What Is Roleplay? - What is Roleplay #11 – Design with Guilherme Gontijo

Welcome to Episode 11 of ‘What Is Roleplay?! This episode we are joined by Guilherme Gontijo to discuss Design

How design is very similar across the board, and how the differences often just come down to execution?
Why does design matter?
- It is more than just style or a taste aesthetic
- Design is more about translating ideas on the abstract plane into visuals
- Good design helps roleplay games (RPG) creators to communicate the ideas, mood and feel of a game visually
- You can fit a whole lot of fun into a small amount of space with good design
The DIY ethos and how the punk spirit has influenced the Indie RPG scene
Funding the beauty in both minimalist as well as heavily illustrated RPGs such as MÖRK BORG
The major importance of remaining faithful to ideas – starting at the essence of the idea and allowing it to inform the design. Making an alliance with the idea and not allowing outside influences to change it & allowing open ended questions to remain.
Italian ‘Giallo‘ horror movies and their influence on Gontijo’s game Blurred Lines
Listen as CM Lowry & Gontijo live design a new game where monks fall into temptation to one of the seven deadly sins and end up in a sepia hell where everyone is in perpetual motion. The working title? ‘No Rest for the Wicked!’

Links to things we discussed:

Games:

Books, Authors & Publishers:

More about Guilherme

More about Us

With music generously provided by: Powerplant & Imploders.