High quality product images are not a luxury item for your design. I think this is part of a chronic failure on the part of indie designers to see the post-launch life cycle of their design. While, yes, GPD often spins up a new game and then spits it out to the cold cruel world unfostered, the games where we have invested substantial time and money see more tender treatment. Sometimes a design just needs to be born and manifested for the designer to feel they have done their due, that the idea is crystallized and out of their headspace, freeing up creative attention for greener pastures. But, if your intent is for your creation to have legs, to stick longer than a month or to see it self in need of a reprint, you should be spending as much time on it’s post-launch presentation as possible.

While there are many more actions to take to keep a product healthy and vibrant in the hobby community, one basic need that should be recognized is high quality images.

You’ve invested effort and resource into making a high quality item. Why are you letting it be represented via phonecam snaps? Doesn’t that do a disservice to your time? Phonecam shots are great and welcome when they are fans, in the wild, sharing their love of your product, but if that is how you are presenting yourself in an online sales environment you are missing a critical point of hobby games salesmanship. There is a large component of gamebuyer psyche that is tied up in the tactile nature of the hobby. We want to feel the cards, inspect the minis and flip through the glossy manuals. This is one of the reasons that your at-show sales will be strong. It is not just the live demonstration of your product that entices customers, it is the tangible recognition of the “thingness” that handling a product brings. It is an advantage analog games have over video games; stress it. Huge portions of design budgets are poured (or should be) into art assets; share it.

But, since we don’t have haptic VR, yet, high resolution images (and video) are the next best solution. As with an absurd amount of freelance work your personal network of resources often holds the solution. For our Pack the Pack product shots we use a former schoolmate Russ Heller (www.russhellerphoto.com) who has spent the past forever doing item photography; and doing it extremely well. We advise you find a similar individual (or call Russ) and get a respectable representation of the thing you poured your heart into. Your Amazon sales will thank you.