In hindsight my template for the SMALLVILLE series was definitely on the complex side, but in a way that can’t be helped from my standpoint. My background in textbook and instructional design makes me a stickler for making meaningful decisions with typography and layout. Therefore, my book designs tend to have a lot of different styles that are all integral to how the book works.

The most valuable things I learned were:

• STYLESHEETS. In InDesign, use them and love them. Learn GREP styling and use Nesting styles. These were things in my bag of tricks from my textbook experience that ended up saving me a ton of time in keeping things consistent. (e. g. want to make sure Daily Planet is always italicized? Using GREP styles, you can make that happen easily.)
• And while we’re on the topic of Stylesheets, work with a writer/editor who’s comfortable using Styles in Word and learn about them yourself. It will make your life much easier.
• Work in Layers and use your Master Pages wisely.

GDG: How does layout for eBook projects differ from print?

TLA: This is something I’m learning more about every day, specifically what people want from an eBook rather an a print book. Working with Layers and Transparency can make eBooks really tricky, and it seems with every release people are demanding more and more digital functionality, so RPG publishing really demands you stay on top of your game. People want more than a simple set of bookmarks. They’re more sophisticated, asking for layered PDFs so they can turn off backgrounds or artwork to save ink when they print the books, and the variety of devices your book now “needs” to function on is insane. Even those of us at the top of the field are still learning how to make our books play nice with every e-reader and mobile device, and I’m finding myself take this into consideration much more than I did with my earlier projects.

GDG: When you worked on the design for Hit a Dude, was the format of a business card sized game a challenge for you?

TLA: The story of Hit a Dude was kind of funny in that it was never a job I was hired to do and the business card thing was just something that was floated about at NeonCon 2010 with Ryan Macklin during the BarCon afterparty. I had the idea bouncing around in my head for awhile after it was discussed because I thought it was, as the Middleman would say, “Sheer genius in its simplicity”. The vision was all there, I just needed to bring it together. One late night nearing GenCon 2011 I felt extra inspired, drafted up a little design and shot it over to Macklin. We didn’t even credit ourselves on the first run because we thought it was so ridiculous and it took off like crazy! That said, the only reason it wasn’t that much of a challenge because Macklin’s idea was just that perfect, and that’s why it was such a hit. I think finding that magic again for a different game would be very, very difficult. I still think we should do a third edition for the 2012 Con season.

GDG: What goes into designing a cover?
TLA: Covers are tough. If you don’t have the right imagery, you’re screwed. Strong contrast, powerful imagery, it’s all necessary to make a book people want to pull from the shelf, and you have to make sure it’s clear immediately what the book is about. That’s all about knowing the audience you want to attract. For example, that’s why I veered from the traditional “licensed photo of the sexy stars” cover for the SMALLVILLE High School Yearbook. I thought the book was an awesome resource for all high school games so we decided on no photography at all for that cover and instead I created what looked like a proper high school yearbook. In that case, I think it helped to bring in an audience who might have turned it aside simply because they’re not interested in Smallville.

GDG: Where does the art director fit in the making of a role-playing game?

TLA: We determine the look and feel of the book, which is equally as important as the content inside. It’s the obvious stuff — checking out the content and the space and deciding what sort of art will fit in what sort of space, but for me it doesn’t end there.

It’s not just about choosing a nice font or background design — it’s about choosing the right ones, and that comes from experience. For Mage Noir, I went to the library to look through pulp novels and I familiarized myself with the look of the genre. I researched the typography and used that as a basis for the design, from the weathered stonework to the old scanned paper. For SMALLVILLE, I was determined to capture the feel of the show. They use color so strongly in that show, but it’s not in the same way a four-color comic book does it. It’s more subtle but there’s a definite theme of primary colors. In the early seasons you’ll never see a scene with Clark Kent that doesn’t feature red, blue and yellow in the shot. Watch it; it’s pretty cool. I did the same for LEVERAGE, and my in-depth knowledge of the show allowed me to simply read a page and know the right episode to pull shots from.

It’s also about knowing how best to communicate ideas. That communication extends to every aspect of the layout. It’s about more than making it fit on the page; the reader should be able to easily skim through a page to find what they need. When you’re dealing with rules, it helps the reader understand and retain the information. For example, with the character mapping that’s so integral to the Cortex+ K system in SMALLVILLE, I thought the how-to section lost its effect when done in digital art so I worked with the team to put handwritten, hand-drawn maps to make it more accessible and let the reader say “I could do that” in a way that a digital infographic couldn’t. With a good art director, all those subtleties go into the decision-making process and make the book more successful.

If a publisher is doing it right, they’ll get their Art Director involved early in the game design process.

GDG: When you’ve worked as a creative director on role-playing games, what were some of the challenges you had to deal with?

TLA: Deadlines. Deadlines are the biggest challenge by far, because in many cases I’m the last one in the chain. That means when all the writers, editors, illustrators, etc. have missed deadline after deadline I’m relied upon to make up lost time, which isn’t always ideal. I’ve been fortunate to work with some awesome people in this industry, and it doesn’t mean anyone’s a bad person. This isn’t an industry that pays the big bucks, so many of us have day jobs, families, etc. and this just happens when you have a chain of so many people doing RPG publishing as their side job or a hobby. Deadlines become more fluid than they do when there’s a traditional work schedule.

The second biggest (but often more frustrating) problem is one I’ve had both in the RPG world and in my day job, and that’s with artists who can’t take criticism. If you can’t take constructive criticism, please, get over yourself or get out of the business. If we tell you to change something, it isn’t personal! We want to help you make your art better and help it look better on the page. It boggles my mind that anyone thinks they can get anywhere without dealing with criticism. My first round on the Smallville book covers came back with criticism from DC that was so harsh my editors were nervous to share it. It was by far the best art direction I have ever gotten to date, and allowed me to nail the art on the second try because DC’s guy told me exactly what they liked and didn’t. Criticism makes you better. Embrace it and learn.

And lastly, in licensed properties, working with the Powers That Be (networks, publishers, actors, etc) there’s the added challenge of representing their brand and the actors. I had photos of Parker (Leverage) turned down because Beth Riesgraf didn’t like how she looked in the black beanie she often wears on the show, or because Gina Bellman looked “too old” (she always looks fab, IMHO). We could use images of Allison Mack or Michael Rosenbaum from certain seasons of Smallville and not others. It got to be infuriating at times, but we ended up with a really cool product on all counts, I think.

Despite the challenges, I love working in RPG publishing and hope for more opportunities in the future. It’s fun, rewarding, and hell, laying out Wil Wheaton’s writing or digging through pictures of Christian Kane or Justin Hartley… that ain’t a bad way to spend an evening.

You can read Tiara’s explorations of pop culture on SpaceGypsies.com, and find her on twitter @tiarala.

Ahiru Dodgers of the 12^th and a Half Century!

The very first manga, or at least the first precursor to manga in Japan, is generally considered to be a series of scrolls known as the Choju jinbutsu giga, or just Choju giga for short. Read from right to left just like modern Japanese novels and manga, the scrolls depict a series of anthropomorphic rabbits, monkeys and frogs taking part in Buddhist ceremonies, dressing in monks’ robes and engaging in all manner of funny human behaviour. There are no text sections or dialogue balloons, but it’s clear that the artwork is set in a sequence meant to tell a story. It’s a bit like the Japanese equivalent of the Bayeux Tapestry, which is also known as an early “cartoon” or “comic”; however, while the Bayeux Tapestry is rather dry and unfunny, the Choju giga has cute animals in fancy dress getting drunk (no furry jokes, please!) If you want to take a look, a Google Image search turns up some good images of the scroll.

There are several similar “story” scrolls floating around from that time period, such as the Shigisan-engi which depicts the foundation of a Buddhist monastery. The whys and wherefores of Heian scroll painting might seem a long way removed from the shoujo and shonen manga we read today, but it was the first step in using sequential artwork (i.e. a series of pictures rather than just one image) to tell a story. Even in medieval times, Japanese artists were making the connection between artwork and long-running narrative… which, really, is what comic books and manga are all about.

Whimsical Pictures

The actual first use of the word manga, however, came quite a bit later in the 17^th century. It was around this time that ukiyo-e, or woodblock printing, was becoming all the rage. It provided a way to mass-produce beautiful works of art without having to draw or paint by hand all the time, resulting in a lot of art and books for middle class people as opposed to rich nobles. One artist that produced a lot during this time was a man called Hokusai, he of the famous Mt. Fuji pictures.  He and his students drew a series of 15 books with pictures of everyday life, landscapes, flora and fauna. Unlike the Choju giga, these pictures were not in a sequence and didn’t tell an ongoing story, but they still had a lot of character and narrative strength. Thus, they called the picture books “whimsical pictures”… which, in kanji, works out to manga!

Around the same time, there were also illustrated books called kibyoshi that featured large two-page spread pictures with prose and dialogue filling the “blank spots” or blending in with the artwork. These books were mostly satirical tales with plenty of contemporary slang, references to current trends in fashion and wry commentary on various events of the day. While they may not have exactly been the epic slapstick of Ranma ½ or Azumanga Daioh, they still served as a comedic and artistic outlet for many Japanese, and they are often considered some of the first adult comic books, at least in Japan.

The Father of Manga

Japan began to produce some “proper” comics from the 1890s to 1920s as part of youth anthologies and similar publications. There were lots of kids’ magazines likes Shonen Sekai that, on top of offering games, baseball cards and interviews with famous people, would have a few regular comics. However, these manga comics were still not quite what we imagine when we think of modern manga.

That came about thanks to a man we likely all know and love: Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy (along with numerous others) and the “Father of manga” as he’s often known. Originally a medical student, he grew to love drawing comics and decided to become a manga artist full time. Inspired by the work of Disney and other classic Western animators, he wanted to bring that same style to manga, both in terms of artwork and storytelling. The artistic results are now so easily recognized that they have become a bit of a joke: overly large eyes, flat face, simple features, and crazy hairstyles, all originally inspired by characters like Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop. Seriously, if you don’t think anime and Disney have anything to do with each other, take a look at a picture of Astro Boy and Mickey Mouse side by side!

On top of the big eyes and small mouths, Tezuka was also responsible for introducing a more cinematic sensibility to manga. If you read manga, you can see that a lot of the pacing, angles etc. borrow a huge amount from movies; there are close-ups, panoramic “shots”, dynamic action sequences, weird and wonderful angles… it’s really like there’s a camera right in there with the characters (albeit one that sometimes comes with its own SPARKLY BISHONEN/BISHOJO filter!) If that weren’t enough, Osamu Tezuka was not only ridiculously prolific (he wrote/drew 700 titles with over 150,000 pages!) but he dabbled in almost every genre possible and even created a few new ones along the way. Not only did Astro Boy help launch countless manga about robots, little boys and futuristic Earth, but he also created what might be the first magical girl manga (Princess Knight) as well as medical thrillers (Blackjack) and animal drama (Forest Emperor).

Needless to say, Tezuka’s work took Japan – and eventually the world – by storm, creating the entire medium of manga we know and love today. Thanks to him – and to a few 12^th and 17^th century artists – we now live in a world where we can enjoy tales of manic-depressive boys with giant mechs, ten catgirl fiancées and a power level of over 9000.

Hooray!

What do you know of the history of your favourite geekdom of choice? What other artwork (both in Japan and abroad) do you think gave rise to comics, manga, manhua and so on?

Imagine your dream store, catering to one of your favorite pastimes. The shop is full of nothing but creative goodness. Aisle upon aisle of things just waiting, hoping you’ll purchase them, take them home, and use them to their full potential. Some items are great for beginners, wanting to try something new but needing a lot of guidance in the beginning. Others are for the more experienced, and in the hands of someone who really knows what they’re doing can become wondrous and magical. Absolutely everything piques the imagination, and whets the appetite of a creative soul.

Are you picturing your friendly local gaming store? You easily could, but my description could also be of your friendly local craft store!

Crafts are prime geek hobbies. Geeks are a creative bunch, after all. Look at the hours upon hours we put into developing character background for our RPG characters (or that a GM puts into their campaign!). Who hasn’t thought of a different ending for Serenity, or an X-Men story arc involving only our favorite characters (some characters aren’t dead in my Marvel Universe, yo), even if we don’t go as far as putting it down on paper as fan fiction? If you’ve ever painted a D&D mini or put together your own cosplay outfit, you’ve already got one foot in the door toward becoming a crafty geek.

Since the best hobbies are the ones that can feed your other hobby needs, let’s take a look at just a few of the fun crafts that can be used to accentuate your current geekdom.

Models

Painting Warhammer minis and building terrain for battlefields makes for an easy transition to putting together models. Besides looking cool (which they do), models can be used in a game to serve as superb visualization of the party’s current location. Look beyond the Millennium Falcon and U.S.S. Enterprise kits available at the game store – hobby shops have kits for cars and planes (D20 Modern, anyone?), trains (Steampunk!),  and ships, among others. I recently played in a homebrew game set on the Titanic, and one of my fellow players brought in a model of the ill-fated ship that his father had made for him. We all thought it added a lot to the game, as instead of trying to describe to us where the second-class dining hall was, the GM was able to simply point to the model and say, “You are here.”

Sewing

Cosplaying can be a seriously expensive hobby. Custom-made costumes can cost an arm and a leg (and let’s not even talk about the shipping if your seamstress or tailor is in Japan!), and it’s even more heartbreaking when you get the costume and something about it still doesn’t fit right, or look right (“Sango’s armor is black and pink, not black and red! ARGH!”). The solution? Learn to sew.

Those of us who took Home Economics in high school may have some bad memories of, say, misshapen stuffed animals and sweatshirts with crooked seams. *whistles innocently* You have to purge those memories. Home Ec. teachers are working with a slew of students who would rather be anywhere than at a sewing machine, and said machines are old, cantankerous, and difficult to work with.

Today’s sewing machines are slick and easy to use, and a good one can be purchased new for under $200 (mine sews at the touch of a button – no foot pedal needed!). Most larger craft stores, like JoAnn and Hobby Lobby, as well as locally owned shops offer sewing classes for very reasonable fees, but you can teach yourself by reading the manual that comes with your machine, watching online tutorials, and picking up sewing books at the bookstore. Fabric and sewing notions can be pricey, but if you get on the coupon mailing lists for craft stores and watch their sales, you can get lots of goodies for just a little money.

Beyond sewing costumes, you can make lots of other things – bags for lugging your game books, cool curtains for your bedroom, and “normal” clothes – plus you can mend and alter existing items. So you can sew up the ripped seam on your nice dress pants for your day job (a spool of thread costs around two bucks), and spend the money you would have used for new pants on a video game instead. Awesome.

Embroidery and Cross-Stitch

Hand embroidery sometimes gets a bad rap, and with the plethora of sickly-sweet-cute Precious Moments cross-stitch patterns and dancing tomatoes on dish towels out there, it’s no wonder. The good news is, embroidery patterns have come a long way, baby. Sublime Stitching (“This ain’t your gramma’s embroidery!”) has patterns for everything from cute little wiener dogs and space robots to Mucha Lucha masks and zombies (yes, zombies!). Spend a few minutes (or hours…oops) searching on Etsy, and you’ll find all sorts of fun patterns for cross-stitch and embroidery alike. A quick browse through the cross-stitch kits at the craft store will reveal some gorgeous wizards, unicorns, and other fantasy scenes. I even own a book with a CD-ROM entitled Manga Cross-Stitch.

The even better news? You can turn anything you want into an embroidery pattern with dressmaker’s carbon paper, a transfer pen, or even a good ol’ mechanical pencil. You can also turn any image into a cross-stitch pattern; there’s special software available, but a quick internet search will turn up a couple different ways to do it in Photoshop or whatever photo-processing software you use.

With just needle and thread, you can decorate your clothing or anything else made of fabric in your home. Make pillows with cross-stitched Horde and Alliance symbols. Make a family crest for your Pathfinder character and hang it in your game room. Embellish your newborn’s onesies with beholders! The possibilities are endless. And it’s easy. If you can sew on a button, you can embroider or cross-stitch.

Crocheting and Knitting

Knitters and crocheters are geeks in their own right, though I don’t know how many would admit it. Hook and needle preferences closely resemble dice superstition. The specs for a project read like the stats on a character sheet. And if you’ve ever heard one of us having a nerdgasm over yarn…well, that pretty much settles it.

Yarn crafts have been experiencing an upswing in popularity lately, and it’s easier than ever to learn. “Teach yourself” kits and classes are available at craft stores, there are more books out there than you can shake a stick at, and YouTube is full of instructional videos that experienced needleworkers have made to help the masses.

What can you knit or crochet that’s geeky? Seriously? What can’t you? You can make dice bags that are super soft and keep your luckiest d20s safe and sound. There isn’t much cuter than a plushie Cthulhu monster. Do you cosplay? The internet abounds with patterns for Weasley sweaters (there’s even been a book published of nothing but Harry Potter-inspired patterns), cunning Jayne Cobb hats, and Dr. Who scarves. Why pay the big money for that stuff when you can make it yourself?

I could go on and on about other crafts, but you get the picture. Craftiness and geekiness can not only co-exist, they can be one and the same. If you haven’t already ventured into the world of crafts, don’t be afraid! There’s lots of fun to be had, cool stuff to be made, and all sorts of new things to obsess about and geek out over.

How about you?

What types of crafty geeking out do you do? Feel free to link us to your website or Etsy store, too. We’d love to check out your geeky creations.

D&D Related

• As you all know, updates to 4th edition are already posted on the WotC site.
• LivingDice linked to a cool kit you can use to make plastic-coated power cards.
• Phil at ChattyDM wants to know what your gaming group eats.  Yum!
• I posted this earlier this week, but please check out these neat dynamic character sheets for 4e.
• Yax at DungeonMastering made his first video post!  Lookit that face!  Oh, yeah, the video is about why you should switch to 4e.

General Geekery

• GeeksAreSexy had a link to a cool site where you can argue for/against anything via video.  The challenge?  You only have 12 seconds to do it.   Oh, and what’s your geek quotient?
• Allison at BingeGamer asks the question, “What does Nintendo think of girl gamers?“
• GeekNews had a link to the cutest knitted d4 dice bag.  I’ll stick to my dice penguin, tho.
• Speaking of knitting, Geekologie found these adorable knitted versions of Link, Jack Sparrow, Indiana Jones, and more!
• Here’s your moment of cute: Baby Batman from Neatorama.
• I love urban art projects.  Here’s one in Geekologie called IT Everywhere.
• Hawty McBloggy tipped me off to an awesome site where you can buy Guitar Hero-style shirts, but with just about any instrument from viola to sitar.  I soooo want a viola hero shirt!

That’s all, geek friends!  Hope you enjoyed these tasty treats!