Pocket Compendium

Two bespoke quick-reference spell & item repositories for role-play games

Client/Publisher

Stratagem. A brand that aims to bring affordable gear to the underserved niche of tabletop gamers who would love to transition away from DIY solutions.

Target Audience

Role-playing gamers looking to streamline their gameplay with reference materials.

Project Brief

Create a durable product where role-playing gamers can keep their most important in-game information at their fingertips.

Role

• Art Direction

• Identity Design

• Product Design

• Illustration

• Packaging Design

Product Overview

Pocket Compendiums hold all of your quick-reference adventure cards in one handy solution. No more will you have to refer to sloppy hand-written notes that are not modular enough to reorder, reorganize, and reiterate upon. These cards help create your own quick-reference system during role-playing campaign games such as Pathfinder and Dungeons and Dragons, perfect for leaning into all of your homebrew solutions.

Both the black and the brown spell books are crafted from embossed vegan leather and nested within a gatefold tuck box. Each box contains a leather spell book and 54 stylized cards for you to create your own adventure.

Tome of Corruption

The horror-inspired black compendium

The black spell book is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s fictional Necronomicon tome and its depiction within the Evil Dead horror film franchise. The outer packaging parodies the aesthetic of the Necronomicon by being a visual recreation of the book itself, adorned with etchings from beyond. This spell book includes cards stylized as stretched skin pages.

“Bound in human flesh and inked in blood, this ancient Sumerian text contained bizarre burial rights, funerary incantations, and demon resurrection passages. It was never meant for the world of the living.”

-Ash, Army of Darkness

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of product packaging on torn parchment with horror props around it

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography on torn parchment with horror props around it

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of opened product packaging on torn parchment with horror props around it

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of product with illustrated cards on torn parchment with horror props around it

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of an illustrated card on torn parchment with horror props around it

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography closeup of black compendium with face and silver buttons on a stack of coins and dice with a leather bag

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photograph with compendium, cards, and box for the black compendium

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography of black compendium opened with blank cards placed inside

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography of black compendium with face and silver buttons

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography closeup of black compendium with face and silver buttons

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product artwork created for the black compendium's outer packaging on the inside fold

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, custom die line with product artwork created for the black compendium's outer packaging

Tome of Recollection

The fantasy-inspired brown compendium

The brown spell book is inspired by a mix of arcane symbols of high fantasy and Elder Futhark Nordic runes. The outer packaging parodies this aesthetic with the type treatment, branded leather, rivets, and decorative elements. This spell book includes cards stylized as gilded pages.

“Keep it secret. Keep it safe.”

-Gandalf, Lord of the Rings

featured work photograph - pocket compendium product in box on a brown background

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of product packaging and 3 illustrated cards on a wood round with fantasy props around it

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of product packaging on a wood round with fantasy props around it

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of brown book on a wood round with fantasy props surrounding it

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of illustrated cards on a wood round with fantasy props surrounding them

Zack Marsh Design, pocket compendium product photography of illustrated card with glowing fantasy props surrounding the card

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography closeup of brown compendium with emblem and gold buttons on a stack of coins and dice with a leather bag

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photograph with compendium, cards, and box for the brown compendium

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography of brown compendium opened with blank cards placed inside

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography of brown compendium with emblem and gold buttons

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product photography closeup of brown compendium with emblem and gold buttons

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, product artwork created for the brown compendium's outer packaging on the inside fold

Zack Marsh Design, Pocket Compendium, custom die line with product artwork created for the brown compendium's outer packaging

Product & Packaging Designer