Landscape?

Zedrex

Just wondering what people here think about this. I'm working on a deck, and due to the ideas I want to put into it, this might most likely turn out to be an oracle rather than Tarot.

But it occured to me that landscape orientation for the images might be the way to go? Film-makers and artists would all say that landscape orientation lends itself best to good composition, and I could capture the "widescreen" feel I'm looking for.

But is that too far out for everyone? Would seeing lthe cards laid out this way bother people in a reading?
 

Alta

There are a few, very few, decks that are laid out like this. Guessing because of our ingrained way of laying out cards, but they could certainly be shuffled normally and then laid out horizontally.

If you did, in accompanying booklet you might want to make suggestions as to how to lay out the cards to take advantage of this orientation of the images.
 

blue_fusion

I've tried it with the Tarot of the Curious East. It has its own merits. You just have to find your own approach or "attack" in tackling it (like, changes to the layout of the card's elements, etc). In my deck, since it was Asian-inspired, I divided the card into 4 panels, simulating Asian folding screens.

I also think a landscape orientation works well for cards that need more horizontal room (like knights and their horses). Your main problem would be for the "tall" images like the tower or the hanged man, to name a few. But then, thinking up solutions to these is part of the fun. :)

Good luck on your endeavor! :)
 

Cenozoic

It sounds really interesting to read with a landscape orientation deck. I don't think it would bother me too much, it'll just take some time to get used to. I think you can get some great layouts and compositions in that orientation, and fit a lot of background story and symbolism into it. I think you should do it :)

blue_fusion, for tall images like the "tower", it can be done with a cityscape, or by looking up at the tall tower from ground level and seeing how towering it really is! And I'm not sure about the "hanged man", but maybe hang a cat on a clothesline or a tree, those are just ideas though. The most interesting hanged man I saw was of a spider dangling down. But this deck might become an oracle, so it might not have these cards?
 

BrightEye

The Sibilla deck by Amerigo Folchi alternates between landscape and portait orientation. I really like the idea (have used for my own deck too).
 

frejasphere

If you have the imagery in your mind and you feel the artwork you want to create leans towards a particular orientation or format, I'd say go for it and let the artwork decide :)

Cenozoic said:
It sounds really interesting to read with a landscape orientation deck. I don't think it would bother me too much, it'll just take some time to get used to. I think you can get some great layouts and compositions in that orientation, and fit a lot of background story and symbolism into it. I think you should do it :)
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I would probably stick to one format throughout the deck (i.e. portrait, landscape or round (or other shape...)) and avoid chopping and changing - so like Cenozoic suggested above, you could include more scenery in traditional 'tall' cards.

Good luck, and looking forward to updates :)
 

Alta

frejasphere said:
I would probably stick to one format throughout the deck (i.e. portrait, landscape or round (or other shape...)) and avoid chopping and changing -
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I wanted to chime in and agree strongly with frejasphere about this aspect. I have one deck, the Longmoment Tarot, where the artist has a mixture of portrait and landscape cards. I find this makes the deck difficult.
 

blue_fusion

Me too. It gets confusing reading with a deck that has both (reversals, among so many other things!). Unless of course there's a special reason why it has to have both orientations.
 

karen0205

Zedrex said:
Just wondering what people here think about this. I'm working on a deck, and due to the ideas I want to put into it, this might most likely turn out to be an oracle rather than Tarot.

But it occured to me that landscape orientation for the images might be the way to go? Film-makers and artists would all say that landscape orientation lends itself best to good composition, and I could capture the "widescreen" feel I'm looking for.

But is that too far out for everyone? Would seeing lthe cards laid out this way bother people in a reading?
Click to expand...

Do you have a couple examples of the landscape orientation? I
am not sure what you are talking about.
 
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