Lashings of Ginger Beer layout/design help

[Simon W]

I admit it, I'm stuck. I've decided to go the whole route with Lashings of Ginger Beer, probably through RPG.Mall or similar.

I have got an artist on board (Allan Dotson). Check out the first of his pics here.

http://www.geocities.com/maycontainmonkeys/Gang.html

I'm stuck on design/layout. I'm looking for someone who might like to either give me some help and guidance or take it onboard him/herself.

Anyone help?

Gideon
http://www.geocities.com/simonwashbourne/Beyond_Belief.html

[rpghost]

There is a lot of help in the ePublisher guide about design/layout that is good for any print book as well. Too many to go over in general here but if you have some specifics I could probably lend some pointers.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1668

In short though, don't over use font faces, keep the book double columned, about 10 point font is good. Single spaced... Use art and tables to break up the read. About 10-20% fill with art is fine.

Get yourself a copy of Indesign by Adobe to do it the real way... MS Word can only go so far.

James

[Jonathan Walton]

Also, depending on the size of your project and whether or not you have a budget to spend, there're a bunch of freelance and even volunteer folks around who might be willing to do some layout work for ya.  Personally, I live and breathe design, so, as long as the game looks like it's actually going to get published (in PDF or print format), I'd probably be willing to volunteer some layout work.  PM or email me if you're interested.

[Michael Hopcroft]

As a new user of InDesign and Quark XPress, I'm having trouble figuing out how to actually lay out a book. I was wondering if anyone had suitable templates already done for standard RPG books that they are willing to let me use for smaller projects.

[max.lambertini]

I'm stuck on design/layout. I'm looking for someone who might like to either give me some help and guidance or take it onboard him/herself.

Hi,

First of all, I'm no graphic designer, but I am somehow proficient with DTP programs, since I laid out the italian edition of Fuzion.

If you are looking for some free DTP resources, you should check http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/ .

There you can freely and legally download some useful software for DTP, although even Word and Open Office can perform some not-so-trivial DTP tasks, when pushed (OpenOffice 1.1b can link text frames, use transparencies and exports directly in PDF).

You should also check the GIMP for a great image processing program.

If you are looking for some layout tips, stick to the suggestion already given here:

Use no more than 2-3 typefaces.  

10-11 pts text, two columns layout

Use art to break text blocks

Try to reach an equilibrium between a symmetrical and asymmetrical design: symmetry conveys predictability but also boredom, and asymmetry, while useful to live up pages, makes a a page hard to read.

Above all, ask yourself: is this document pleasant to read?
[/list:u]

Ciao,
Max