How important is good artwork in a product?

One of the things I find really irritating about myself is that if a product has poor artwork or is produced on poor quality paper/binding, etc. I find that I'm half way thinking its not going to be very good before I've started!

I can remember many old Judges Guild products that suffered in this way and were actually very good (in terms of the written content).

Any one else have this problem?

Any good D&D d20 products I may have missed because of this?

Its all about percieved value. Thats why joe punter will pay a little more for product X if it comes in a nice shiny black box. Preferably a big black box. Its why you pay more for a black PC case than a beige one, and pay even more for shiny aluminium. (all right, so the aluminium one is actually worth more, but the beige and black ones are just different dyes...)


Anyway, the point is;

If there's no art, you won't care - you just skip past the "is this quality art" point of appreciating the book.

If there's art, you decide whether you like it. Most people confuse "do i like it" with "is it good" unless the art is dire. (again, for most people, if it looks like you drew it, its pretty bad - certainly the case for me!)

So; no art = no difference to PV
Bad art detracts from percieved value.
Good art adds to percieved value, for most people.

The same is true of paper quality - .pdf files being the analog for "no art" in the paper and binding stakes.

So; if you want you stuff rated on solely the quality of the real content; go pdf with no art at all.

The actual quality of the writing has a huge impact as well - whaqt would you think of a product with typos or bad grammar in the opening paragraph? You'd think the rest of the book is going to be nonsense, right? Same can also be said of obvious rules errors - makes you suspicious of the whole of the rest of the text...

All too true.

Sadly I think the perceived value has become more important to me the older I've got!

The better the Art the better the Feelgood Factor.

From my point of view, having goog art in a d20 book is very important. Not necessarily that it means the content ( i.e. written content) will be equally good but more from that initial glance on the shelves or first flick through of the book.

Like it or not you are making decisions on if you are going to buy a book purely on its presentational qualities. Good cover art attracts, entices you to take a closer look. Good layout on quality paper enhances your opinion and good, consistent, interior art as you flick through can only help you to think, " Yeah, a lot of effort has gone into this book. I'm gonna take a closer look."

The book with poor cover art on low quality paper with drawings that look like a schoolkid drew them isn't going to get a look in unless the written content is discovered by someone to be good and spread by word of mouth/ good reviews.

As it happens I am an artist for d20 publishers, and the worst thing for me is being embarrassed to show some books to friends because some of the art is to put it bluntly, crap. It also makes me think, "I put a lot of effort into my pieces in that book, whereas some of the other pieces are no more than scrawled sketches, yet they would have been paid the same rate as me. I'll look elsewhere for future work." If other artists think the same then they will gravitate to more professional companies and keep the quality high.

If a company uses good art married to good writing they are more likely going to be successful in a crowded d20 market than those who put no regard in to having good art.

ART IS IMPORTANT!!

Goremole.

Art should be secondary but I have come to know it is better to look good, than be good.

People are attracted to color, to the flash rather than the content, they flip or thumb through game books but stop when some art catches their eye. Maybe it gets them to read the page, maybe not.

I do think you can reach a balance, good cover, fair to okay art, good content but then you have layout to think about. Where to put the art.

As for art? If you get your work published, you deserve respect because once it is publish everyone is a critic.

Erekose said:

One of the things I find really irritating about myself is that if a product has poor artwork or is produced on poor quality paper/binding, etc.

Click to expand...

I have to say that I'm the same. When I come to check out a product in my local shop and I find that the paper quality is bad and that the artwork is bad, then it gets put back on the shelf.

I'm sure that alot of the third party publishers release great sourcebooks but if they look cheap and nasty then I won't buy them.

No art is better then bad art. That said and knowing that art is subjective, it's hard to go the no art route.

For art I perfer the full page pictures that show a scene, rather then just a picture of someone or something. The right piece of art can really explain a subject or bring a someting to life.

I have to say as far as my gaming material goes, it's the eye candy outside that makes me pick it up (though the write up that makes me buy it).

It's the eye candy inside that keeps me interested enough to read it all and keep picking it up.

Bad art, or inappropriate art, or no art.. is a major no no for me.

If something looks beautiful it inspires you to give it the attnetion it needs, it adds to your play by providing visual stimulus to the descriptives... it keeps the product and what it's representing stuck in your memory.

If you run an adventure with an NPC in say and you describe, sure your palyer may remember him, but if the NPC has some fantastic art, that reflects the person well, that image will stick in their minds forever, and when you say the NPc's name, your players go "Oh the guy with... or Oh the one we met in?" and so forth...

RPG is all about senses, and through them painting the pciture for your imagination... as such they require stimulus, column after column of pictureless text just doesn't do it for RPG's, no matter how well written it is, not entirely.

A book's art is the fastest, easiest, most sure-fire way to communicate a product's vision to the audience.

I'd heard interesting things about Dragonstar, and it put a certain 'look' in my head. I bought the book, opened it up, and saw...well their idea of what the universe of Dragonstar looks like did not appeal to me. I can't say, and only they know, if what's in the book is what they 'saw' of if the art failed. But the art conveys the vision. If you have a great vision of your setting, and the art doesn't support it, no-one will know how cool the thing you envisioned was.

Importance of content to me

60% original content (ideas or concepts)
20% balanced or comptible with current games
20% artwork

Therefore i will buy a great idea with crappy art and clunky rules.

I will also buy a book with somewhat original ideas if it has good eye candy and/or meshes well with current game.

I will even buy a book that is just a rehash of other material out there if it meshes well with current game (needs little modification to drop into my campaign) and has great eye candy i will buy it.

Buts thats just me and my $$$ talking.