''d8'' was a magazine that was published out of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1995-1996 and targeted fans of

role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eith ...

. The name referred to an eight-sided

polyhedral die A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, rol ...

common in such games. Unlike other gaming magazines, ''d8''’s focus was not on gaming systems and rules, but rather the art of role playing and the cultural, pop-cultural, and subcultural interests of the people who played games. ''d8'' styled itself “the magazine of role-playing culture”. This editorial mission was conceived of by Founder and Creative Director David DeCheser. The magazine was financed by Frank Slattery IV, an avid gamer who wanted to be involved in the field.

Contributors

Edited by

Holly Black Holly Black (; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the ''New York Times'' bestselling young adult ''Folk of the Air'' series. She is also well kn ...

and Joe Cirillo, the magazine had a host of eclectic and regular contributors that included author

Steve Berman Steve Berman is an American editor, novelist and short story writer. He writes in the field of queer speculative fiction. Early life and education Berman was born in Philadelphia, and raised in South Jersey. Berman says he realized in junior h ...

GWAR Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists, and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. Since ...

member Hunter Jackson, illustrators Joseph Hasenauer and Theo Black, ''Yamara'' creators Barbara Manui and Chris Adams, and former ''

Shadis ''Shadis'' is an independent gaming magazine that was published in 1990–1998 by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). It initially focused on role-playing games. Publication history Shadis was conceived and started by Jolly Blackburn as an inde ...

'' editor Jolly R. Blackburn. Articles on

LARP A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique featur ...

s were placed side-by-side with interviews with

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

artists such as

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an England, English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as S. F. Said, S.F. Said, ...

, reviews of authentic

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

restaurants, and

caffeinated Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class and is the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance globally. It is mainly used for its eugeroic (wakefulness promoting), ergogenic (physical performance-e ...

tips on how to game all night. One of ''d8''’s stand-out regular features was its fashion spread which, coordinated by stylist Deanna Stull and photographed by Director of Photography Michael Amper, showcased shoots that included

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

garb, neo-gothic vampires in latex, and leather plated armor. The magazine is credited as introducing Holly Black to artist

Tony DiTerlizzi Tony M. DiTerlizzi (born September 6, 1969) is an American fantasy artist, children's book creator, and motion picture producer. In the gaming industry, he is best known for his work in the collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering'' and on ...

, who would later go on to co-author ''

The Spiderwick Chronicles ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' is a series of children's fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spider ...

''. Black’s first published work, "Ahremon/City of the Sun: Garden of Ghosts", appeared in the second issue of ''d8''. At that time she was writing under the name Holly Riggenbach.

Art direction and graphic style

The magazine was both highly praised and criticized for its

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

. The design was very influenced by then-famous ''

Ray Gun A raygun is a science-fiction directed-energy weapon usually with destructive effect.Jeff Prucher, '' Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction,'' Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162 They have various names: ray gun, de ...

'' designer David Carson, and the “grunge” style typefaces being produced by font foundries such as T26. Critics cited the grid-less expressive design as difficult to read. Conversely the design is what attracted the less traditional, more alternative artistic contributors that Creative Director David DeCheser sought, such as:

Eric Dinyer The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

, and

John K. Snyder III John K. Snyder III (born July 14, 1961) is a writer and illustrator of comic books and graphic novels. His work has been published in the pages of the underground press, most notably '' The Duckberg Times'', and by independent comic book publisher ...

Public Relations & Marketing

Managed internally by Deanna Stull, quirky internal advertisements for subscriptions and a raw marketing style well suited the industry. Launched at a time when

collectible card games A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with '' Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

such as '' Magic: The Gathering'' were infiltrating the gaming market, ''d8''’s audience proved to be too niche to continue past its fourteen-month run. It was successful however in attracting a cross-over audience of fans of

gothic subculture Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. Post-punk artists who presaged the gothic rock genre and helped develo ...

References

{{reflist

Contributors

Art direction and graphic style

Public Relations & Marketing

References

External links