More Shruman Cards and A Free Fungi Movie

Shruman Card Game Update

The game testing continues with the Shrumans card game and lucky for me, I have many with friends who are well-versed tabletop gamers! Here is a look at some of the new Shrumans being added as well as a first look at the Action Cards!

I am starting with line drawings with some simple color slapped on. This month I anticipate rendering the details for as many as I can manage!

The more Shrumans I draw, the harder it is to find unique poses and expressions. It's a fun challenge to have, but honestly some real-life mushrooms have fully-formed personalities.

This game has 3 Action cards so far with common card game moves that have a fungi flare. I am working on a 4th one that would add more strategical interest. I am open to feedback!

Other Fun-gi Things

There is a pay-what-you-can screening of Fungi: Web of Life at Iowa City's Film Scene this month, March 25. It will be playing at different movie theaters nationally and internationally. A list of showings can be found here, but not all cities are listed. See if they are playing at a city near you!

One great way to support Shrumans is through buying prints and stationery! Here are my store links! 

ONE BOOK, TWO BOOK FESTIVAL FEB 22-23

ONE BOOK, TWO BOOK FESTIVAL FEB 22-23

“Three Wooden Dinosaur” by cottonbro studio

Iowa City has a children's book festival! I have not attended before, but the Schedule of Events looks super fun and catered towards kids, as it should be. I will have a booth at the Book Fair portion on February 22 from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. With me will be a display of several book cover mock-ups as well as various Shruman merch including stickers and stationery.

Shruman Card Game Update

So far, I have a basic concept for the card design that displays the artwork prominently. It will show the corresponding mushroom common name and scientific name at the bottom. The colors relate to the "utility" of a mushroom: edible, inedible, medicinal, toxic, and so forth. Sets can be built based on utility (color) or variety, which are major appearance-based categorieses like gilled, puffball, bolete, and coral fungi. 

I have about 30 new Shrumans to illustrate and a main "action" card that will end the game when overturned. In all, there will be about 50 Shrumans! There is no shortage of fungal varieties and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about these crazy buggers.

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Above are the Shrumans I have so far! Most of these will make it into the final card art. 

Fungi Inspiration

In anticipation of the new Shrumans I am designing, here are a few images of some amazing fungi that will make an appearance!

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What businesss does this mushroom have looking like an hors d'oeuvre? A spiky and tasty puffball, Calvatia sculpta.

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Majestic. Purple. The vibrant coral fungi, Clavaria zollingeri.

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We don't need to go to mars, we just need more stinkhorns. The stinky Clathrus archeri.

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A colorful and delightfully pudgy bolete that is also toxic. The red-pored Rubroboletus satanas.

Image by user Ron Pastorino (Ronpast) at Mushroom Observer.

Discount Prints

My print store with INPRNT has my vintage-style Shruman poster along with more of my illustrations. Right now, they have an up-to 40% site-wide discount happening!

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New Year, New Projects

I have two major self-directed projects year! The first is a card game for my Shrumans and the second is a series called Spindleroot.

The card game will be a casual dedicated deck with light strategy and fun for all ages. There will be mushrooms galore with categories like medicinal, edible, and poisonous that will educate on the sheer variety of fungal species! I start with designing the game play and then illustrate the full deck of cards. Once the art assets are in place, there is sure to be a crowdfunding campaign (most likely Kickstarter) to help with the manufacturing costs of the finished card game.

Spindleroot is the series name for a project I am developing featuring a magical world inhabited by animal characters. For the time being, it includes artwork that is set in the same universe, but there are plans to include other forms of media. I am gradually building Spindleroot with each piece and look forward to sharing the unfolding narrative.

Speaking of Spindleroot, I finished one more illustration in the series this month titled "Beware the Wyrm". Enjoy a few of the progress images below.

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Project Support

To fit all these epic illustration projects into my schedule, I need to reduce my typical freelance load. This leaves me a little short on funds, so that's where having more passive income really helps. This can include things like print sales and other items in my shop. Here are all the ways to help:

1. Share My Art Online

   • Send links to your friends to my website or print shop or repost my art on social media. Please remember to put my name in the post ( "art by Candice Broersma") for proper crediting. It’s easy to forget, but important to do whenever you post artist’s work online

2. Subscribe to my Newsletter

   • It’s free and comes just once a month except for special event announcements

3. Follow and "Like" Me on Social Media

   • You know the shpeel. More activity is attractive to the finicky algorithms, which will in turn boost my visibility

4. Buy My Prints, Stationery, etc.

   • From my website store and print shop

5. Donate Directly

   • Any little bit helps! Donation link here

Links to Socials

Art Store Launched and Ready

With the gradual decline of Etsy and privacy issues with both Shopify and Etsy, I have resolved to use the integrated Squarespace store feature. So far it has been working great! I am still needing feedback, so email me if you come across any issues with the interface. Use code "MUSHLOVE" for a 25% discount on orders of $20 and up!

Some new items you can find in my store are these tiny originals inspired by Spirited Away. Catch them at my store sale or see them in-person at my November and December events!

November and December Events

I have in-person events happening in Iowa City! The December 14 Holiday Market is happening regardless, but I am on the waitlist. I wanted to get the date out there and will update everyone as soon as I get word of my vendor status!

Typography Basics for Illustrated Book Covers: Content

Last time, we looked at how genre informed book cover typography. For this installment, we are going to look at a novel’s content: story, mood, and theme. How can we use the content itself to hone in on typography decisions?

Great content to use for a book cover includes that which:

1. Aligns with the genre

2. Provides an element unique to the book

3. Is visually appealing/attention-grabbing

4. Plays a major role in the plot

We have a range of options available to us within the content of a novel and some of it can represent the novel well, but may not work as a cover. You can narrow down content by considering how it aligns with the points above. 

The best way to explain how content informs typography is to look at a few of my book covers and explain the process. Keep in mind that I start out with a much more extensive content list when I first read a book. I will go over the boiled-down content that makes it to the final cover. Let's check it out!

Worlds Apart

Content: outer space, aliens, alien cities, space ships, pre-teen suburban characters, middle school 
Mood: adventure, suspense, drama, wonder, loyalty, resilience
Themes: friendship, relationships, self-discovery, science and technology

Worlds Apartrequired a clean, minimal look to the text that is ideal for the sci fi genre. The wide, short characters of this particular font, "Excluded", strongly suggests fonts of popular sci fi adventure IPs like Star Wars. The content of the novel that could inform the typography needed to be subtle, so I went with creating a material effect on the letters. In this case, I made the letters look like neon tubing. It's bright, screams "sci fi", and makes direct reference to the content of the novel. The protagonist spends most of her time in a dense futuristic city on an alien planet, which is filled with neon signs. This concept will carry through each book in the series, with the title font staying the same, but changing material to reflect new alien worlds. 

Buddy the Knight and the Queen of Sorrow

Content: stuffed animal characters, fairytale-like lands (dark castle), medieval objects and archetypes (swords, amulets, wizards)
Mood: classic, nostalgic, epic, adventure, suspense
Themes: friendship, courage, teamwork

Buddy reads like a classic fairytale about a brave knight and makes many mentions of chivalry and knighthood. This was a primary focus for the font and motif elements. The choice of using a decorative border motif, especially in gold, makes a direct reference to the beautiful gold foil on vintage books, including illustrated storybooks that often have a series of "vignettes" on the cover with scenes or characters. This partnered with the medieval feel of the serif font ("Yana") brings together the themes and mood of the novel. Delicate swashes, like the swoopy on the "W" fill out the negative space in the composition and adds a little extra decoration that you see in font choices for fairytale book covers. Also note the banner elements for the author name and in the title, which suggests heraldic flags. The content of the novel makes a more direct appearance in the border motif with the inclusion of the owl, which is one of the important stuffed animal characters. 

Princess Rouran and the Dragon Chariot of 10,0000 Sages
 

Content: Chinese mythological creatures (dragon Qiu niu), magic door, Chinese zither, Rouran Khaganate
Mood: philosophical, surreal, mystery, adventure, epic
Themes: time-travel, society and culture, teamwork, historic events, mythology

Princess Rouran is a YA novel with some relatively sophisticated topics, so I went with a delicate approach to incorporating the content of the novel into the typography. I used Trajan Pro 3 for the title, which is a great go-to for YA and adult fantasy. It has a scholarly feel that compliments the historical elements of the novel. I was able to add visual interest by using line-based decorative motifs that I found in pictures of ancient Chinese and Mongolian artifacts. The door knob features a more authentic motif to the Rouran Khaganate (a major setting), while the line motifs on the top and bottom are designs that can technically be found in the same region albeit at a later time period. The motifs bring in a cultural element while the clouds shapes suggest fantasy and mythology. An inner swoosh to the "O" in "Rouran" mimics the horn-like shapes in the motifs and is a small way to add whimsy to the minimal font.

New Canvas Prints

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I have a new product that is truly the bee's knees. This is the first stretched canvas print that I've ordered and added to my Etsy store. It's signed and ready to hang without the need for a frame or plexiglass! Could a more perfect gift exist for your mushroom-loving friends?

Stock image at top designed by Freepik