First of all the ultimate digitalized custom dice with its six 3,9 cm x 3,9 cm displays allows plenty of artistic freedom for artists and designers to play with. Both traditionally and digitally produced artwork can fit into the 240px x 240px resolution, which is impressive for a small die that fits into your pocket. In effect, the adaptivity of digitalizing dice sets on a die opens up entirely new possibilities to both the custom dice and gaming world.
Tip 1: You can work with details on this custom dice
Don’t be fooled by the small size, the unidice can even display photo quality with ease. Iryna, a versatile game icon designer, can give you a first look into her first experience with the unidice.
Tip:
"FOR CREATING THE UNIDICE SKINS I WORKED WITH MUCH HIGHER RESOLUTION THAN I USUALLY SET FOR GAME ICONS, SO MUCH MORE ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS SHOULD BE PAID.""FOR EXAMPLE I PAID A LOT OF ATTENTION TO THE ARTIFICIAL GLOWING LIGHT FOR THE ARTIFICER DICE SET. MATERIALS, SHAPES, EVEN PARTICLES, EVERYTHING CAN CONVEY THE IDEA."
Tip 2: Don't worry about style: Just draw and make your own custom dice sets!
Aspiring unidice artists will certainly ask if there are styles more suited for a digital die than others. The answer might be a surprise to some people, but since the unidice is capable of quite a high resolution, in terms of style, there are no limits. The only limits set on you as an artist are decided by the task, as it is the case with every game art style. Let’s check out the first insights by these amazing, diverse artists.
A futuristic digital dice adapts to your folklore art
The first simple advice on work progress is given to us by Alice, a folklore, fairy tale inspired illustrator. She has created great artwork for dice game battles with armies fighting one another.
"DON'T OVERTHINK. EVERYTHING STARTS WITH A SKETCH. EVEN WITH DIGITAL CUSTOM DICE ART. AS FOR INSPIRATION: MUSIC INSPIRES ME. I'M A FAN OF FOLK MUSIC. BUT AS FOR DICE THEMES, CREATING SOMETHING ELSE - MAYBE SPACE RELATED - NEXT WOULD ALSO BE INTERESTING."
The dice matches scratchy styles with ease
"DEMONIC ROGUE WAS THE HARDEST CHALLENGE, FOR SURE. IT WAS THE FIRST SKIN I HAVE CREATED FOR UNIDICE. THIS SCRATCHY STYLE WAS MADE JUST BECAUSE I GOT THE TASK WRONG, BUT AS WE CAN SEE, THE MISTAKES GIVE BIRTH TO THE GREATEST THINGS."
"CURRENTLY I OPENED THE PIXEL ART STYLE FOR MYSELF, AND I AM REALLY PROUD OF THE RESULTS. ALSO MY PASSION IS CHALKBOARD STYLED IMAGES. IT WOULD BE GREAT TO CREATE SOME MORE SKINS, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THE UNIDICE TEAM IS SO FRIENDLY AND SUPPORTIVE."
A digital custom dice is fit for any type of abstract icon art
Ackygama is a 2-D game artist, who also enjoys drawing character & item art and creates professional environmental designs. As you can see, they approached the unidice from an abstract perspective and created a beautiful, iconic style for Dice Poker.
"I THINK ABSTRACT ART IS ABOUT SIMPLIFYING DETAILS AND COMBINING COLORS TO CREATE A SENSE OF HARMONY, NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR LARGE."
"FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS POSSIBLE TO DRAW SIX DIFFERENT IMAGES, BUT IN GENERAL THEY ARE STILL THE SAME. YOU WEAR BLUE PANTS, RED SHIRT, BLACK SHOES, PINK HAT... BUT IN GENERAL THEY ARE STILL THE SAME. BUT IF YOU WEAR JEANS, A T-SHIRT BUT A HELMET, CARRY A SWORD, THEN IT'S SOMETHING OUT OF SYNC.I WOULD BE SO EXCITED TO DRAW A NEW SET OF SKINS FOR THE UNIDICE! MAYBE A CUSTOM DIE WITH A FOOD THEME WITH DIFFERENT DISHES!"
A painterly brush style creates an immersive custom dice experience
Last but not least, let’s hear from Leonardo, a very versatile digital game artist, who creates everything from epic painterly illustrations, character ink art, brush style animations to simple game icons for unidice.
"I LIKE MAKING SKINS FOR THE UNIDICE SINCE THERE IS ABSOLUTE ARTISTIC FREEDOM. ALMOST ANYTHING THAT COMES TO MIND CAN BE TRANSLATED INTO A SKIN SO I REALLY LET MYSELF GO.IT’S THE KIND OF THING I DO WHEN I’M A LITTLE BURNED OUT BY OTHER MORE DEMANDING TASKS TO COOL OFF. I’D SAY THE MOST DIFFICULT ONE WAS THE FIRST I MADE BECAUSE I STILL HAD TO GET INTO THE RIGHT MINDSET."
Tip 3: Find a balanced harmony between dice digits and art
With a dice medium of course dice numbers also come to mind! Let’s see how our artists approach the challenge of creating art with numbers and their final advice for us!
"THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS MAKING SURE THE NUMBERS READ WELL SO IN THAT SENSE IT’S LIKE MAKING A COVER ART OR SOMETHING WITH A TITLE. IT’S BEEN RATHER CHALLENGING MAKING THE NUMBERS TOO. I’M NOT VERY FAMILIAR WITH TYPOGRAPHY AND FONTS BUT IT’S NICE TO TRY AND LEARN NEW THINGS."
"IT WAS AN ABSOLUTELY NEW EXPERIENCE, BECAUSE THE IMAGE IS IN DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL FORMAT AT THE SAME TIME, SO ARTISTS SHOULD KEEP THIS IN MIND TO DO THE IMAGE IN THE BEST WAY. ALSO IMAGES SHOULD WORK WITH THE DESIGN OF THE DEVICE. THE ART AND DIGITS SHOULD LOOK BOTH NICE BY THEMSELVES, IN COMBINATION AND ALSO WORK WITH THE DISPLAYS AS A WHOLE."
QUICK TIP: "CONCERNING NUMBERS FOR CUSTOM DICE SETS I'M THE LAZY TYPE. THEREFORE I USE THE QUICKEST WAY WHICH IS USING MATCHING TEXT FONTS AND LAYER THEM OVER THE IMAGE. ONE THING I ALWAYS LOOK OUT FOR IS THAT THE CONTRAST BETWEEN BACKGROUND AND DIGIT IS STRONG ENOUGH SO THE NUMBERS ARE DISCERNIBLE, SO I JUST DARKEN OR LIGHTEN UP THE BACKGROUND. THIS LITTLE TRICK MAKES THE NUMBERS POP MORE! AND IF I FEEL LIKE IT, I PUT ON 3D OR GLOW EFFECTS ON THE TEXT FONTS."
And here our artists final advice to aspiring unidice artists and the unidice community!
ONE SMALL UNIDICE FOR YOUR POCKET, A BIG STEP FOR THE ART&GAMING COMMUNITY!” (CYNTHIA)
“LET UNIDICE BE THE WAY TO EXPRESS YOUR PERSONALITY. IT CAN BE FUNNY, STRONG, CUTE…” (ACKYGAMA)
“I HOPE THE UNIDICE WILL BE LAUNCHED SOON AND BRING SUCCESS TO THE TEAM, BECAUSE THEY DESERVE IT!” (IRYNA)
“ENJOY LIFE!” (ALICE)
Extra Tips for Game Designers when unidicing Mobile & Board Games
"AS GAME DESIGNERS WE USUALLY COME FROM A FUNCTIONAL STANDPOINT. WHAT INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE CONVEYED TO THE PLAYER AND HOW CAN IT BE EASILY COMPREHENSIBLE, WHILE STILL CREATING A MOOD OR ATMOSPHERE. THE UNIDICE POSES AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE THERE, SINCE THE SPACE IS SMALL AND NEEDS TO BE READABLE EVEN UPSIDE DOWN OR AT ODD ANGLES."
"I HAVE PUT TOGETHER A CUSTOM DICE SKIN FOR THE BOARD GAME "HUMAN PUNISHMENT- THE BEGINNING" RECENTLY. SINCE I WANTED THE CUSTOM DICE ART TO MATCH THE BOARD GAME, I USED THE ALREADY EXISTING ART ASSETS."
"IT WAS QUITE INTERESTING TO WORK WITH THE FACT IT CAN SIMULATE UP TO SIX DICE. BUT WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU DON'T NEED ALL OF THE DIE SIDES? ISABELLA CAME UP WITH A GREAT SOLUTION FOR THAT. THE TOP DIE USUALLY REPRESENTS THE FIRST DIE, AND THE 4 SIDES THE 2ND DIE, WHILE THE BOTTOM DIE CAN BE THE THIRD DIE OR JUST BE OMITTED AND SO ON. SIMPLE BUT EFFICIENT."
HINT for non-artists who want to individualize their own custom dice
Another possibility to create your own digital custom dice art is the use of AI Generators. For those who have not heard of the recent hype: Some apps include AI image generators that create new art by combining images from various sources in a new way to generate new art. E.g. Midjourney offers the first 25 AI generated pictures for free. Other apps such as Motionleap generate images with watermarks included. Unidice game designer Isabella has already created some amazing AI pieces for the unidice herself!
But if you have something specific for your unique custom dice set in mind: Nothing can replace the touch of an actual artist. You can always reach out and commission one of the unidice artists who helped making this article happen and have already created amazing unidice art!