Arcmage Box

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ngoeminne
Posts:324
Joined:Mon Feb 29, 2016 15:34
Arcmage Box

Post by ngoeminne » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:22

Hey folks,

I attempted to design a new box with the new arcmage logo.
As I wanted to keep the box rather small, I opted to have two boxes each containing
three preconstucted decks.

There are many things possible and I just choose a design with a lid and a box
- Rebirth lid I
- Rebirth lid II
- Rebirth box

DIY
1. Print the lid & box on A4
2. Put the sheets together so that the non printed sides are back to back and the printed sides are shown
3. Laminate them in a single A4 pouch (the front sides will be glued to the plastic)
4. Cut the borders of the pouch (you'll now have two sheets, laminated on one printed side)
5. Cut the lid and box on the light-gray cut-lines
6. Pre-fold the the box and the lid
7. Glue the lid and box together (tip, put glue on the inside of the side flaps first, then press the small folded flap),

Have fun!
Nico
Denshi
Posts:7
Joined:Wed May 30, 2018 17:19

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by Denshi » Tue Jul 03, 2018 19:38

Hi!

Though you didn't explicitly ask for feedback, here's mine:

1. Thanks for your work. I think this is a big step towards where proprietary card games currently are.

2. I'm not entirely sure the purely white background is a good idea. While I like the design, I think the lack of even slight texturing might make this seem less „professional“(whatever that means). Some texture on the sides could be an improvement. Something I like about the white design is the lower cost for self-printers (though this is probably negligible).
P.S.: http://subtlepatterns.com/ offers patterns under CC BY-SA 3.0 (some of them aren't really subtle ;) ).

3. I think that only the decks contained in the box should be on the box. Otherwise it would leave a feeling of incompleteness if one only buys/prints one box. Additionally—though it's explained on the back—the star symbol is not intuitive and might confuse some people (including me, as I've viewed the box pdf last).

4. On the box, there is a typo in “professionally printed cards”.

Warning: Nitpicking starts here.

5. On the box there is a sentence “We're a community of free culture-loving individuals[…]”. It's not entirely clear whether this means “culture-loving individuals who are also free” or “free individuals who love culture”. I would propose the following, though it may not sound as good:
We're a community of individuals who love free culture, […]

6. There is some opposition to the use of ampersand “&” character as a general replacement for “and”. I have no personal opinion on this yet. I just want to point it out.

7. Why not use “these typographic quotes” instead of "these simple ones"? Also, personally I'd prefer “full card listing at arcmage.org“ to “full card list at arcmage.org“.

8. Is there a style guide on font/color choice yet?

9. I think there needs to be license information on the box.

10. Again, thanks for your work. That's all I could think of for now.
ngoeminne
Posts:324
Joined:Mon Feb 29, 2016 15:34

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by ngoeminne » Wed Jul 04, 2018 08:12

Hi Denshi,

Sure you can give feedback, that's why I've posted it here :-)

First things first, this was a first attempt, so lot's of improvements possible.

Let me reply:

1. We're not trying to move towards proprietary card games, but a box would make it more attractive I guess.

2. The background isn't entirely white, it has a bit of yellow / oker, but you're correct, there's no texture.
I wanted it rather sec/clear to stand you against the many dark-themed games. I was hoping to get some real 3D texture on the sheets themselves. I guess I could add some texture to the design, like the westnoth map we've used in the new card back (see other thread).

3. You're entirely right, when I started the design, I wanted to get all 6 of the decks in the box, but I made a mistake on the physical size :-) , so it could only fit three, and I didn't have time to redo it. So I just kept the design and added the star to indicate what's inside. A bit confusing, I know. That said, I do like the current form-factor for the smaller boxes, they are handy handy. Also, for entry level players a three deck box would lower the price (by factor 2).

-> Either we change box size and include all decks
-> Either we change what's advertised on the box
-> What should be clear is that you know up front exactly what cards you are buying (know what you get),
or that you can at least see the full card list online.
-> Our current play-test cards are sold against production price, and that's what I'd like to keep.

4. Thanks for the spelling tip. In that regard, maybe you're willing to do some editorial work as well?
We've got Pistos doing an awesome job editing the cards, and clearing out my gibberish English. But I'm sure he would welcome some help. Currently 'Uneasy Alliance', 'Gaian Love for Life' and 'The Uprsing' have been edited.
The other three still need a lot of work.

5. Yep, will change that.

6. I wouldn't know about the discussion between ampersand & and ;-) Don't think it will bother someone to get the game or not :-)

7. Good idea, I'm not sure if the droid-fonts support them. I could use an other font for the quotes if need be.

8. For the cards themselves, the style and fonts are entirely inside our card-generation templates. For the box there's none. I used droid, as it looks clean and sec.

9. Yeah, maybe, we have the artwork lic, and the game lic itself. Does it add value to the box to have that information there? At least we'll create a booklet or something with additional information, including the lics.

10. You're welcome, if you'd like to contribute to the box design, I'd gladly provide the svg files :-)

Kind regards,
Nico
Denshi
Posts:7
Joined:Wed May 30, 2018 17:19

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by Denshi » Wed Jul 04, 2018 16:28

Good to see my feedback is appreciated.
Let me re-reply: :P

1. What I meant was a step towards comparability in terms of material available, not a step towards being more proprietary. I could have worded that better.
By the way, there are companies that sell boxed versions of libre/open office in stores. I don't see why this wouldn't work for Arcmage/WTactics too.

4. I want to give my feedback about the rules soon, but if I find the time I could try to work on those decks.

9. I think the license info and attribution for the box/lid artwork should be on the outside, because if it were shrink wrapped (or similiar) it would be impossible to determine the license without having to open the box.

10. That would be great! :D
ngoeminne
Posts:324
Joined:Mon Feb 29, 2016 15:34

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by ngoeminne » Sun Aug 19, 2018 14:18

Hi Denshi, hi folks,

I found some time to create a second design, for a custom made box.
It measures 203x100x35mm (bxdxh) and can contain all six decks.
They are three decks next to each other, whit a second level of three decks on top.

I' ve included as much as the feedback you provided.

2. There's now texture in the box and lid using the same style as the new cards back. The lid is lighter than the cards back, because it must contrast with the text.

3. All decks are included. Removed the star

4. fixed typo, and move all text to the back (only the deck names remain)

5. Kept as is, don't think it is confusing, and your suggestion doesn't sound that nice.

6. Kept the &

7. Changed to the typographic quotes (this was quite more complicated then expected because inkscape refused to enter them. I went around his back and done it in the svg-xml directly. Inkscape does render them correctly :-)

8. Font and colors are set by our card generation db (for the cards). I went with droid sans for the box.

9. License info is on the box

Here's the next end result.

- Rebirth box (pdf)
- Rebirth box (svg)
- Rebirth lid (pdf)
- Rebirth lid (svg)

Image
Image

To see if everything works out, I went to the local hobby shop, got myself a new knife, a cut-foam slate,
and a pack of 1.250 mm pass-par-tout A3 carton boards (hard carton, coated with black paper on one side, white paper on the other side).

Since I made sure both box and lid fit into one A4 each, I could use one carton board to cut both.
I cut on the white side, so the inside of the box is black. If you try it yourself, make sure the lid is 4 mm wider then the box.

Finally I printed the sheets, cut and wrapped them around the box and lid. The end result is great.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image


When going to the presses, I'll get them printed with the same quality as the cards,
but on self sticking paper.

All feedback is welcome!
Kind regards,
Nico
Denshi
Posts:7
Joined:Wed May 30, 2018 17:19

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by Denshi » Sun Aug 19, 2018 20:48

Looks gorgeous! :D

As soon as I have a working printer again, I want to try printing it myself.
Have you tried laminating the box yet?
ngoeminne
Posts:324
Joined:Mon Feb 29, 2016 15:34

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by ngoeminne » Mon Aug 20, 2018 11:01

Hi Denshi,

No I wont be laminating it, but I'll get them printed professionally. I'm hoping to see some samples before deciding on the finishing (they can laminate using different foils). They can also add a glue layer, I'm hoping it's strong enough to have a tight wrapping.

We'll see.
Kind regards,
Nico
Desttinghim
Posts:45
Joined:Sun Nov 13, 2016 08:36
Location:Utah

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by Desttinghim » Tue Aug 21, 2018 02:05

The box looks awesome! Good work.
ngoeminne
Posts:324
Joined:Mon Feb 29, 2016 15:34

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by ngoeminne » Fri Aug 24, 2018 21:47

Hey folks,

After some cut and fold work, I got myself a stack of arcmage boxes :-)
The A4 paper sticker wrappers approach work well.

Here's the result (forgive me the bad picture quality), but for those who got the cards,
the print quality is the same.

Image
Image
Image

The production cost of a box is 3.01 euro (the board + 2 wrappers) (tax included).
And about 15 min of cut and fold work.... per piece. Produced 8 boxes this week, and have material for another 24 ... pfff...

Anyway, now we have a box, lets get back to the game itself...

... I really, really, need some help to get those last three decks play-test ready...

Kind regards,
Nico
Alex
Posts:10
Joined:Wed Apr 11, 2018 20:24

Re: Arcmage Box

Post by Alex » Sun Sep 02, 2018 21:43

This looks so awesome!! Oh my gosh I'm excited to play this.
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