Layout and Typeface
Having a good font and layout is vital toward making your game engaging to read/use. Here are some resources I found to help learn about layout/design.
- Johan Nohr (one of the designers of MÖRK BORG, which pushes the layout and typeface envelope) wrote two must read threads on choosing a typeface and setting a body text. These dives are worth reading if you have any interest in design and are a great way to start your journey.
- Choosing a typeface, a twitter thread by Johan Nohr.
- Setting a body text, a twitter thread by Johan Nohr.
Layout
- Designing Layouts (Layout and the Grid) by Clayton Notestine. This was the single most helpful resource in my learning how to do layout for my game. Not only does Clayton go over the core concepts of layout, but he goes on to give annotated examples of TTRPGs and their layout. 100/10 recomend.
- Layout Design Tips For Your Next TTRPG Project by Ghost Lore. This is the final entry in a series that gives a good progression of layout tips that is well worth reading prior to starting the layout of your project.
- Why Is Layout Important in Graphic Design? by Stephanie Corrigan is a great overview of layout prinicples with visual examples to reinforce concepts.
- Using Canva to layout your ttrpg by Jeeyon Shim is a fantastic thread on how to leverage a great design tool to create small games. They look great and result in a quality that supports any new designer. Jeeyon is extremely thorough in their step by step guide in this thread. Well worth considering for your next project.
Layout Templates
- Classic Explorer Starter Template by Clayton Notestine is a fantastic template that aids in creating a clean, old-school style zine. “It’s perfect for adventures, games, and campaigns in the style of Cairne, Into the Odd, and adventures like The Isle, Silent Titans, and Deep Carbon Observatory.”
- Pamplet RPG Template For Affinity Publisher by wizardthieffighter (writer of the awe inspiring Ultra Violet Grasslands). This template will get you all set up for writnig your own pamphlet using Affinity Publisher (a great single payment layout software…Adobe makes you pay monthly)
- Free – Affinity Publisher Template for TTRPG by Wendingo includes templates that are formatted for print.
- A5 Trifold Pamphlet Template for Affinity by brstf is an affinity template to make a pamphlet for an A5 piece of paper (210x148mm).
- Affinity Publisher Zine Template by Metaparadox is a collection of zine templates for text heavy projects.
Inspiration
- Pinterest: Look up layout, design, zines on pinterest to see examples of different design ideas you can use. This helps build visual references for the kind of things that are possible.
- My pinterest board.
- TTRPG Zine Layouts by Guilherme Gontijo.
- Designs that could be TTRPGS by Guilherme Gontijo
Typography & Fonts
- Typography in Ten Minutes, by Matthew Buttericks is a great resource for building your schema and dipping your toes into that world.
- Summary of key rules is another great introductory resource by Matthew Buttericks.
- Free fonts compiled as a twitter thread by Guilherme Gontijo.
- Coding with Character by Doug Wilson. This blog is about utilizing different fonts for coding and could easily be applicable when thinking about what typeface to use for your project (especially if monospaced type aligns to the aesthetic of your project). Be sure to check the licensing of any fonts you are interested in to make sure they are available for commercial use.
- Google Fonts is a collection of fonts released under open source licenses.
- dafont is another place to search for fonts and includes easy to find licensing information.
- WhatTheFont! is a tool for finding out what font is used in an image.
- Oldschool PC fonts
- Fonts In Use a catalogue of Fonts In Use.