Con-Quest Sign Up Sheet Creation

Sign up sheets have always been something I’ve done in a fairly singular way. Different one for each game, relevant fonts, catchy colour scheme, eye for getting the information out, tags of the key bits… so with a ton to print for Con-Quest it came as a bit of a challenge to think of something that would be suitable for all the eclectic games we’ve got. Essentially all the important info had to be there and ideally it’d be elegant.

So what have I done? There’s some pictures, but the camera lies.

Its not perfect, already I’ve got stuff I want to change, but here’s the key points:

• They’re branded, subtly with the banner type logo at the top. Bit fancier than plain text, but we’ve not gone crazy.

• The design I used shaded the backdrop for the game title and some other important “headers”. Note though, that what actually catches the eye first is the game system, as its not shaded and in the top third, lightly bordered. Anyone scanning the many sheets on display should be able to pick out a system they want to play at from a distance, and go in for a closer look at games of interest.

• The slot and time is loud and proud. No confusion about whether its the right slot or not, and the time as well as the slot is on there.

• I’ve pre-allocated tables so people know where to go if they miss the original shout out.

• There’s a tag line for a quick précis of what the game’s about – if the GM has provided one.

• Big-ass space for people to write their names in. There can often be too much fannying about with scribbling and crossed out names, or spaces too tiny to hand write in – so a good section of the page is dedicated to this crucial activity of getting signed up (that’s the whole point after all), with space for optimistic reserves.

• I’ve gone for a light pastel coloured paper because its easier on the eye, suits the logo and makes things look a little less cheap than plain white.

So it looks dead simple and easy, but I’ve actually thought about it. I’d probably add shading to the “Reserve” boxes to make it more obvious that those places aren’t guaranteed slots, probably lightly box the mid level info and maybe advertise the GM a little better… but that’s all stuff I can mess with after we’ve thought about it a bit more and see how people get on at the Con itself. Which is tomorrow. Gulp.

So I should really be sorting things out rather than messing about with my first blog post in months. Talk about procrastination…

Gaz

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