Board Game Logo Design - Rus: Time of Troubles

I worked with Hardy House Games to create the logo for the company’s flagship game Rus: Time of Troubles. The Russian-themed bluffing game has a playful feel and I wanted to capture both the Russian-style floral folk art that’s already present in the game and the time period in which the game is set (early 1600s). I followed an iterative design process and created the final version in Adobe Illustrator.

Initial Sketches

To start, I quickly sketched out a few ideas and sent them to my client to see which style he liked the most before refining the logo.

Refining Sketches

The client liked the floral design style (sketch 1) so I sent him a more refined idea. Per my client’s request (and against my own personal preference), I shortened the flourishes.

Illustration Process

I scanned the sketch my client agreed to, and using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, I traced the sketch. The “U” and "S” turned out to be too “cartoony” so I ended up taking influence from the font Amador to draw the logo with a more symmetric and 1600s feel.

From there, I created the logo in monochrome to ensure it would work in any context, then added the final details.