I've been thinking a lot about instinct it as relates to creating art/games/etc. I believe that board game designers could strengthen their design skills by honing their artistic instincts. But I'm concerned that this sounds like I'm advocating for designers to be better visual artists. While that wouldn't be at all terrible, it is in no way what I am saying. So, what do I mean?
I define skill as the ability to make something that is good (i.e. well executed). Skill is learned over time, usually through practice. Of course, skill can develop faster with instruction and mentorship. The more you design deck builders, the better you should be at designing deck builders, assuming you are capable of improving. The higher your skill, the quicker you should be able to iterate toward a playable game. The other aspect to skill development is that you have to learn each aspect of a skill, as skills tend to not be intuitive but something that must be taught/discovered thru trial and error.
In addition to skill and instinct, which I'll get to, there is also taste. Taste is knowing whether something is good or bad when you see it. Supposedly, you develop taste before you develop skill. Taste develops fairly quickly, usually by exposing yourself to the 'best of' in a given genre. Taste is fairly intuitive, but also subjective.
Instinct is knowing whether something will be good before you see it. If you can look ahead, make educated guesses, and avoid the least likely paths to success, you can save time when developing game. Instinct can develop alongside skill: you know something won't work because you've tried it before. Or instinct can develop alongside taste: you think something will be good because it feels on par with other good ideas you're familiar with. Sometimes the source of your instincts can be elusive, but that doesn't mean they can't be developed. Instinct is informed intuition. You don't have to learn every aspect of a subject to develop good instincts.
Why does this distinction matter? When I say board game designers should develop their artistic instincts, I mean separate and apart from artistic skills. Game designers don't need to know how to draw in order to design good games. Drawing, painting, graphic design, etc. are skills that can be taught/developed. Having good artistic instincts can absolutely make you a better artist, but you do not have to be an artist to have artistic instincts. For instance, I am not good at graphic design. I can muddle my way to mediocrity for prototyping purposes, but I'm slow to get there. I don't know the shortcuts or the rules of composure that a good graphic designer would know. In other words, if I were self-publishing, that is something I would need to outsource. However, using my sense of good artistry, I can still make fairly eye-catching and intuitive prototypes. I still have a lot to learn about icon placement, readability, and so on. Those things have to be learned granularly. But my artistic instincts lead me toward clarity and consistency, because everything I have ever learned about design points me in that direction.
There is quite a bit of overlap and nuance here. Skill and instinct are not always discernible from one another. And I'm not sure of the best way to develop artistic instincts. After all, I've had seven years of higher education and eight years working in the arts, which I don't expect other game designers to pursue. What I find about developing instincts, however, is that once you are alive to certain concepts, instincts will often start to develop on their own as you continue to notice the nuances of how elements fit together for different effects. Which is why I think that just talking about visual design principles could go a long way toward remedying the apparent lack of artistic instinct among board game designers.
I define skill as the ability to make something that is good (i.e. well executed). Skill is learned over time, usually through practice. Of course, skill can develop faster with instruction and mentorship. The more you design deck builders, the better you should be at designing deck builders, assuming you are capable of improving. The higher your skill, the quicker you should be able to iterate toward a playable game. The other aspect to skill development is that you have to learn each aspect of a skill, as skills tend to not be intuitive but something that must be taught/discovered thru trial and error.
In addition to skill and instinct, which I'll get to, there is also taste. Taste is knowing whether something is good or bad when you see it. Supposedly, you develop taste before you develop skill. Taste develops fairly quickly, usually by exposing yourself to the 'best of' in a given genre. Taste is fairly intuitive, but also subjective.
Instinct is knowing whether something will be good before you see it. If you can look ahead, make educated guesses, and avoid the least likely paths to success, you can save time when developing game. Instinct can develop alongside skill: you know something won't work because you've tried it before. Or instinct can develop alongside taste: you think something will be good because it feels on par with other good ideas you're familiar with. Sometimes the source of your instincts can be elusive, but that doesn't mean they can't be developed. Instinct is informed intuition. You don't have to learn every aspect of a subject to develop good instincts.
Why does this distinction matter? When I say board game designers should develop their artistic instincts, I mean separate and apart from artistic skills. Game designers don't need to know how to draw in order to design good games. Drawing, painting, graphic design, etc. are skills that can be taught/developed. Having good artistic instincts can absolutely make you a better artist, but you do not have to be an artist to have artistic instincts. For instance, I am not good at graphic design. I can muddle my way to mediocrity for prototyping purposes, but I'm slow to get there. I don't know the shortcuts or the rules of composure that a good graphic designer would know. In other words, if I were self-publishing, that is something I would need to outsource. However, using my sense of good artistry, I can still make fairly eye-catching and intuitive prototypes. I still have a lot to learn about icon placement, readability, and so on. Those things have to be learned granularly. But my artistic instincts lead me toward clarity and consistency, because everything I have ever learned about design points me in that direction.
There is quite a bit of overlap and nuance here. Skill and instinct are not always discernible from one another. And I'm not sure of the best way to develop artistic instincts. After all, I've had seven years of higher education and eight years working in the arts, which I don't expect other game designers to pursue. What I find about developing instincts, however, is that once you are alive to certain concepts, instincts will often start to develop on their own as you continue to notice the nuances of how elements fit together for different effects. Which is why I think that just talking about visual design principles could go a long way toward remedying the apparent lack of artistic instinct among board game designers.
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