Protomight.com is the result of a dream I've been carrying around for nearly eight years.

Years ago, while I was still working full-time as a professional graphic designer, I started entertaining the idea of becoming an instructor. Not necessarily at a college or high school, but online, where I could share what I'd learned over the years with people who had the same creative interests I did.

And I had a very specific idea about what I wanted to teach.

Graphic design for tabletop game designers.

You see, for nearly 30 years, I worked professionally in graphic design, spending much of that time in the Dallas, Texas area as a UX/UI designer. Over the course of my career, I worked with more than 100 clients on projects of all shapes and sizes, including some pretty massive ones.

But throughout those years, I was also an avid board gamer.

And perhaps more importantly, I've always been a maker.

I grew up working on old cars, building things, tinkering with irrigation systems on small plots of farmland, and taking on all sorts of projects around the house. I've never been particularly afraid to tear something apart, figure out how it works, and put it back together again. Sometimes even successfully (eh-hmm, carborators).

That maker mentality has followed me throughout my life. And somewhere along the way, my love for graphic design, tabletop games, and building things began to massively overlap.

I became fascinated with the idea of designing tabletop games. Not just the mechanics or the rules, but the entire process of bringing a game into the physical world. The cards, the boards, the tokens, the artwork, the typography, the systems that hold everything together. All those little details that transform an idea into something you can actually put on a table and enjoy.

Eventually, I stepped away from agency life and decided it was time to give that eight-year dream a real shot.

And that's how Protomight came to life.

A Place for Designers, Dreamers, and Makers

If you're an aspiring tabletop game designer, a graphic designer interested in games, or someone who simply has an insatiable urge to make things, I built Protomight with you in mind.

To kick things off, I've created a four-course series totaling roughly 70 hours of instruction, all focused on one big goal:

Helping tabletop game designers create beautiful, professional, high-fidelity prototypes.

These courses take you through a pretty extensive journey. We explore professional design tools, visual systems, creative strategies, practical workflows, data management, game balancing, and eventually the process of taking a physical prototype into a digital tabletop environment.

And we don't just talk about these things. We actually build something, step by step. All of it.

Throughout the series, I use a fantasy tabletop game project called "RoH – Battle Ark" as our working example. It's a chance to see how all these tools and techniques connect while watching an actual game prototype come together, piece by piece.“RoH” is a personal tabletop game project I’ve been developing over time. I’ve adapted it into a solo adventure experience to serve as the primary example game throughout these courses.

I believe there's tremendous value in learning through a real, connected project rather than a collection of unrelated exercises. This is one of my major guidelines for Protomight, learn through great examples!

‍A Different Approach to Teaching

I'll tell you something about my teaching style right up front.

I believe in massive exposure to the creative process.

That means taking our time, exploring the details, understanding why we're doing something, and not rushing to the finish line.

My videos are generally longer than the typical tutorials you'll find online. That's intentional.

I want you to become comfortable with the tools, understand the reasoning behind the design decisions, and start recognizing how all these different disciplines work together.

Sometimes we'll spend time exploring a feature that might seem small. Other times we'll dive into a complicated design system or spreadsheet that takes a while to understand. That's a real part of the Protomight journey.

My goal isn't simply to show you which buttons to press. I want you to develop the confidence to sit down with your own ideas and figure out how to bring them to life.

The first course is completely free. It's my way of welcoming people into Protomight and giving everyone a chance to explore the teaching style, the tools, and the creative process.

Courses 02, 03, and 04 are paid courses. Those purchases help support Protomight and make it possible for me to continue developing new lessons, resources, and projects for the tabletop design community.

Then There's the Protoblog!

Alongside the courses, I've created something I'm calling the Protoblog.

This is where I plan to share thoughts, discoveries, experiments, design ideas, and whatever else I find interesting about the world of tabletop game creation.

Some articles will be about graphic design. Others might explore prototyping techniques, game components, useful tools, creative challenges, or simply something fascinating I've discovered while working on a project.

I also hope to bring some of my social media conversations and discoveries into the blog, giving those ideas a more permanent home.

For now, I'll be writing from my own experiences and inspirations. But eventually, I'd love to open the doors to guest writers, game designers, and fellow makers who want to share their own adventures in prototyping.

There are so many talented people in this hobby doing incredible things. I'd love for the Protoblog to become another place where we can learn from one another.

Here's to the Games We Haven't Made Yet! (believe, I can't wait to see and experience those)

If you've ever tried to design your own tabletop game, you already know this is no small undertaking. An idea is one thing. Turning that idea into something people can hold, understand, play, and enjoy is something else entirely.

It takes patience. It takes experimentation. It takes a willingness to make mistakes, rethink things, and occasionally start over... and over... and.... uuug, over.

I created Protomight because I believe good design skills can make that journey a little easier, a lot more enjoyable, and ultimately much more rewarding.

My hope is that something you learn here gives you the confidence to push your own projects further than you thought possible.

Whether you're building your very first prototype or refining a game you've been working on for years, I'm glad you're here.

May your ideas be bold, your prototypes be beautiful, and your games find their way to the tabletop.

Welcome to Protomight!