Grade my layout? New for card game

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DiscoSoup

So I'm making a new card game, and I've got this image of a prototype. I'm very pleased with the picture that the artist created. There are some things that I'd like to change about the card layout, but I want some second opinions. I think that the sword logos need changing into something else. The Kanji on the right is "kokoro", the Japanese word for heart. I wanted to use that instead of an actual picture of hearts like you might see in Zelda or other games. The kanji on the left is "kaze", or wind. Characters have elemental types in this game and get bonuses/penalties for attacking characters of different types.

I'd like for the gray/white text boxes to have faded edges. Like so they feather out to nothing. Right now I jsut have a slightly larger text box below the box with the actual text, and it has a white color at 50% transparency. How would you go about making it fade into nothing?

Thanks. Here's the link to the image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8vd4pkalkee84vz/SamuraiDiceCards-page002.jpeg?dl=0


a.l.e

one first important warning:

make sure that your print shop can print the transparencies!

and a bit of feedback, too:

... and you probably need some more padding around the text...
... and maybe increase the contrast for the main text (but it depends a bit on how it renders when printed)
... and the text is imo a bit small for a serif font... (but this feeling might be related to the low contrast on screen)

have fun!
a.l.e

DiscoSoup

Thanks for the response. I am going to turn the cards into pictures, which flattens the transparencies, before I send them off. I'll look into a new font.

utnik

hi discosoap

you should readjust the line spacing.
the leading is usually somewhere between 110 and 140% of the font size – yours is around 200%, which breaks the text into independent peaces...

utnik

DiscoSoup

Yes, that's bugging me. I actually don't know how to do that.

DiscoSoup

Figured it out. Can't believe I've been using Scribus for almost 5 years now and never knew that.

GarryP

Trading card layouts can be some of the most difficult things to get right. Not only do you have a very small space in which to work but you also have a lot of information to present to the reader. Finding a good balance between having legible text and showing the images as best you can is difficult.

For the specific questions you raised I have a number of comments:
1. Don't use text frames for anything other than holding text. If you just want a coloured shape then just use a shape. There are a number of reasons for not using a text frame but two main ones are: the Pre-flight Verifier will report that there's a problem with an empty frame; you could accidentally add text to the frame which might not be obvious at first but will spoil the image.
2. You can use gradient fills to get colour fading to nothing. See attached files where I've very quickly knocked something together. Select the object called Nameplate (the one with the gradient at the top) and open the Fill properties in the Properties Palette and you will see how the gradient has been constructed. Note the Opacity setting (bottom of the Colour tab) for each gradient stop. The extra gradient stops at each end can help to avoid a feint line at the end of the gradient, sometimes. (The object called Information, at the bottom of the card, has a gradient fill with black instead of the white of Nameplate.)
3. The sword logos are difficult to see. I thought they were just diagonal lines until I looked closer. What you could use otherwise is really down to what they are there for.

Some general comments about your layout are below:
4. I think there are too many rectangles in the "normal" orientation. Have you thought about putting some things at an angle? Or maybe adding a bit of a skew? Basic rectangles can make a card layout look a bit boring but if you start adding angles and skews - not too many or too much though - it can add a bit of dynamism to the layout. Nothing wrong with the basics but a bit of extra "style" usually helps.
5. Once you can do basic gradient fills, try experimenting with free linear fills and see what you can achieve. You might find something that looks nice.
6. You had your left and right round the wrong way. Kokoro is on the left. Not a big issue but it might cause a bit of confusion.
7. Try moving the emblem at the top-right around so it's not flush to the top of the semi-transparent shape. Try it either across the whole thing with overlaps at top and bottom or a bit further down and see what you think.
8. You've used a colon for the first heading but no colon on the second heading. Probably best not to use one at all, see next comment.
9. Try using a different font+size for the headings and other text. It helps to differentiate things. (Don't use what I've used, they're just for show.) And think about not using full stops, they sometimes are not needed if the text is different enough.
10. Instead of plain rectangles, have you tried combining/adding curves with the rectangles to make the shapes more interesting?

Well, that's probably enough from me for now. I hope some of this helps.

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