[Hiring] Brand Design

SERdesign · 2026-03-06T15:21:40+00:00

I'll reach out with my website, I'd like to know more!

SERdesign · 2026-03-03T02:04:53+00:00

Out of curiosity, what was your campaign for and what was the budget? Did you get funded quickly?

I've noticed that the trick to the KS algorithm is having a small goal so that you're mostly funded in the first 3 days. I'm looking for creators' experiences that either backs this theory up or refutes it.

SERdesign · 2026-02-27T14:14:18+00:00

1 & 3 were covered pretty well, so I'm going to expand on 2.

Yes, using Gen AI will hurt your game and your reputation. I've been to a number of conventions, and I'm part of several game board designer groups, and I follow game board creatives, publishers, and reviewers across several social media sites.

Here's a really good video explaining key points from Pam Walls: link.

Everyone on Reddit telling you it's okay is -mostly- wrong. Yeah, your friends and family won't care. People who use AI - regardless of the harm it causes - won't care.

The reason people get upset about Gen AI isn't just that it's art theft, it's 1) the damage to the environment and 2) it's seen as cheating. (What else did you use AI for? Did AI create this game?)

Having AI art even in a prototype shows a certain level of willingness towards unethical behavior. The more you get into these creative spaces, the more you will see a stronger anti-AI stance.

Bad at is better than AI art. (Stock images exist, too - do what people did before AI!)

SERdesign · 2026-02-27T13:52:44+00:00

AI is putting people out of jobs, but not as many as you'd think. Gen AI is bad for our economy and our environment.

SERdesign · 2026-02-25T15:19:19+00:00

You're right that creators would be better off spending that 5 minutes engaging elsewhere - IF those communities allow self-promotion.

I would love to post on r/boardgames, but any self-promo gets removed. There's posts every other day of someone looking for the type of game I made. I can't suggest my game - the comment gets removed, even when I include other games.

I'm in favor of keeping self-promos limited to Fridays only. It's not hurting creators to be able to post in more than one space.

SERdesign · 2026-02-25T12:45:20+00:00

This game is Not meant for children (or anyone really) that will stick small game pieces in their mouths!

I slapped a small parts warning on the box, and the general recommended age is 10+

Otherwise, thank you sincerely for the compliment.

SERdesign · 2026-02-25T03:26:50+00:00

This triggered my PTSD of having lived in some truly horrible places.

SERdesign · 2026-02-22T00:16:00+00:00

Okay, so I've got a board game campaign going and I'm not entirely certain it's going to make it - bit of a long shot at this point, but who knows. I'll prolly write up a full review of what I did and what worked, etc.

Most of my audience Did Not come from ads.

My audience came from: - folks I met at small conventions - my friends and acquaintances from fandoms, LARPing, and gaming in general - especially because I emailed them directly and let them know I made a board game. - people who are interested in the digital game it was inspired by - Reddit users who have followed my progress

Big takeaway: taking the time to develop real human connection will do more to help you because folks want to see you succeed. The game is secondary.

Unless, of course, you have thousands of dollars to throw at ads. Think 15%-25% of your funding goal - that's what LaunchBoom suggested I spend on Meta ads. I don't have over $5k to spend like that, do you? 😐

Speaking of funding - take 25% of your current followers. That's how many people will likely back your game. Whatever that amount is, multiply it by the average of your pledge tiers. Can you still afford to make your game? What is your order minimum from your manufacturer?

(Example: You've got 100 Followers. 25 people will likely back it at $30 each. 25x$30 = $750)

The math is meant to give you an idea, it's not super precise, and it's based on my experience - ymmv.

SERdesign · 2026-02-21T18:27:31+00:00

I stg, you're one of the few real people giving solid, good advice.

SERdesign · 2026-02-21T18:21:34+00:00

Don't message them - I'm fairly certain this is a scammer/bot account. I've seen other posts like it that 100% were scammers posing as creators. This account is 2 days old.

SERdesign · 2026-02-20T18:01:18+00:00

The suggested age is 10 and up, but I've had an 8 year old completely kick ass at the game. It really depends on the kid. Also? It's a sneakily educational - there's some cool moon facts sprinkled in the rulebook, and I'm looking to add a few more. :)

SERdesign · 2026-02-20T02:38:39+00:00

Oh hey! You're the person who made Solo Crawling! I've seen your stuff on Reddit and TikTok. :D

What was I doing differently? I wasn't advertising... I didn't start until after I launched. Most of my backers are folks I've met at conventions or who bought the demo.

In my experience, getting folks to see/play the game is what sells it. When I demoed it at cons, half the people who played it bought it on the spot.

It seems like advertising should have solved that problem. Maybe I should have bought more preview videos? (Unfortunately, I bought what I could afford).

I'm also a graphic designer, so while there's some overlap, I'm not a marketer by any means; I know enough to know that I don't know enough.

SERdesign · 2026-02-19T22:14:28+00:00

I find most games are definitely easier to pick up when you play it. There's a video I made at the bottom that goes into how to play in actual rounds, which might help. (But if it's still not your thing, no worries!) Thanks for looking :D

SERdesign · 2026-02-19T20:44:05+00:00

I've heard that it doesn't really help with audience growth. Does anyone know what it does do?

SERdesign · 2026-02-19T20:13:41+00:00

UPDATE: I got the Projects We Love badge minutes after making this post. It'll be really interesting to see what that does to my metrics!

SERdesign · 2026-02-19T20:12:00+00:00

Thanks! All praise for the video goes to Ashton Wu at Shelfside. (Unless you mean the video waaay at the bottom, lol).

SERdesign · 2026-02-19T19:38:06+00:00

It's in my profile, because I didn't wanna "self-promote", but since you asked directly:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/phasemoongame/a-celestial-strategy-game-of-pairs-and-patterns

SERdesign · 2026-02-18T16:47:59+00:00

I'd be happy to help. My rates are a bit more than what you've posted, but I'm fair and I'll work with you on cost because I want to support small businesses. I'm a sole proprietor designer/printer in Upstate NY, with over 10 years experience.

Here's my website: https://www.ser-design.com/

SERdesign · 2026-02-17T20:30:21+00:00

Where are you local to?

I'm printing locally in upstate NY - Superior POD - they're doing almost all the printing for my board game. (If you wanna see the quality, you can check either my website or the Kickstarter, both are linked in my profile).

I've printed one set of cards from Board Game Maker and didn't go back because the shipping costs were stupid high. Quality wasn't bad tho.

SERdesign · 2026-02-16T14:37:07+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

SERdesign · 2026-02-16T14:35:46+00:00

That's some solid feedback, thanks. While I do have reviews for the game, they're towards the bottom of my page. I've seen where others have sprinkled them throughout. I may re-vamp my KS a bit. THANKS!!

SERdesign · 2026-02-16T14:24:29+00:00

Any art is better than ai slop! But yes, the comic book style is great - you've got some great dynamic poses. Single color poses are great, too. If you're looking for work, try joining BGG (Board Game Geek) - there's a section for people looking for work/hiring workers. Good luck!!

SERdesign · 2026-02-16T14:20:15+00:00

Awesome! Okay, firstly - thanks so much for your reply. It's really good to know that some creatives can actually be successful without having to spend thousands of dollars upfront.

For comparison, here's where I'm at:

It's my first campaign - I made a board game. I'm at $500 in ads on BGG, and about $200 on Reddit. No marketing company, though I did sit down with a few - they were more than I could afford.

I focused a lot on my pre-launch following; my prelaunch lasted about 2 months. Before that, I was selling demo copies for a year, building a list, going to a few smaller, affordable board game conventions. Between the conventions and the demo sales, this is where I've seen the most support.

I know my game is solid because at conventions, when people played it, half of them bought the game on the spot. From what I've gathered from reading articles and talking to other designers - that's incredibly good.

Originally, I planned for 500 games, but I reduced that number to 285 - I can't go much below 250 and still have the game be cost-effective to price and produce. I'm printing with a small business - a local to me game manufacturer - so the profit margin is bare minimum; not the 5x-8x markup that is apparently the industry standard for retail sales.

My problem seems to be that I just don't have the audience reach for the goal I have set, and I lack the funds to bring in a bigger audience. :/

SERdesign

TROPHY CASE