The Art Direction of

Legends of Gadia

ā€œLoGā€ for short, LEGENDS OF GADIA is an original fantasy card game sprung from the pages of the GADIA fantasy novel series.

Tauted as ā€œThe Most Epic Game You Can Play in 20 Minutes,ā€ LoG lives up to the claim not only through its engaging, strategic gameplay but through its vast lore and the compelling, character-driven story of the 12 heroes depicted on the cards.

The 12 Legends of Gadia are historical figures from the world of GADIA whose renowned final quest saved the world from an interdimensional cataclysm that would have ended all life in their realm—though, sadly, at the cost of their own lives. Their heroic actions incidentally raised the titular island of Gadia into the air, where it remains floating—an unreachable beacon of hope and intrigue—for the next 499 years until the start of the GADIA novel series.

Art Director: Su Mon Han

Project: LoG Companion Book Cover

Artist: Olha Hyshchak

Project Duration: 4 weeks

Project Brief & References:

A rough mockup sketch I provided to Olha of where major elements of the cover image should go (in anticipation of the book’s title and other cover text:

Finished Artwork with Cover Text:

Project: LoG Card Frame Artwork

Artist: Reine Beammer

Project Duration: 10 weeks

Project Brief & References:

Feedback & Communication

As the artist I worked with for the frame artwork was located in Thailand, speaking directly was difficult and also indicated as something my artist preferred not to do, as English was not her primary spoken language.

So to give feedback, I relied on a smaller amount of written text and relied on graphic representations/ examples whenever possible. The image to the left is an example of one of my feedback sheets.

Finished Artwork

Front (Dark Border)

Front (Light Border)

Card Back

Artist: Cyvii

Project Duration: 7 months

Project Brief & References:

Project: The 12 Legends’ Card Portraits

Sample: Brief + Character Design to Finished Portrait Process (The Jester)

Character design sheet I provided:

Keeping Cohesion Across the Project

As the project progressed, I also edited together mockups of the finished portraits into cards/with each other to help my artist keep cohesion between the individual portraits.

I also guided her to include unifying visual/thematic elements between the four cards in each of the three ā€œHousesā€ (a gameplay element of LoG). Since I knew the thematic significance of the three Houses and what was appropriate from both a character and game/thematic viewpoint, I was able to guide the creation of the artwork to have unity between the four characters in each House—both in more subtle ways as well as through the particular House ā€œgimmicksā€ I prescribed:

Finished Portrait Example

Contact Su Mon

As a lifelong storyteller and lover of fantasy worlds, I’m eager to find my next, lush world and project to immerse myself into now that LEGENDS OF GADIA has been completed and released into the world.

Let me bring my unique blend of grand-scale vision and minute logistical precision to your next project as your passionate and rock-solid Art Director or Brand Manager with a proven track record of bringing projects from any stage to final delivery.

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