Hi supporters, gamers and backers :)

While our Kickstarter campaign is live (http://kck.st/1d2sRN6), I wanted to share the last of my posts about the illustrators that have been working with me. 

This time we're going to Germany, where Caner Inciucu is living with his wife and son. 
Caner has been on the project ever since the first pencil drawing was made for Burning Suns. So it's truly an great story to share with such a talented person. 

If you want to see the things Caner has done, make sure to check out his DeviantArt account > Redan23

Talent, precision and hard work
I've seen a lot of talented people through my years in the world of design, games and education. So the nature of talent isn't surprising me anymore (there's a lot out there), but the way the talent is used... And here Caner stands out among the crowd!

Caner doesn't just "rely" on his talent - he's a dedicated and hard working artist - that doesn't leave work half done! Caner want everything to be just perfect, and he'll be working on it until it's been achieved. A valuable trait in a freelancer. 
Many freelancers and up-and-coming artist could learn from him and the effort he puts into his work. 

Fit for details and epic stories
I must admit that I've been lucky with the illustrators I've chosen for my board game project. All of them have fitted into their role and task, and I've had the pleasure of being able to use their talent in so many ways. 

With Caner, the case was as clear as crystal! 
His sense for detail, depth and atmosphere in every drawing is a complete and perfect fit for a scope like Burning Suns. 
Atmosphere is everything - and Caner's illustrations brings those heroic and pivotal moments to life. 

Get inspired by Caner's drawing - by watching his videos on Youtube. 

An easy going and transparent process
Though I guess I'm also responsible for the nice tone and easy going vibe in our production of Burning Suns. It's undeniable that Caner is a very nice person to talk to - and very easy to be constructive with. 

Caner has a good understanding of what you want portrayed - and he's always making sure that you'll be able to follow the process as the illustration evolves from the first few strokes to a full size art piece. 

When handling these kind of long-distance projects where you can't just meet up. It's essential to be able to follow the process and catch up on errors right away. Caner makes this discipline a walk in the park from the very beginning. 

Commitment and friendship
I believe that I've established a great relationship with all of my freelancers, and that we would be able to work together for a long time to come. 

I've been so lucky to meet Caner during last years "SPIEL" in Essen. It was a really great and fun experience - and I hope I'll be able to do that again. Commitment and friendship can be strong tools when working with a freelancer.

I'll finish this post by giving Caner my highest recommendations!
If you need epic illustrations for your board or computer game - Caner is the man to go to! Raden23 on DeviantArt

Be sure to check out our Kickstarter campaign - and find more of Caner's and my other illustrator's great work: Burning Suns on Kickstarter

Best regards Emil Larsen, SunTzuGames

Hi again all of you board game creators, 

Today I wanted to share yet another one of my great illustrators with you :)
An illustrator I've been working with from the very beginning - and who keeps presenting wonderful artwork for all of us to enjoy in Burning Suns. 

Angelita Ramos is a freelance illustrator and author from the United States, who was hired on to the Burning Suns project over a year ago. 

Angelita has many years of experience with illustration, and has done a wide variety of work on both book covers, logos and fan art. 

- And now, she is also well rounded in the world of science fiction ;)

Communication is key
As a project manager and officer you don't have to remind me that communication is key to success, no matter the industry or profession you're working with, but to see results unfold in correspondence to communication has never been clearer to me - than when I started to work with Angelita. 

Angelita is kind and friendly to talk to and she always makes you feel good about your product wishes and ideas. She knows the importance of keeping a productive dialog with room for ideas, and she's not afraid of telling you if she has run into trouble, which makes it so much easier to sort out, before anyone has wasted precious time. 

Make sure to check out her splendid work on DeviantArt!

Ping Pong Feedback
While some illustrators like to run with the ball as soon as they gets it, Angelita likes to keep things in a very transparent progress continuously updating the status of her work - and asking for feedback. 
As the employer or project manager it's very reassuring to work with someone like Angelita, who never runs away from an idea or trashes your input. 



Angelita is also the architect behind SunTzuGames' logo - depicting the head and torso of a science fiction inspired samurai. 

Commitment and exploration
When you're working with illustrators over such a long time as I've done, you know that commitment is one of the most important factors for a successful outcome. 

I've had a great time exploring ideas with Angelita, and she is always ready to try out something different in order for us to achieve our goal. Angelita is always keeping it professional - with a friendly and positive attitude. 


I've never had the chance to read Angelita Ramos' book - Polar Bear Kisses, but if it's anything like her other work, people won't be disappointed!
(don't worry, it doesn't have anything to do with our friendly fellow on the left ;)

Strength in character and emotions
I was lucky to find Angelita when I needed my characters and aliens illustrated, and by now (or after reviewing more of Angelita Ramos' great work) I'm sure you know that Angelita's strength lies in characters. 

It doesn't matter whether we talk aliens, human or animals, Angelita knows how to make them "likable", "full of hatred", "fearsome" or "curious" - she has the spectrum of emotions in her power. 

It goes without saying that I can recommend Angelita Ramos all the way!
She is a trustworthy, professional and kind colleague to have on your projects, no matter the scope and time frame. 

Best regards Emil Larsen, SunTzuGames

Dear gamers and developers, 

I've put together yet another post where I talk about one of the illustrators I've been so fortunate to work with for the last many months. 

Tony Andreas Rudolph, also known as Zulusplitter when being creative with Photoshop, is a German artist currently working as a concept artist for Trixter in Munich. 
I was lucky to get him involved in Burning Suns when I had settled upon some of the more significant changes in the game. He turned out to be the perfect match for the many planets, alien worlds and asteroids I was in desperate need of at the time. 

Enjoy even more of Zulusplitter's work here: www.zulusplitter.de

Recommendations
Tony was actually recommended by one of my other illustrators, which is always a good sign! I waited to contact him until I had enough work for him, so that he actually got something out of choosing me as a client. Remember, the deal and proposal goes both ways ;)

Going to DeviantArt and searching for illustrators can be quite challenging, surely there are enough talented people there, but you need to consider the following things. 

• What style am I looking for? (sketches, full scenes, portraits etc.)
  
• How much work do I have for the person? 
  
• Can the illustrator do any other work on the side?
  
• How much does the illustrator earn now, what can you afford?
  
• Are the illustrator allowed to show the work done for you?
• Copyrights goes to who?
• How much experience does the illustrator have in this field of work? (e.g. game production)

Make sure to have the answers for these questions before hand (Read my other post about freelancers here)

It truly was a no-brainer when I got a recommendation from my illustrator which had been on the project from the very beginning. After a quick look at Tony's work - I knew I had to get him on the team :)

You can see Tony's cool illustrations here: http://zulusplitter.deviantart.com/

Locating the forces of an illustrator
It's easy to see where Tony's forces lies, when you look in his gallery - It's filled with nice landscapes, beautiful backgrounds and lots of scenery. 

But even so, I wasn't going to assign him anything before he had been let loose with a completely blank canvas. 
As with every illustrator that has ever working on my projects, I need to experience what drives them to the decisions in their work, in order for me to be able to give them the exact tasks for them. 

This is both to determine flow of work, amount of details in work descriptions, the drive in the person, imagination, and communication skills. 

Tony is certainly not in lack of any imagination or drive and as it turned out - he also knows how to create great sci-fi stuff like digital gadgets and ships! :) 

Working with Tony
Tony is an easy going guy who has been a great asset to the team. When Tony was added to the team as the last illustrator, the circle felt complete and Burning Suns has never looked this great. 

Tony has earned a permanent place in the team - and I hope to be able to work with Tony in many months to come. 

Like my other illustrators I can only give Tony my best recommendations - you won't be disappointed with his sense for scenery, environment and atmosphere! 

Emil Larsen, SunTzuGames

Good day all of you, 

Today I wanted to do a little promotion on behalf of one of my illustrators. 
I've worked with some of my illustrators for over a year now, and they have been key to the "x-factor" of Burning Suns. 

Every illustrator I've worked with will be mentioned in an article of their own. I really appreciate the work and effort they have put into the creation of Burning Suns, without them it would have been nothing more than game mechanics and pieces. 

To start it all... I'll be talking about Svenja Liv an illustrator and portrait artist from Ireland. 

A favorite for portraits
It didn't take long to realize that Svenja Liv was all about personality and portraits. Though Svenja had to get used to the "alien"-aspects of her characters, she surely knew how to make something feel alive and "likable".

Svenja is also good at adapting other people's illustrations into her own style in order to make posters and similar. This has been required several times on the Burning Suns project. 

No question her collection of portraits also speaks its own language. 
Check out her many illustrations on DeviantArt here: 
http://svenjaliv.deviantart.com/

Svenja has a weakness for painting her favorite characters - which we can all enjoy on her profile :)

Mysteries are there to be solved
If you go to Svenja own homepage > http://svenjaliv.com/ - You'll discover that she uses a lot of time on creating "how to" and similar articles, uncovering some of the mystery behind being a good artist. 

And if you find reading and writing novel material to be something for you - you might want to check out her other activities as well... as there's more than meets the eye to this illustrator ;)

And of course this equation wouldn't be complete if I didn't finish it off by saying that Svenja is great at doing covers for books, posters and similar work. It's just right up her alley!

Working with Svenja
I've found working with Svenja very easy and constructive. It usually doesn't take more than a few comments back and forth before Svenja has located ways to improve her drawings and giving them the x-factor. 

If you want to experience Svenja Liv before hiring her for a job, you should definitely go to her page on Facebook and drop her a line or two. 

In that regard Svenja got my warmest recommendations :) Especially if you need a portrait, magazine cover or poster done - she is the one to go to. 

Emil Larsen, SunTzuGames

Happy winter season to you fellow board game developers,

Today I want to share another angle on board game development with you. 
This time it's going to be about motivation and keeping your goal within sight.

I often find myself in a whirlwind of to-dos and problem solving related to my projects. Always having something on my mind and concerned about new obstacles ahead. 

In those moments it can be a relief to zoom out and have a look at my victories - celebrating them, giving me energy to push on :)

And I'm not necessarily talking about amount of sold games, or a certain Kickstarter stretch goal, I'm talking about all kind of goals and achievements throughout your development (big and small). Let me illustrate...

Goals on board game development
Set goals for yourself - goals that are within reach when you continue focusing on the development. Remember to cut big goals into smaller ones, and don't force yourself to think in major blockbuster goals...
Keep your goals essential to the development, examples could be..

• Finish the rule book.
  
• Find and hire a sculptor/3D artist for figures.
  
• Get X amount of views on your website or the game site on BGG. 
  
• Get your first play test with strangers going.
• Attend to a conference with your prototype. 

As a rule - use SMART goals when you write your goals down. 

• S = Specific
  
• M = Measurable
  
• A = Attainable
  
• R = Relevant
  
• T = Timely

PS: There are many variants of the "SMART goals", but the main focus is to make sure you can achieve them :)

Unforeseen victories
Here are some of my favorite victories - the unforeseen events. I'm talking about both minor and major goals you achieve through others, for example...

• A journalist includes one of your photos in an article about board games.
  
• An enthusiastic gamer nominates your game in a competition. 
  
• People favorite your prototype pictures. 
  
• People write and ask if they can get their hands on a copy now. 

I know goals of this size is hard to plan on and you shouldn't, it's not the point. This is the ones you should celebrate as they happen, and of course remind yourself of them all the time - these are the victories worth all the trouble :) 

Private and professional goals
I would always recommend you to have both private and professional goals, specially because you won't always be given the opportunity to only focus on 1-2 goals, so having a few more goals spread out on your various activities will help you move forward and feel the momentum. This could be goals as...

• Completing some kind of race/sport.
  
• Finish your board game table setup in your guest room (incl. a bar ;)
  
• A promotion at your primary work (I'm assuming you can't live of board game development just yet - but if you can, awesome!).
• Get a monthly board game evening going with your friends.

Remember to have some kind of reward written down, that you'll grant yourself if you reach these goals. I have small rewards for each achievement (e.g. buying a new board game, a book on Crowd funding or similar).

Collect them all - and remind yourself!
I can't stress enough how important it is to celebrate these victories, and therefore to collect them - so you can remind yourself of why you're doing this. 
I usually take screenshots of the happenings, download articles or in other ways save the achievements on my computer in a designated folder. 

Once in a while - I have to visit this folder, to get a boost for the next few hours of rule book writing or unit stat changing. 
Maybe this idea can also help you? :) ..... Happy gaming!