Project Scope
Logo Design
Digital Design
Prop-making
Curse of Strahd
Role
Independent Designer
Timeline
3 weeks
A variety of digital graphics, printable handouts, and other materials I created for running the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop campaign The Curse of Strahd.
This was a personal project created for the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop campaign Curse of Strahd, a gothic horror module set in the world of Barovia. The goal was to design a cohesive visual “brand” that enhanced immersion and roleplay through tactile props and printed materials.
Deliverables included:
✅ A logo for digital use, stickers, and handouts
✅ A printable Player’s Guidebook PDF
✅ 3D props (for maximum gameplay immersion)
Logo Treatment
TODO
Colour Theme
Red might seem like the obvious choice for a vampire-themed horror adventure, but I wanted to challenge myself and avoid simply throwing “blood” on everything and calling it a day. I thought about The Shining where Stanley Kubrick intentionally uses red sparingly throughout the film to signal danger or violence. I adopted a similar approach, reserving the colour for moments of heightened tension and visual emphasis.
The primary palette relies on dull, muted brown-greys to reflect the harsh, desolate atmosphere of Barovia. Against this subdued backdrop, the rare, deliberate appearances of red become the brightest notes in the composition, drawing the viewer’s eye to key elements and reinforcing their importance.
Subtle hints of blue in the background suggest the mysterious mists that blanket the land, adding a cool undertone that enhances the setting’s sense of isolation and supernatural unease.
Both the mockup (left) and the final design (right) were created using Adobe Photoshop.
Logo Design
I decided the project needed a distinctive logo—something that would immediately signal Curse of Strahd and capture the essence of its dark, oppressive atmosphere at a glance. The goal was to create a symbol that feels bold, menacing, and instantly memorable.
I chose sharp, gothic-inspired typefaces and distorted fonts with with eroded edges to give the lettering a weathered, sinister quality. Superimposed bubbles and streaks of crimson energy suggest blood and dark power, reinforcing the campaign’s themes of vampirism and magic.
The raven icon set into the top bar strengthens the visual identity, alluding to the looming presence of Castle Ravenloft and the domain it commands.
I developed multiple variations of this logo for use across different formats, including social media avatars, favicons, stickers, labels, brochures, and printed handouts—maintaining a cohesive visual identity at every point of the project.
Player’s Guidebook Layout
I created these mock-up sketches to organize the layout for the Player’s Guidebook—a printable PDF designed to present essential information in a single, descriptive document. The goal was to offer just a taste of the story without revealing too much, provide all necessary details in a format that can be quickly referenced, and maintain a polished, professional presentation.
I drew inspiration from the RPG strategy guides I collected as a kid, along with vampire films and related media, to develop a schematic that feels immersive—as though you’ve just opened a page from an old, dusty spellbook.
The main body text uses strict formatting rules and crisp, legible typefaces, contained within a large central panel to reinforce visual hierarchy and ensure the most important information stands out. Extra wide outer margins allow picturesque background imagery to peek through at the top, while small note cards, letters, and sidebar elements break up the layout’s uniformity and add a bit of atmospheric flavour.
Player’s Guidebook
Each player received a printed copy of the two-page handout, along with a link to a digital PDF version for easy reference.
To reinforce the setting’s age and mystique, I selected textures reminiscent of worn parchment, weathered stone, and scaled surfaces, lending the layout an ancient, fantastical character. Official Curse of Strahd artwork anchors each background, while the wax seal and open letter function as an elegant invitation—both literal and symbolic—beckoning the reader into the world.
Key rules and terms are highlighted in bold to help readers quickly scan the material and locate essential information.
Careful contrast adjustments ensure the colors remain vivid and crisp and the text fully legible, whether viewed on screen or in print.
Horrors of Barovia Info Cards
As an added layer of fun, players were asked to choose one of four 5×7 information cards based solely on the icons displayed at the top of each design. Each printed card represents one of the Horrors of Barovia—a distinct horror subgenre described in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, a supplement for Curse of Strahd.
A given player’s selection determines the tone of the encounters, creatures, and other nightmares they will face throughout the story.
Designed to resemble postcards or handwritten letters, the cards reuse visual elements from the Player’s Guidebook to maintain stylistic consistency and reinforce the project’s cohesive aesthetic.