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Redmond A. Simonsen

January 01, 1970

Redmond Aksel Simonsen (June 18, 1942 – March 9, 2005)[1] was an American graphic artist and game designer best known for his work at the board wargame company Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in the 1970s and early 1980s. Simonsen was considered an innovator in game information graphics,[2] and is credited with creating the term "game designer".[3]: 98 [4]

Redmond A. Simonsen
Simonsen posthumously honored as the King of Clubs in Flying Buffalo's Famous Game Designer Trading Cards, 2008
BornRedmond Aksel Simonsen
(1942-06-18)June 18, 1942
Inwood, Manhattan, United States
DiedMarch 9, 2005(2005-03-09) (aged 62)
Garland, Texas, US
Resting placeSaint Johns Union Cemetery (Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania)
NationalityAmerican
GenreWargames
 Literature portal

As art director at SPI Simonsen supervised the release of over 400 game titles,[5] and had game design or development credit for over twenty games. In addition, he variously held positions of executive art editor and co-editor or executive editor for the SPI magazines Strategy & Tactics, MOVES and Ares. Simonsen was the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame inductee for 1977.[6] He was honored as a "famous game designer" by being featured as the king of clubs in Flying Buffalo's 2008 Famous Game Designers Playing Card Deck.[7]

Early life edit

Simonsen was born and raised in Inwood, Manhattan, the second son of Astri Nordlie Simonsen and August Emil Simonsen, an immigrant from Norway. His father was a high ironworker who died in a fall from a building; his mother then worked as a domestic and raised her three children August, Lois, and Redmond.[8] Simonsen attended the Stuyvesant High School from 1956-1960. He served two tours in the United States Air Force, and was accepted for enrollment at Cooper Union, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1964.[9] Subsequent work as a graphic artist included designing the book jacket for Is Paris Burning? (1965), album covers for London Records, and KOOL cigarette advertisements. He also worked as a photographer, and sold pictures to TIME, Newsweek and The New York Times.[10]

Strategy & Tactics and SPI edit

Main articles: Strategy & Tactics and Simulation Publications, Inc.

Redmond Simonsen was the graphic designer on the wargaming hobby fanzine Strategy & Tactics.[3]: 101  In 1969, the 'zine was sold by its founder/publisher Chris Wagner to James F. Dunnigan for $1.[2] Although circulation was only around 1,000 copies, Dunnigan planned on using the magazine to promote new games he was designing. Later he wrote in The Complete Wargames Handbook:

Doing the magazine also brought graphic design ace Redmond Simonsen into SPI. I knew that the magazine, and the games, needed a professional look. Simonsen was a native New Yorker, and a wargamer in addition to being a highly talented artist. So I made him an offer he couldn't refuse: half the business (we later shared some of this with some of the original staff).[11]

The format of Strategy & Tactics (S&T) was ambitiously changed to a bi-monthly magazine with a complete game inside every issue, along with an accompanying historical article.[citation needed] Dunigan created Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1969, with Simonsen as his co-founder.[3]: 98  Dunnigan and Simonsen's newly incorporated SPI began publish non-magazine games as well. At that time the main wargame publisher, Avalon Hill, released only one or two new games a year. The response was overwhelming.[11] Simonsen wrote: "Via a program of advertising, S&Ts circulation began to build and sales of SPI games to its readers began to take on serious proportions."[2] Combined with other factors such as a sophisticated computerized customer feedback system[12] the company experienced exponential growth. By the mid-'70s SPI's revenues exceeded $2 million annually, with up to forty employees.[12] Circulation of Strategy and Tactics steadily grew, eventually peaking at over 36,000 by 1980.[13]

Simonsen acted as founding editor for SPI's Ares Magazine, a fantasy/science fiction game magazine following the same approach as Strategy & Tactics, until replaced during the TSR takeover.

Simonsen also wrote fictional backgrounds for various SPI games, notably for StarForce and Battlefleet Mars, often with humorous elements hidden in the text.

Physical systems design edit

See also: Information graphics

It was at SPI that Simonsen coined the term "physical systems design" to describe the application of graphic design concepts to board games. He defined it as follows:

I should perhaps explain what I mean by the term "physical system". The term is really my personal jargon for the graphic engineering of game elements. The more graphic engineering the artist can build into the game equipment and rules, the easier and more enjoyable becomes the play of the game.[2]

In 1969 however, Simonsen's ability to implement such graphic engineering was limited by SPI's starting capital, which was only "a hundred dollars"[11] borrowed from writer Al Nofi. Accordingly, production standards for their first series of games were comparatively low. While competitor Avalon Hill was owned by the printers Monarch Press, and thus was able to use professional production equipment,[12] SPI was essentially producing game "kits". Designer Greg Costikyan wrote:

SPI's first games had been published with black-and-white maps, printed on paper. The counters for its games were printed on colored paper; buyers had to glue the paper to shirt cardboard, then cut the counters apart with an X-acto knife. Rules were printed on "bedsheets," large sheets of paper folded down to normal letter size, saving the cost of cutting, collating, and binding. And there had been neither box nor counter tray.[12]

Increased revenue and experience led to progressive improvements in production quality, and Simonsen continuously refined the standards for game components.[11] The playing boards ("maps") went from black-and-white to two-color and then full-color. Playing pieces ("counters") became professionally mounted and die-cut, eventually being printed on both sides in full-color.[12] Simonsen now had the means to implement his physical system design concepts. Game designer John Prados recalled that "Redmond prided himself on making at least one graphical innovation each game."[14]

The role of "game developer" was unknown in the games industry at the time. Simonsen invented the role as "A professional who was responsible for turning the designer's prototype into a 'camera-ready' product. Thus, he was responsible for managing playtests, editing and writing rules and play aids, preparing sketches and other graphical elements, and ensuring that the 'house style' was preserved across several games."[15]

After SPI edit

Marketing lapses as well as financial mismanagement led to declining real income for SPI,[12][14] culminating in Dunnigan's ouster as company manager (replaced by original S&T founder Chris Wagner).[12] However, with the economy in the midst of a recession, SPI was not able to make a recovery. In 1982 the company's assets were sold to TSR, Inc.[12] Simonsen was fired from TSR on April 30, 1982.[16]: 14 : 100 

Along with former SPI designer Brad Hessel, he founded Ares Development Corporation to produce computer games. Simonsen had already successfully "ported" the board game The Wreck of the B.S.M. Pandora to the Apple II, creating one of the first real-time strategy games. A multi-game contract with Texas Instruments fell through when they pulled out of the home computing business in 1984.[2]

Simonsen then moved to Richardson, Texas where, with Jerry Robinson, he co-founded Microbotics, manufacturers of peripherals for the Amiga platform of home computers. Around 1992 Microbotics closed and he retired from active work, becoming a gaming network moderator for BIX and other places. In 1993 Simonsen contributed to Master of Orion: The Official Strategy Guide (Prima Publishing, 1993), devising a naming-convention for ships. By 1998 he had retired completely and spent his time drawing, writing computer programs and science fiction short stories.[2][9]

Simonsen suffered a heart attack in 2004 and two more in early 2005 which led to his hospitalization and death in Garland, Texas, on March 9, 2005, at the age of 62.[5][9]

Awards and honors edit

Three years after his death, Flying Buffalo featured Simonsen as the King of Clubs in the 2008 iteration of their Famous Game Designer Trading Cards.[17]

Notes edit

  1. ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JP9S-MYZ : accessed 25 Oct 2013), Redmond A Simonsen, 9 March 2005; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
  2. ^ a b c d e f . February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-02-02.
  3. ^ a b c Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  4. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ a b Fox, Margalit (March 16, 2005). "Redmond A. Simonsen, 62, Maker of Strategic Board Games, Dies". The New York Times.
  6. ^ . Archived from the original on 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  7. ^ . Flying Buffalo. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
  8. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ a b c "OSG Forums - View Single Post - Redmond A. Simonsen, 1942-2005".
  10. ^ . Archived from the original on November 15, 2006.
  11. ^ a b c d "hyw.com". www.hyw.com.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h "SPI Died for Your Sins". www.costik.com.
  13. ^ Strategy & Tactics nr. 79, March/April 1980, Simulations Publications, Inc.
  14. ^ a b (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ Duarte, Luiz Cláudio S.; Schaedler Uhlmann, Thiago (2017). "The role of wargames in the development of game design" (PDF). SBC – Proceedings of XVI SBGames 2017. Curitiba, Brazil: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação. ISSN 2179-2259. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  16. ^ Original letter from TSR, signed by Kevin B. Blume, posted by Simonsen's nephew
  17. ^ "Redmond A. Simonsen: Images". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2022-05-13.

References edit

  • Emrich, Alan; MacGowan, Rodger B. . The Charles S. Roberts Awards Museum. Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  • Costikyan, Greg. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  • Fox, Margalit (2005-03-16). "Redmond A. Simonsen, 62, Maker of Strategic Board Games, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  • . The Charles S. Roberts Awards Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  • Smith, Eric Lee. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  • "OSG Forums > OSG General Discussions > OSG News and Announcements > Redmond A. Simonsen, 1942-2005". Biographical information from Simonsen's nephew Jim Nash. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
  • . StrategyPage.com. Archived from the original on 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  • Dunnigan, James F (1992). The Complete Wargames Handbook: How to Play, Design and Find Them Revised edition. William Morrow & Company, 1992. ISBN 0-688-10368-5. online version
  • Costikyan, Greg. "A Farewell to Hexes". Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  • "Berlin '85: The Enemy at the Gates". Strategy & Tactics. No. 79. Simulations Publications, Inc. 1980.
  • Prados, John. (PDF). The Charles S. Roberts Awards Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  • Jim Nash: Nephew of Redmond. Adding factual references.

Further reading edit

  • Isby, David C (2005-03-11). "A tribute from David C. Isby" (PDF). The Charles S. Roberts Awards Museum. Retrieved 2007-01-29.
  • "Boardgamegeek.com Geeklist: In Praise of Redmond A. Simonsen". 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  • Pandorum, shares a similar premise with The Wreck of The B.S.M. Pandora by Simonsen.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
redmond, simonsen, redmond, aksel, simonsen, june, 1942, march, 2005, american, graphic, artist, game, designer, best, known, work, board, wargame, company, simulations, publications, 1970s, early, 1980s, simonsen, considered, innovator, game, information, gra. Redmond Aksel Simonsen June 18 1942 March 9 2005 1 was an American graphic artist and game designer best known for his work at the board wargame company Simulations Publications Inc SPI in the 1970s and early 1980s Simonsen was considered an innovator in game information graphics 2 and is credited with creating the term game designer 3 98 4 Redmond A SimonsenSimonsen posthumously honored as the King of Clubs in Flying Buffalo s Famous Game Designer Trading Cards 2008BornRedmond Aksel Simonsen 1942 06 18 June 18 1942Inwood Manhattan United StatesDiedMarch 9 2005 2005 03 09 aged 62 Garland Texas USResting placeSaint Johns Union Cemetery Mount Pleasant Pennsylvania NationalityAmericanGenreWargames Literature portal As art director at SPI Simonsen supervised the release of over 400 game titles 5 and had game design or development credit for over twenty games In addition he variously held positions of executive art editor and co editor or executive editor for the SPI magazines Strategy amp Tactics MOVES and Ares Simonsen was the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame inductee for 1977 6 He was honored as a famous game designer by being featured as the king of clubs in Flying Buffalo s 2008 Famous Game Designers Playing Card Deck 7 Contents 1 Early life 2 Strategy amp Tactics and SPI 3 Physical systems design 4 After SPI 5 Awards and honors 6 Notes 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksEarly life editSimonsen was born and raised in Inwood Manhattan the second son of Astri Nordlie Simonsen and August Emil Simonsen an immigrant from Norway His father was a high ironworker who died in a fall from a building his mother then worked as a domestic and raised her three children August Lois and Redmond 8 Simonsen attended the Stuyvesant High School from 1956 1960 He served two tours in the United States Air Force and was accepted for enrollment at Cooper Union where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1964 9 Subsequent work as a graphic artist included designing the book jacket for Is Paris Burning 1965 album covers for London Records and KOOL cigarette advertisements He also worked as a photographer and sold pictures to TIME Newsweek and The New York Times 10 Strategy amp Tactics and SPI editMain articles Strategy amp Tactics and Simulation Publications Inc Redmond Simonsen was the graphic designer on the wargaming hobby fanzine Strategy amp Tactics 3 101 In 1969 the zine was sold by its founder publisher Chris Wagner to James F Dunnigan for 1 2 Although circulation was only around 1 000 copies Dunnigan planned on using the magazine to promote new games he was designing Later he wrote in The Complete Wargames Handbook Doing the magazine also brought graphic design ace Redmond Simonsen into SPI I knew that the magazine and the games needed a professional look Simonsen was a native New Yorker and a wargamer in addition to being a highly talented artist So I made him an offer he couldn t refuse half the business we later shared some of this with some of the original staff 11 The format of Strategy amp Tactics S amp T was ambitiously changed to a bi monthly magazine with a complete game inside every issue along with an accompanying historical article citation needed Dunigan created Simulations Publications Inc SPI in 1969 with Simonsen as his co founder 3 98 Dunnigan and Simonsen s newly incorporated SPI began publish non magazine games as well At that time the main wargame publisher Avalon Hill released only one or two new games a year The response was overwhelming 11 Simonsen wrote Via a program of advertising S amp Ts circulation began to build and sales of SPI games to its readers began to take on serious proportions 2 Combined with other factors such as a sophisticated computerized customer feedback system 12 the company experienced exponential growth By the mid 70s SPI s revenues exceeded 2 million annually with up to forty employees 12 Circulation of Strategy and Tactics steadily grew eventually peaking at over 36 000 by 1980 13 Simonsen acted as founding editor for SPI s Ares Magazine a fantasy science fiction game magazine following the same approach as Strategy amp Tactics until replaced during the TSR takeover Simonsen also wrote fictional backgrounds for various SPI games notably for StarForce and Battlefleet Mars often with humorous elements hidden in the text Physical systems design editSee also Information graphics It was at SPI that Simonsen coined the term physical systems design to describe the application of graphic design concepts to board games He defined it as follows I should perhaps explain what I mean by the term physical system The term is really my personal jargon for the graphic engineering of game elements The more graphic engineering the artist can build into the game equipment and rules the easier and more enjoyable becomes the play of the game 2 In 1969 however Simonsen s ability to implement such graphic engineering was limited by SPI s starting capital which was only a hundred dollars 11 borrowed from writer Al Nofi Accordingly production standards for their first series of games were comparatively low While competitor Avalon Hill was owned by the printers Monarch Press and thus was able to use professional production equipment 12 SPI was essentially producing game kits Designer Greg Costikyan wrote SPI s first games had been published with black and white maps printed on paper The counters for its games were printed on colored paper buyers had to glue the paper to shirt cardboard then cut the counters apart with an X acto knife Rules were printed on bedsheets large sheets of paper folded down to normal letter size saving the cost of cutting collating and binding And there had been neither box nor counter tray 12 Increased revenue and experience led to progressive improvements in production quality and Simonsen continuously refined the standards for game components 11 The playing boards maps went from black and white to two color and then full color Playing pieces counters became professionally mounted and die cut eventually being printed on both sides in full color 12 Simonsen now had the means to implement his physical system design concepts Game designer John Prados recalled that Redmond prided himself on making at least one graphical innovation each game 14 The role of game developer was unknown in the games industry at the time Simonsen invented the role as A professional who was responsible for turning the designer s prototype into a camera ready product Thus he was responsible for managing playtests editing and writing rules and play aids preparing sketches and other graphical elements and ensuring that the house style was preserved across several games 15 After SPI editMarketing lapses as well as financial mismanagement led to declining real income for SPI 12 14 culminating in Dunnigan s ouster as company manager replaced by original S amp T founder Chris Wagner 12 However with the economy in the midst of a recession SPI was not able to make a recovery In 1982 the company s assets were sold to TSR Inc 12 Simonsen was fired from TSR on April 30 1982 16 14 100 Along with former SPI designer Brad Hessel he founded Ares Development Corporation to produce computer games Simonsen had already successfully ported the board game The Wreck of the B S M Pandora to the Apple II creating one of the first real time strategy games A multi game contract with Texas Instruments fell through when they pulled out of the home computing business in 1984 2 Simonsen then moved to Richardson Texas where with Jerry Robinson he co founded Microbotics manufacturers of peripherals for the Amiga platform of home computers Around 1992 Microbotics closed and he retired from active work becoming a gaming network moderator for BIX and other places In 1993 Simonsen contributed to Master of Orion The Official Strategy Guide Prima Publishing 1993 devising a naming convention for ships By 1998 he had retired completely and spent his time drawing writing computer programs and science fiction short stories 2 9 Simonsen suffered a heart attack in 2004 and two more in early 2005 which led to his hospitalization and death in Garland Texas on March 9 2005 at the age of 62 5 9 Awards and honors editThree years after his death Flying Buffalo featured Simonsen as the King of Clubs in the 2008 iteration of their Famous Game Designer Trading Cards 17 Notes edit United States Social Security Death Index index FamilySearch https familysearch org pal MM9 1 1 JP9S MYZ accessed 25 Oct 2013 Redmond A Simonsen 9 March 2005 citing U S Social Security Administration Death Master File database Alexandria Virginia National Technical Information Service ongoing a b c d e f Redmond Simonsen February 2 2007 Archived from the original on 2007 02 02 a b c Shannon Appelcline 2011 Designers amp Dragons Mongoose Publishing ISBN 978 1 907702 58 7 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2007 02 02 Retrieved 2007 01 27 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link a b Fox Margalit March 16 2005 Redmond A Simonsen 62 Maker of Strategic Board Games Dies The New York Times 1977 Archived from the original on 2006 10 04 Retrieved 2007 01 28 Poker Deck Flying Buffalo Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved February 11 2014 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2007 02 02 Retrieved 2007 01 29 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link a b c OSG Forums View Single Post Redmond A Simonsen 1942 2005 StrategyPage com Measure of respect Obituary Redmond A Simonsen 1942 2005 Archived from the original on November 15 2006 a b c d hyw com www hyw com a b c d e f g h SPI Died for Your Sins www costik com Strategy amp Tactics nr 79 March April 1980 Simulations Publications Inc a b Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2007 02 02 Retrieved 2007 01 29 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Duarte Luiz Claudio S Schaedler Uhlmann Thiago 2017 The role of wargames in the development of game design PDF SBC Proceedings of XVI SBGames 2017 Curitiba Brazil Sociedade Brasileira de Computacao ISSN 2179 2259 Retrieved 2022 05 13 Original letter from TSR signed by Kevin B Blume posted by Simonsen s nephew Redmond A Simonsen Images boardgamegeek com Retrieved 2022 05 13 References editEmrich Alan MacGowan Rodger B Our View is Better Because We Stood on the Shoulders of a Giant Redmond A Simonsen The Charles S Roberts Awards Museum Archived from the original on 2007 02 02 Retrieved 2007 01 30 Costikyan Greg A Tribute from Greg Costikyan PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2007 02 02 Retrieved 2007 01 27 Fox Margalit 2005 03 16 Redmond A Simonsen 62 Maker of Strategic Board Games Dies The New York Times Retrieved 2007 01 27 The Charles S Roberts Awards 1977 The Charles S Roberts Awards Museum Archived from the original on 2006 10 04 Retrieved 2007 01 27 Smith Eric Lee Ode to Redmond PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2007 02 02 Retrieved 2007 01 28 OSG Forums gt OSG General Discussions gt OSG News and Announcements gt Redmond A Simonsen 1942 2005 Biographical information from Simonsen s nephew Jim Nash Retrieved 2007 01 29 Obituary Redmond A Simonsen 1942 2005 StrategyPage com Archived from the original on 2006 11 15 Retrieved 2007 01 27 Dunnigan James F 1992 The Complete Wargames Handbook How to Play Design and Find ThemRevised edition William Morrow amp Company 1992 ISBN 0 688 10368 5 online version Costikyan Greg A Farewell to Hexes Retrieved 2007 01 27 Berlin 85 The Enemy at the Gates Strategy amp Tactics No 79 Simulations Publications Inc 1980 Prados John The Redmond I Knew PDF The Charles S Roberts Awards Museum Archived from the original PDF on 2007 02 02 Retrieved 2007 01 30 Jim Nash Nephew of Redmond Adding factual references Further reading editIsby David C 2005 03 11 A tribute from David C Isby PDF The Charles S Roberts Awards Museum Retrieved 2007 01 29 Boardgamegeek com Geeklist In Praise of Redmond A Simonsen 2005 03 11 Retrieved 2007 01 28 Pandorum shares a similar premise with The Wreck of The B S M Pandora by Simonsen External links editRedmond A Simonsen at Find a Grave Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Redmond A Simonsen amp oldid 1222741040, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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