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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mikedidthis" data-source="post: 1719884" data-attributes="member: 1939">I want to throw in my 2 coppers about an area of the industry (an important one to me) that I think has been overlooked. Since you offered to open this up for debate, I figured I’d just jump in with both feet here.I assume that by omitting the Best Graphic Design category, you are in favor of dropping it from the permanent category list. I would argue in favor of keeping it. Good, functional graphic design is essential in this market. It's more than just nifty decoration. It's about making the information easily accessible to the user; about shaping the content to serve the needs of the gamer more than the interests of the designer.Role-playing aids are text- and information-intensive beasts. Are they read straight through like novels? Maybe once or twice. But once they're in use for a game they're reference manuals, pure and simple. They’re paged through and skimmed; pages are glanced at in a search for the right nugget of information at the right time. They need a solid navigational structure that permits the quick and easy retrieval of whatever information is desired. They need a layout that quickly differentiates types of information and suggests a hierarchy of importance. A layout that guides the reader along the page rather than making him fight his way through it. Fonts must be readable at a glance where crunch is concerned. Tables must be instantly comprehendible. The reader should be able to open the book at any point and know immediately exactly what the subject matter is on the open pages. Reference books work best when designed with the nature of the content in mind. For a book to be great, form must not just follow content--it must be married to it. Form and content can work together to enhance the reader’s understanding of the overall idea and mood of the project. Imagery--from masterful illustrations to lowly rules and dingbats--should support and clarify the text. Sidebar and background images (when used) should suggest something of the world the designer’s imagination has created. Visuals should always build on the framework of the designer’s ideas, not just decorate the page.Ironically, great functional design should go almost unnoticed. When it is most successful, the reader will barely be aware of how easy it is to get the desired information. Finding it will just feel intuitive.There are many wonderful examples of great design in this industry. Beautiful books that stir the imagination as well as give useful information. But these are too often the exception rather than the rule. Good design benefits gamers by ensuring that they spend more time gaming and less time referencing and by communicating the designer’s ideas more clearly. Keeping the Best Graphic Design category serves to highlight the stellar books and reward those companies that work to make their materials more immediately useful.Plus, as a graphic designer, it’s awfully rewarding to see that giant, golden 20-sided die on your desk  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />[EDIT: no matter how many times you proofread the darn thing, there's always a misspelled word.][EDIT AGAIN: Or two. Grrr....]</blockquote>

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