Design for games & stories

Like the entire team at MCG, I care deeply about product excellence and care for humans: story, dignity, community.

I’m also a career designer with roots in visual and information design.

GRAPHIC DESIGN
20 years of graphic design: design education, teaching undergrad courses, print & prepress work.

🖌️

PRODUCT DESIGN
12 years in product design: structured data, information architecture, motion & interaction, intuitive digital tools.

📐

UX/UI FOR GAMES
6 years in the games industry lends a deep understanding of how mechanics connect to player experience & narrative.

🕹️

… AND A TRUE FAN ✨
10 years as an MCG player, GM, community member, and contributing writer for The Essence of Invisible Sun.

🫶🏼

Download Résumé

One Shot Network

One Shot publishes beautiful books to extend the worlds of its stories and connect more deeply with its fans.

James D’Amato and the cast of One Shot Network produce incredible (and beloved) improvisational theater.

I’ve been honored to design and produce several books for One Shot Kickstarter projects.

print design, art direction

Skyjacks Lyric Book

Skyjacks is equal parts swashbuckling adventure and heartfelt drama, with a sprinkling of mysticism and magic throughout. It’s both raucous and, in moments, tender.

The Skyjacks Lyric Book (16pp, accompanying a vinyl soundtrack album) explores the world’s haunting and melancholy undertones. Typography is a focus here — visually capturing the rhythm of Arne Parrott’s lyrics and song structures.

Illustrations: Justin Lanjil

Title page and back cover, "Campaign Skyjacks Lyric Book." A steampunk airship crests art-nouveau waves on the front cover. All is rendered in deep blues and scintillating gold.

A two-page lyrics spread for a song called "Skyjacks". On the left page, a full-bleed image of a white bird with the sun in its beak, flames and wind trailing behind. On the right page, a flying ship sails through the air in the bird’s wake. Smaller

A two-page lyrics spread for songs called "Way Hey Ho," "Toast the Axel," and “Ring the Bell”. An illustration spanning the pages shows two sailors in a sunny sky pulling on ropes.

A Woman with Hollow Eyes backer books

Seasons 1 and 2 of this Invisible Sun Actual Play follow the adventures of characters who suddenly find themselves in a world of swirling surreal magic — these are stories about identity and introspection in the face of terrible truths, but also stories about wonder and growth.

Backer Book volumes 1 and 2 (24 and 32pp) publish fan-submitted fictional elements, some of which were included in the live broadcasts. I art directed volume 2 and designed both books.

Volume 1 lead artist: Sara Kipin. Volume 2 illustrations: Kendra Hinojosa.

A cover reading "A Woman with Hollow Eyes, vol. 1". Looks like an antiquarian book with a red leather cover and art nouveau embossing. Drawn characters inset are coming to life and breaking frame, including a man in a trench coat with an arcane symbo

The title page for "A Woman with Hollow Eyes, volume 1." The title is treated in gold inlay with art nouveau typography, and the spread looks like a photograph of pages in an old book.

A two-page spread with pages labeled “Incantations" and "Ephemera Objects". Hand-drawn illustrations fill the margins of what looks like an old book: a scared man wearing a pink blindfold; ghostly hands reaching for the flame of a candle.

Structured data for print design

These books began life as a spreadsheet — structured Kickstarter data including backer name, optional contact information, and information about their submission to the codex. I created a Data Merge workflow in InDesign (paired with Paragraph and Character styles) to ensure accuracy and consistency in the layout.

James D’Amato
Founder of One Shot

“Simply put, once a project is in Jason’s hands, I don’t have to worry about it until it’s done for me to sign off on final approval… Jason is one of the most skilled and reliable people I work with … a talented graphic designer, communicator, and he really understands games.”

Photo of James D’Amato, a smiling young man with dark hair, square glasses, and a ringed t-shirt. He holds a large teal 20-sided-die to the camera.

graphic design, art direction, product design, community, narrative

The Crepuscule Notion

What started as a wiki-slash-literary-magazine for the surreal socialite set… grew into a livestreamed Invisible Sun Actual Play hosted by Monte Cook Games, with a followup event at Gen Con.

The Crepuscule Notion allowed fans to upload wiki-style articles about the people, places, and things discovered in their home TTRPG games, so other players could draw inspiration from and fold them into their own stories.

“The Truth Bleeds at Twilight” was an 8-part Twitch series set in the offices of a tabloid newspaper office in the world of Invisible Sun. Design artifacts included press passes, flyers, dynamic OBS layouts for the stream, and art direction for portraiture.

I designed the highly-modular visual identity to work well in print and digital contexts, a bold and graphic design meant to reflect the audacious personality of the tabloid.

Co-produced by Ian Smith.
Character portraits: Kendra Hinojosa.

Character card for "Seru", a man with a flat cap whose face and hand are turning to glass. He holds a magical glowing weapon in his hand and looks prepared to punch a foe with it.

Character card for "Bismuth", a femme-looking person with a bowler cap. Her light-brown skin and dark hair has iridescent patches shining through it. She casts a sideways glance.

Character card for "Jacobi JJ Jisenji", a masculine figure whole pale skin contrasts, with long brown hair. A small ghostly lizard sits on his shoulder. He casts a wary glance to the left.

Character card for "Drummel", an enthusiastic-looking masculine figure with a bushy mustache, swept-back hair, and a bow tie. A shadowy image of Meldrum (who looks very similar to Drummel) is visible in the background.

Character card for "The Editor", a hunched figure in a top hat, looking away from the camera, with a mysterious symbol emblazoned on his coat. He holds a cartoon version of the martini from The Secret Cellar.

writing, community

The Essence of Invisible Sun

As an active community member for Invisible Sun, I was contracted by Monte Cook Games to contribute an 800-word essay for The Essence of Invisible Sun, a 74-page retrospective book filled with writing and artwork reflecting on this beloved game of surreal magic.

My essay, “The Shadowlight Wails a Welcome (Level 9, Indigo)” was loosely structured in the form of an Incantation, a setting-appropriate, one-time-use spell calling on the Truth-affirming power of the Indigo Sun to unify a group of adepts under a common cause. (More practically, I discussed the aspects of Invisible Sun’s setting and mechanics that make it uniquely suited to inspire collaborative creation and community among the game’s players.)

I was honored to have my words included alongside the game’s designers as well as respected creatives including Ajit George and Susan J. Morris.

Cover art: Jason Engle.
Book design: Monte Cook Games.

Table of Contents for The Essence of Invisible Sun, including Jason’s essay.

graphic design, community, narrative

The Secret Cellar

Why (and how) are humans telling stories today? With this question top-of-mind, I created an 18-episode interview podcast with artists, creators, and storytellers across various mediums — including conversations with Monte, Shanna, and MCG players and GMs.

Aesthetically nestled in a surreal speakeasy inspired by the setting of Invisible Sun, the show returned often to themes of game design, play, expression, hospitality, and self-reflection.

The surreal cover art was designed to carry different meanings at different scales. The viewer may see an eye when viewed as a thumbnail, a cocktail at medium size — but close inspection reveals a sun, a galaxy, an embryo, a human heart.

Brian Kurtz
Listener

“With enthusiasm, insight, and curiosity, this podcast uses the setting of a Grey-themed bar below the vislae lounge Zero’s as a backdrop to explore … [tabletop role-playing], creativity, and the surreal. I have learned a lot and look forward to future episodes!”
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

product design

Sooth Deck iOS app

This is a personal project, unaffiliated with MCG, but it gives a good sense of my sensibilities for digital product design in the TRPG utility space.

In 2017, the Sooth Deck web app for Invisible Sun was still forthcoming — but details about the implementation were sparse. To quench my anticipation, I designed a prototype based on available information, imagining the product as a native mobile application.

Invisible Sun trade dress: Monte Cook Games

iPhone screenshot featuring a spread of physical-looking circular cards with arcane drawings. A control at right reads "Shuffle". A text callout is titled "Intuitive Design."

iPhone screenshot featuring a card labeled "Unknowable Truth," with artwork of a raven perched on a book. A text callout is titled "Detail View."

iPhone screenshot featuring just a few cards and a filter called "Power" applied. A software keyboard appears. A text callout is titled "Search."

A screenshot of an iPhone app featuring a text conversation. A text callout is titled "Noösphere Chat."

iPhone screenshot featuring full-screen artwork of a woman mixing something in a glowing cauldron. A text callout is titled "Gallery Mode."

iPhone screenshot featuring a round card with artwork of a cat, being shared. A text callout is titled "System Share Sheet."

games UX

Spinning in Space

Spinning in Space is a sweeping, retro-styled space adventure game exploring a whimsical galaxy filled with (many!) dozens of characters and interweaving plot lines spread across five distinct planets.

I led UX production for the title across its lifecycle. I am particularly proud of the modular UX design system I created to unify the player experience and navigation across the game’s many features and gameplay modes.

The project required tight collaboration across teams, with UX acting as a hub unifying Game Design, Engineering, Art & Sound, and Product objectives.

UI illustration: Shun Endo and Andy McCulloch

Sometimes video says it best

Concise narrated video “explainers” are helpful in communicating UX vision for interaction design to our Product, Art, and Engineering teams.

A narrated animatic I created to demonstrate interaction for a new feature. (1:16)

Screen recording of the final feature in-engine during gameplay. (0:15; no audio)

Ian Smith
Game Design Manager, DoubleDown Interactive

“[Jason’s] passion for a wide variety of games and the deep thinking he has done about the nature of play is evident in both his designs and in collaborative discussions … I cannot overstate how vital Jason has been as a patient and persuasive communicator advocating on behalf of the breadth of players that will play our game.”

Playground: the weird, the strange, the surreal, the fabulous

Odds & ends, props, memories from personal games for which I’ve designed immersive game mechanics, props, or visual elements.

Collage for Invisible Sun holiday stream

“Invisible Sunless Sea" mashup at Gen Con

Scratch-off fog-of-war map, wind-up toy boats

Automated lighting & sound for TRPG scenes

Digital prop: corporate logo