All work
Illustration & Print Design
/
2023
Flagbearer Games
Iconography, card layouts and archival image restoration for the Misfire Deck and The American Crisis, a Nations & Cannons adventure for D&D 5e.
Client
Flagbearer Games · Nations & Cannons
Role
Junior Artist
Tools
Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop, Topaz, InDesign
Timeline
2023
(01)
Overview
The Misfire Deck: Black Powder Blunders is a card expansion for Nations & Cannons, Flagbearer Games’ historical adventure setting for D&D 5e. Each card turns a jammed musket, a faulty grenade or an overloaded cannon into a dramatic, often disastrous, moment at the table.
As a Junior Artist at Flagbearer Games, I illustrated the deck’s iconography, laid out the cards for print, and restored the archival maps and artwork used across the Nations & Cannons line.
(02)
Iconography
I illustrated the set of effect icons that tell players at a glance what a misfire does: clearing a jam, an explosion, setting creatures aflame, an ongoing effect, a reroll, and a cloud of smoke.
Each icon was drawn in Clip Studio Paint and finished in Photoshop. They needed to stay readable at a small size in the corner of a card, so each one is built around a bold silhouette and its own colour, with a painted, textured finish that sits comfortably next to the period artwork on the cards.
The Key Card explains each icon, and the corner colour shows how bad the misfire is
(03)
Map Restoration
Nations & Cannons uses a historical map of the British colonies in North America by John Andrews. I restored the scan with Topaz, then cleaned it up in Photoshop, removing blemishes and the most obvious folds so it could be used in the game.
Drag the slider to compare the before and after. The coloured dots on the before image mark locations used during game development and aren’t part of the restoration.
(04)
Character Illustrations
For the main book, I edited historical character illustrations so they would sit together as one consistent set. This plate by Herbert Knötel, a colour bearer of the Hesse-Cassel Leib-Regiment (1776 to 1783), was cut out from its background and recoloured in Photoshop to match the book’s sepia tone.
Drag the slider to see the original watercolour against the finished illustration.
Cards from the Misfire Deck, laid out in InDesign
(05)
Card Layouts
I laid out the cards in InDesign, keeping every card consistent: the title, rules text and historical quote, the colour splash in the corner that signals how severe the misfire is, and the effect icons along the edge.
I also prepared the print-ready files, with bleeds and die-lines for the printer.
(06)
The Kickstarter
Flagbearer Games launched The American Crisis, a Nations & Cannons adventure for D&D 5e, on Kickstarter, where it raised over $130,000. The game has since sold at conventions and reached schools nationwide.
Skills demonstrated
Iconography & Illustration
Card Layout
Print Production
Archival Image Restoration
Photo Retouching & Colour Matching