Interview with Ariel Seoane, board game artist
Posted by Michael Mindes on September 25, 2011
Prior to this interview with Ariel and working with him on Homesteaders, all I knew about him is that he lives in Uruguay and was recommended by my Tasty Minstrel Games co-conspirator Seth Jaffee.
Ariel: For as long as I can remember I loved drawing. I’ve been doing graphic design related stuff since I was fourteen or fifteen years old. Student’s Union publications, computing fanzines, underground magazines, one small paid job every now and then. I wanted to be a fine artist, and graphic design was something that came naturally and I enjoyed doing.
When I was nineteen I begun studying graphic design with Marcos Larghero, one of the “big names” in the field in Uruguay. Back then you had to learn the trade by working with more experienced people willing to help you, reading books, and experimenting: there were no college or formal school where you could study graphic design. The more I learned the more I liked doing graphic design, until one day I realized that was what I wanted to do in life as much if not more than fine arts. I begun working full time as a graphic designer in 1992, a month before turning 22, and the next year I established my own studio at home.
In1994 a private university asked me to develop the country’s first “Computing for Graphic Design” course and textbook. The next year I wrote a book on the same subject, which was selected as recommended reading by the Latin American Graphic Industry Confederation, and begun giving lectures and courses on digital prepress for the Printers Guild of Uruguay. A couple years later I was called by another private university to design the Digital Prepress syllabus for their Graphic Design course.
But I never ceased doing freelance graphic design, and I’m proud to say I still work for some of my clients from those times; you grow strong working bonds through the years just like you grow friendships.
Ariel: The best has to be being able to set your own working hours, and spending lots of time with the family, even if you have a ton of work. The main reason for going the freelance route was my daughter, born in May 1993: I wanted to be there for her as she grew up. My wife works at home too, so we get to spend all day together. We can go out for lunch, we can watch a movie or go shopping or take the day off if we want. That is great.
The downside is that you cannot always clock out by 5pm or whatever. A client will call you on a Friday afternoon to tell you about a job he forgot he needed at the printer by Monday morning. You end up thinking about weekends as the couple days you can spend working with no client phone calls interrupting you, instead of the couple days you spend not working.
But when I do the balance, the advantages far outnumber the downsides, so after sixteen years of being self-employed, I have no regrets.
Michael: Despite your vast experience and interest in games, this is you first paid game project. What is your favorite project that you have worked on and why?
Ariel: Ah, but this is not my first paid game project! In 2007 I won the World Bank Institute contest for the design of a board game about Street Addressing, and I not only did the game design for I Need a Sign, but the art too.
I guess that and Homesteaders have been my two favorite.
I Need A Sign had very specific requests, both for the game itself and the art, because it was intended to be played by people not familiar with modern board games from Third World countries. Things had to be simple and iconic, generic enough to work both in Africa and Latin America and possibly Asia, but at the same time representative of how small cities are in these places, and presenting the challenges these cities pose for street addressing. The game and the art were developed at unison, which made the project challenging and enjoyable.
Homesteaders involved a lot of detailed illustration, which was a real pleasure to do. It also has much more complex mechanics and a lot of info involved, and that is always an interesting graphic design challenge. I’m a huge fan of mid 1800s imagery and graphic design, so re-creating the feel of that era for the game components was a joy.
Ariel: There are many good game artists around, and many that sometimes do really good game art, and sometimes not so much. Franz Vohwinkel is the first that comes to my mind, probably because I love Tikal as much as I like his work. Craig Grando has some amazing game art, and his balance of beautiful art and clean, functional design is something I truly admire. If I were to pick just one game artist that would probably be him. I love Mike Doyle’s art for the Brazilian edition of Modern Art, even if on many of his works he goes a bit overboard for my taste.
Michael: When did you realize you were working on a mega hit with Homesteaders?
Ariel: Right now. I had no idea! LOL
Seriously, though, I had heard about the game before I got the job, but other than trusting Seth Jaffee’s opinion a lot, I had no idea about how good the game was. Once I was hired to do the game art, built a prototype and played the game, I begun thinking this could be a mega hit. Once I saw my finished art, I was fully convinced.
Ariel: Can I say the art? About the game, one thing I love is how there seems to be room for the players to use different approaches. There are many options and paths you can take to get the resources you need, so it is not always easy to tell what is the best strategy or who is doing better. Another thing I like about the game is that it is not hard to learn the rules, but it is hard to master the game. I like that in a game.
Michael: How much has the Internet helped your business? Do you view living in Uruguay as a competitive advantage to other artists? I am unfamiliar with the relative cost of things in Uruguay.
Ariel: The Internet plays an obvious key role in my business. Not only to be able to work from Uruguay for overseas clients, but for local clients too. I only get to see many of my local clients every few months, just because email is much more practical when it comes to show sketches or send texts and pictures in and out.
Living in Uruguay has been great for my formation as a graphic artist. Being a small country and a small market, you get to know the best colleagues and providers on a personal basis, and you learn a lot in the process. Graphic designers here also work on a wider spectrum than they do in larger markets, where you tend to specialize in a specific filed of work. I do logotypes, advertising, brochures, magazines, books, movie posters and web design on a regular basis. That forces you to be constantly learning new stuff and helps a lot when you need to tackle a new project with new challenges.
I am not sure how living in Uruguay makes things easier or harder, I guess it plays a bit both ways. Some people would rather work with an artist they can easily meet face to face, but my experience shows me the only thing that really matters in the end is doing a good and professional job.
On the strictly financial side of things, being in Uruguay might be a small advantage. Not that cost of life is so much lower here (some things are less expensive here, some others are not), but income tends to be lower, which means that the income of a very well paid graphic designer here (which fortunately I am) is comparable to the regular rates in Europe or the USA.
Michael: How awesome is Tasty Minstrel Games? Would you like to work with them again in the future? Would they get a discount for being so awesome?
Ariel: Totally awesome! I have been friends with Seth for several years on Board Game Designers Forum, we’ve helped each other with our game designs, and we even shared a ride from New York City to Albany (Troy, to be precise) and back. And although I haven’t met Michael face to face, it’s always been a pleasure working with him too. For a commission job, the degree of creative freedom I had for Homesteaders was quite high. I honestly wish all my clients were as awesome as Tasty Minstrel Games, and I hope Homesteaders is just the first in a long list of games we will do together. They will always get an awesomeness discount.
Michael: As a graphic designer and a game designer do you have any advice for people who may be looking to provide artwork or game designs to publishers?
Ariel: For the artists, I would say to be ready to work two or three times as much as they expect when they are first presented with a project. For some mysterious reason, that is what happens to me every time, and from what I’ve talked with other artists, there seems to be a trend. But it is a really cool job, so I guess it’s ok. Also, don’t forget what it is all about: people playing a board game. It’s not about us showing how talented we are as artists, it’s not about just making the game look cool; our main role is making the game playing experience more enjoyable and creating components that are mechanically fit for the game. Pretty is fine, but not enough.
For the game designers, I cannot stress enough how important a well written rulebook is. Prototypes for submission to publishers don’t need finished art, but that doesn’t mean a prototype cannot benefit from good graphic design. Just like selecting the right wording for the rules is important, selecting the right visual elements for communication (colors, shapes, font face and size, etc.) can make a difference. It’s not so much that a bad game with good graphics will be published, as a great game with bad graphics being turned down because the bad art gets in the middle and hides the good game behind it.
