Cactus Game Design Message Boards

I actually like a lot of the Redemption art.  Admittedly some cards aren't great but overall its good.  I'd even say that when it came out the art was superior to games like Magic (I don't think a lot of the old art in Magic is good quality).   I also like the variety of art styles in Redemption.  I love seeing classical artwork alongside modern or comic book style.

However it does seem that other games have improved their art while Redemption is about the same or less (due to so much of it being reprints).  From my understanding, getting new custom art is very expensive and so Cactus hasn't been able to afford much of that.  Where did you guys get that art from?  How would you make that work with actually publishing the cards?  I'd just like to throw out an idea and see if anyone thinks it could work. 

What if Cactus had an art scholarship program where students could submit their work and win X amount of dollars for college?  I've seen plenty of great quality art from college and high school students.  Couldn't this be a win/win?  The legal/financial details would have to be worked out but basically Cactus gets permission to use any art that is submitted in the competition and the students have a chance to earn money for college and get their work used professionally which I think would be good for their portfolio.  I think you might be able to get a fair amount of entries because the range of subject matter is large and almost any art style is possible.  Cactus could also benefit by not just using art for Redemption but for their other board games, rulebooks, website, etc.  This could also help broaden their exposure to new students and even colleges/high schools if they partner with them. 


I mentioned this idea to Rob and he didn't seem opposed but just inclined to think it would take a lot of time he didn't have to set up.  He may have been joking but I think he even said that I was welcome to do it.  Thoughts?

IT JUST GOT REAL IN HERE.

Where did you guys get that art from?  How would you make that work with actually publishing the cards?

Regarding the card art I post, I made my own template for redemption cards by scanning in several cards, and essentially reverse engineered it. The various images that I use within the cards are all pulled from Google Images. Because of this, publishing them would run into a LOT of legal issues.

What if Cactus had an art scholarship program where students could submit their work and win X amount of dollars for college?  I've seen plenty of great quality art from college and high school students.  Couldn't this be a win/win?  The legal/financial details would have to be worked out but basically Cactus gets permission to use any art that is submitted in the competition and the students have a chance to earn money for college and get their work used professionally which I think would be good for their portfolio.  I think you might be able to get a fair amount of entries because the range of subject matter is large and almost any art style is possible.  Cactus could also benefit by not just using art for Redemption but for their other board games, rulebooks, website, etc.  This could also help broaden their exposure to new students and even colleges/high schools if they partner with them. 


I mentioned this idea to Rob and he didn't seem opposed but just inclined to think it would take a lot of time he didn't have to set up.  He may have been joking but I think he even said that I was welcome to do it.  Thoughts?

Keep in mind, there is a difference between graphic design (which I received my bachelors degree in this May) and painting / illustration.

Illustrators and painters are the ones who create the fantastic art that I use in my cards. Graphic Designers focus on the text, placement of images, logo design, and general structure of information. Sometimes people are capable of doing both, but I know I fall under graphic designer almost exclusively.

Regarding Cactus, If Rob is looking for a graphic designer... I'm currently available (Although I do not live near Cactus  )

To be honest, I prefer it with the outline. Just move the icon to the left side.

If you want to go the wax seal route, actually rework the graphic so the chalice icon looks like it's pressed into wax.

Old art icon looks better.

Massively cool! Although I do find it a bit humorous there's a black dragon on the Red Dragon picture XD

If these were how Redemption cards looked, I think Redemption would have the best looking cards in the business... I like this redesign way more than yugioh or magic. The yugioh layout is boring, they just have better art.

I agree on the redesign, this is great not only to a redesign to the ages old template, but also a redesign that could easily be passed off as a mass marketed CCG product.

The template itself isn't substantially better or worse imo, it just looks more modern.

I like the old templete with the halfy borders.....

KingLeo

For characters and enhancements, it's just comparable (assuming border busters in the current template), but for Dominants, Fortresses, and (the way I see it in my head) Curses/Covenants/Artifacts, the new template is way better.

I like the new style, mainly for the same reason as Lambo: No text on art.

Has it already been sent to the printer? Last I heard they were still ironing out some details for some of the cards. I agree new starter decks with the new redesign would be the best spot to implement it. Maybe someone should contact Rob about this.