To this extent we have an interview today with Ramona Alksne, a lettering artist illustrator based in Bristol, whose beautiful illustrations combine with her letting to create fabulous cards, letters and dreams of her own book of fabulous spells. Here we let Ramona tell you more about herself and her business Alderdoodle...
Ramona Alksne: Alderdoodle was born at the end of 2019, but it wasn’t until 2020, when I first created the d&d cards, that it felt like it could be something great.
The name Alderdoodle is my last name translated from Latvian to English + Doodle. A combination of what I love to do and me and my roots (get it? Because an alder is a tree. I’ll let myself out..)
TP: What is your business best known for?
RA: Beautiful d&d accessories with gold embellishments.
RA: Because I love stories. And I love telling stories while rolling dice. Through my d&d spell cards or handwritten letters, I get to be a small part of thousands of stories. It’s an amazing feeling.
TP: What is your favourite product that you produce?
RA: One of my absolute favourites is the handwritten letter prop. There’s just something so good about running a game and telling the party they’ve received a letter and then actually handing over a physical thing they can touch and interact with. It’s easily customisable to fit whatever game you’re running and because it’s handwritten, no two will ever be the same.
RA: While I’ll always love and create for d&d, I want to expand and create more accessories for other tabletop rpgs. I already have progress clock cards for Blades in the Dark and there are so many amazing systems and games out there that, I’m sure, could use a shiny accessory or two as well.
TP: How do you decide which products to create and sell?
RA: The idea usually comes while I’m playing d&d with a ‘wouldn’t it be neat if I had this’ and then seeing if I can make it. It’s how I started making spell scrolls. It’s how I got the idea for the blank spell cards too. I didn’t like how the official ones looked so I designed my own.
TP: Whilst you do take commissions, what guidelines do you have in place?
RA: No NFTs. No AI. It’s custom work so it won’t be done the next day. Generally, I’m pretty easy going and if you do need something so totally yesterday, I will work with you to see if we can work something out.
TP: If you were given the time and opportunity to develop something unique for yourselves, what would it be and why?
RA: There are 2 things. One is a spell book. Think big, leather cover tome. Gold embellishments and ornate decor. Filled with sheets of intricately illustrated spell scrolls.
The other would be a collaboration between myself and an adventure writer. I would love to work with them on a module that would involve handwritten handouts and scrolls and cards.
RA: As far as services go, custom lettering for sure. Whether that’s calligraphy for letter props or a custom lettered logo - drawing pretty letters for nerds is my jam.
TP: Competition between independent business is at an all time high, as a small business what makes you unique that you feel helps show customers why they should do business with you?
RA: I’m a firm believer that a rising tide lifts all boats and ideally, the only people we should be competing with is ourselves from last year.
That being said, I make some kick ass paper goods for your ttrpgs that will help you stay organised in style and create a more immersive experience for your games.
I also create trade dress and illustration freebies to help out the writers and designers that might not have the budget for custom art.
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