Where the words go on the page and how they look is as important as the words themselves. Layout and design is part of how the game works. Disarming the words and making people feel welcome: part of how it works.
Making something that looks different or "marketable" might seem frivolous, but there's a reason I am hearing from teachers and parents that their kids are tearing through the book. It doesn't look or feel like work.
Finally: I'm obviously not the first to do this, & this is the first book I've ever made. I'm proud of the fact that I did all of the writing (with the help of an amazing editor), the layout, and the design. It's not perfect, but I think it reflects a careful thought process.
I'm going to learn a lot in years to come about RPGs and stuff I've never thought of, and I'm sure I will hand the layout and design work off to more capable people in the future. But I think I will keep these two principles: know your audience, and seek inspiration from outside.
OH, one more thing:
I used *only* open-source fonts from Google Fonts. I knew in the future people would want to make their own stuff for Quest. This way they can use the same fonts to fit the "official" style. Since typography drives the layout and design, they can get close.
I used *only* open-source fonts from Google Fonts. I knew in the future people would want to make their own stuff for Quest. This way they can use the same fonts to fit the "official" style. Since typography drives the layout and design, they can get close.
