Vintage-style Marseille deck, looking for feedback (hoping to kickstart this summer)

spiralingcadaver

Thanks, both of you! (And anyone who's backing but didn't have anything to say :) )

The project got through its first hurdle of a couple hours with a big "0" next to backers, and saw a pretty strong first 24 hours, so we're feeling pretty optimistic though still pretty nervous.
 

imarya

Thanks!

On card stock, this is actually something I've been struggling with a bit right now, since I just got the material samples for this deck:

Right now, they're on 350 GSM stock (compared to 300 GSM that regular-sized playing cards are on), we're planning to move up to 400GSM, but I'm not positive if this will make a notable difference.

I've seen card stock that is definitely thicker than what we're looking at, but it's either been extremely glossy (clearly reflect light sources), or low grade (easy to crease), so I'm not sure how practical heavier cards are.

The cards have a plastic gloss coat- to clarify, this doesn't mean shiny, they're more reflective than newsprint but substantially less reflective than even the dullest magazine I could find around, I think the treatment is the same used for most card games (like Magic the Gathering or nicer board games).

We also received linen coating, which is the style that traditional playing cards tend to have, with a faint "waffle" or fabric texture: the material is more durable (resistant to creases and stains) and better for handling cards (less resistance when shuffling, more grip). On a subjective level, we also thought it had a nicer weight, and looking at my old decks of cards, I actually like how they wear better (they tend to stain slightly instead of getting rough). We're considering using linen coating if we can afford it.

However, what are people's thoughts on material? Does anyone have an objection to linen coating? Alternatively, if anyone reading this has printed a deck, is there any advice you can offer?

Thanks!

A beautiful deck.

I love the quality and style of your work. Your talent and the research you've put into it are evident, and I particularly appreciate that you picked up the stations/classes in life (military/clergy/merchant/farmer) in the suits, which echoes without attempting to duplicate the 5 unsuited sets of 10 & 'stations in life' theme depicted in the first set of 10 in the Mantegna tarocchi of the 15th century.

Personally, I'd attribute blue (the color of logic) to military/swords/spades and red (the color of spirit) to clergy/cups/chalices/hearts. Which I see you've done!

I'm excited to see what you have done with the Major Arcana. :)

Speaking only for myself, I expect my cards to feel like cards. This is Tarot, not a child's game of "Memory". I much prefer linen finish playing cards & CCGs to gloss finish; in my experience, linen finish handles and wears better. I also feel like linen finish is easier to break in.

re: printing--are you aware of this site?
http://www.printerstudio.com/unique-ideas/custom-tarot-card-deck.html

A tarot sized deck (70 mm x 121 mm, up to 80 cards) on 310 gsm linen finish ("waffle" texture) is $16.50 USD per deck in qty 1-15 decks with no set up charge. I've had no experience with them, but the price looks to me to be not bad for a sample run?

If you opted to do the initial run with the Minor Arcana only, the expense for up to 60 cards in a tarot sized deck is $12.30 USD per deck in qty 1-15 decks.

Just my thoughts--and best wishes for a successful enterprise!

imarya

PS: made my pledge, can't wait to see my cards!
 

spiralingcadaver

thanks, imarya!

If you didn't see, the majors are in the video. It's just taken me a bit to get around to doing a sheet of them like the suits, because (due to some poor planning) the major arcana are now on two different computers, so compiling a collage will take a little longer.

Glad you made the connection w/ the stations, we've actually talked about putting together a Hofämterspiel deck (which we came across while researching for this one), but ultimately decided that it was too obscure to be practical for a first project. It would be interesting to try it, given how much more open it is due to the same obscurity/lack of information that made it impractical (for now).

On the deck material, that's a great find- while it's not practical for us to do for the whole decks, we've been looking at the possibility of doing variant designs in a limited quantity, and that looks like a good avenue to approach a small set (assuming, of course, the quality is similar)- one of the limitations we were finding was a place that would do a small run of tarot-sized cards with a linen finish, so I'm glad that you pointed that out, thanks (again).
 

spiralingcadaver

Hi all, the kickstarter is agonizing inches from its goal, and I've posted the major arcana, both in the first post in the thread and on my blog.

EDIT: We just hit our basic goal, huzzah!

Thanks for all the support, and looking forward to getting in to stretch goals!
 

spiralingcadaver

So, we're officially into stretch goal territory!

We've improved the cards to linen coating, replaced the tuck flap boxes with heavier land & top ones, and illustrated the honorary 79th tarot card, of Simpsons fame:

The Happy Squirrel
 

daphne

Congrats!!!!

I am glad to hear about the box, it is always nice to have a good solid box to keep the deck. Maybe if you raise more funds, you can get it with magnet lid, like the Gilded Lenormand box from US-game.

Funny squirrel, looks a little bit devilish. :)
 

spiralingcadaver

Thanks, daphne, I was personally really hoping to reach those boxes, because I've always disliked how often the tuck flaps on regular card boxes stick when you try to open them, and I ended up damaging the corners on many a set (though more recently I've learned to cut wedges out, which makes them stick less often).

I hadn't even thought about magnetic lids- cool idea. We've got a fair amount of stuff planned in the budget, but I'll see if our printer can handle those.

Thanks, on the Squirrel- I always think that medieval illustrations of animals tend towards the creepy and/or wily side, so it was a lot of fun to try to replicate the sensibility. Also, I hardly ever get to draw animals.
 

spiralingcadaver

We've hit quite a few more stretch goals since yesterday!

We're now able to improve our bags with a snazzy crest, and offer more prints. Also, for those interested in the game that started it all, the decks will now include a printed copy of the game rules, and the PDF of additional rules has more games in it.
 

daphne

Better and better!

And it is not over yet. Prepare some other exciting stretch goals, they will come. :)
 

spiralingcadaver

Thanks for the confidence/support! We're pretty blown away by how much support we've gotten, we were (pretty obviously) not expecting to get more than around $5-6,000 and now it's looking likely we'll pass that, so we've been talking about what else we can do to make the decks awesome :)