D&D 5E D&D Next weekly art column!

[DEFCON 1]

That's a good point regarding licensing that I hadn't considered. I know gaming companies are very protective of their licenses, so I wouldn't be surprised if Wizards was a little strict or on the expensive side.

Another issue is that other than the logo itself... there are really no current iconic images or graphics that represent Dungeons & Dragons (besides perhaps Drizzt.) It's all book covers and random fantasy pictures with unnamed adventurers. Thus, there's not much that a tee-shirt designer could create a D&D line with that would actually possibly sell as well as say Spider-Man, Minnie Mouse, or Cars.

There are a few places that are making D&D merchandise (and the website has a Merchandise page that features a few of them), but it is by no means as widespread as other brands are. My guess is that the desire or requests for them just isn't there.

 

[Klaus]

Another issue is that other than the logo itself... there are really no current iconic images or graphics that represent Dungeons & Dragons (besides perhaps Drizzt.) It's all book covers and random fantasy pictures with unnamed adventurers. Thus, there's not much that a tee-shirt designer could create a D&D line with that would actually possibly sell as well as say Spider-Man, Minnie Mouse, or Cars.

There are a few places that are making D&D merchandise (and the website has a Merchandise page that features a few of them), but it is by no means as widespread as other brands are. My guess is that the desire or requests for them just isn't there.

The closest I can think of is the Beholder.

 

[Jon Schindehette]

I case you guys have missed it, there are a number of licensed goodies available. From t's, to iPhone cases, to fashion accessories...and a whole lot more to come.

Here's the latest T-shirt design that was created, and was picked up by Topless Robot as Geek Apparel Pick of the Week within 48 hours.

Here's a list of current companies that make goodies for D&D, and a few samples of the wares they offer.

Look for some cool exclusives at some up coming conventions...

 

[Scribble]

The closest I can think of is the Beholder.

Maybe they could do something with a magic missile... or fireball.

 

[tuxgeo]

I case you guys have missed it, there are a number of licensed goodies available. From t's, to iPhone cases, to fashion accessories...and a whole lot more to come.
< . . . snip . . . >
Here's a list of current companies that make goodies for D&D, and a few samples of the wares they offer.

I follied the link and found Zazzle; but their "Deity Symbols" lack Avandra, Lolth, Melora, and Tiamat from 4th Ed.

Should I assume that this was a conscious decision to leave those four entities off Zazzle's list? I'd be more open to a Melora angora or anorak.

 

[Jon Schindehette]

We supplied a huge supply of symbols. We had to winnow down. More will be added if they are popular

 

[Sunseeker]

Another issue is that other than the logo itself... there are really no current iconic images or graphics that represent Dungeons & Dragons (besides perhaps Drizzt.) It's all book covers and random fantasy pictures with unnamed adventurers. Thus, there's not much that a tee-shirt designer could create a D&D line with that would actually possibly sell as well as say Spider-Man, Minnie Mouse, or Cars.

There are a few places that are making D&D merchandise (and the website has a Merchandise page that features a few of them), but it is by no means as widespread as other brands are. My guess is that the desire or requests for them just isn't there.

Interesting, I know Pathfinder went right off the bat and created their "iconic" characters. While I don't really favor their designs in the slightest(Seela is nice tho), that might not be a bad route for WOTC to take.

 

[Hussar]

Interesting, I know Pathfinder went right off the bat and created their "iconic" characters. While I don't really favor their designs in the slightest(Seela is nice tho), that might not be a bad route for WOTC to take.

To be fair, this is exactly what 3e and 4e did as well. There are iconics in 4e, but, I don't think they got pushed anywhere near as strongly as the 3e iconics did. But, I can totally see why they did that - it's following the same line of thinking that their adventure paths always had. Paizo's AP's had iconic in the art from nearly day one, if not before.

 

[DEFCON 1]

That's one thing TSR/WotC has never really done, which is create and truly push "official characters" of D&D. This was made explicit to us when they were trying to create the Wrath of Ashardalon boardgame and they talked about how they didn't actually have a named dragon beyond Tiamat that was an obvious choice for the game... and they had to go back through their products to find one (which turned out to be Ash, although I'm sure many of us like myself had never actually heard of him.)

The only sort of "known" or "famous" characters from D&D that have actually images we might recognize are the Realms ones in and around Elminster and Drizzt... and the D&D cartoon. Which from a marketing and merchandizing perspective isn't that great.

Heck... as weird as it is to think... there's probably more people who would recognize the Acquisitions Inc. characters than pretty much any other character from D&D. And that's because the characters have actually been used several times over in "marketing" (i.e. the PA/PvP/Wheaton podcasts), plus they're owned and drawn by a pair or artists. It might behoove WotC in 5E to maybe do a couple more "celebrity D&D" marketing games to create even more "known" characters with which they could then own and market.

The Robot Chicken guys again... maybe The Nerdist group... the folks from The Guild, etc. etc.

 

[Yora]

But that's something D&D and almost all pen and paper games I know was never about. It's a franchise of tools, not one of stories. There are some adventurers that have made their adversaries become iconic NPCs, but the protagonists have always been the creation of the players.
Except Dragonlance, which is quite controversial because of this.