Some thoughts:
- The color scheme is divine! The shades of black/grey/white, the bold gold and the bright red. I've seen decks with a similar color scheme, but they are busier in terms of design. The minimal numbers of actual objects on the cards is nice.
- I love the luxurious feel. The artwork and darkness give me some Roman/opulent/height-of-power-yet-doomed-in-the-end kind of feelings. It's nice and unique.
- The hidden detail in the Moon is nice.
- I agree that no one deck can please everyone. I don't think that should even be a goal. It's about being true to the messages and ideas that fit the deck. I believe that many times creative projects turn into entities in themselves and have personalities that the artist and creator just wish to convey accurately. It's truly labor. With tarot decks, everybody wishes more decks were "multi-everything" including any/all races, ages, sizes, etc., but we don't buy decks just because they are representative of any and everybody. We buy decks based on the art, the meanings, the representation of the personality of the deck, the craftsmanship. I appreciate what you said about this. It's nice to see someone with a mature attitude.
Keep it up. This looks like it is going to be a wonderful deck and hopefully the cards that mean the most to me will also turn out as powerful and inspired as the ones you've shared here so far.