card clutter -- or not?

pasara said:

what are you referring to? i don't think i've seen this...

(Edit: to clarify, i'm asking about publisher advertising??)

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Many publishers put the copyright information (symbol and company name) on the front of cards in the white border. It's extremely distracting in my opinion. Yes, I support the need for branding, but keep it in the LWB and save it for the box. And borders? Don't get me started. Sometimes they work, and other times they are just as distracting as keywords. But, I know, that's another thread.

I can see how keywords could help someone who is learning. But, they could be limiting as well. During the early stages of the learning process, you might feel like they are an aid, but when you start to realize that the process of understanding meanings is to find what works for you, then the keywords become the obstruction in many ways. Unless, a keyword is there because the artists wants to clarify a point, I'm not a fan, for the most part.

Like nisaba - I just don't see them. And I am SUCH a print person on the whole; I hate heavily illustrated websites..... Odd..... (why will this not surprise anyone..... )

I prefer borderless decks for the most part. I just feel the images come alive. I've trimmed quite a few decks....even an original Alchemical (trust me Le Fanu....it's quite amazing without the columns....really becomes a mini-Alchemical ).

The Thoth is an interesting case as, for me, the titles play a significant part in the way I read the cards. Even though I've trimmed my thoth, when I read with it, I still see each card as the 'Lord of whatever' even though I can't see the title anymore.

LS multi-lingual titles are a nightmare and completely distracting!

pasara said:

what are you referring to? i don't think i've seen this...

(Edit: to clarify, i'm asking about publisher advertising??)

Click to expand...

On some cards the publisher will print, real small & most of the time on the back of a card, their name along the side or somewhere else they think is unobtrusive. It's not.

Prime offender: U S Games

Debra said:

Not true, Nisaba. Many people see words before pictures, especially if it's not a dense block of text but just a few words. Including me.

Here's some research:
http://www.nightcats.com/samples/text.html

For this reason I loathe keywords. Really, anything more than a number needs justification, I think. If the images are so same-same that you can't tell a Q of Swords from a Knight of Pents, it's not a very good deck.

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That's very true. As a professional designer & copyrighter, I learned that readability studies proved that people will read a caption under a photo before looking at said photo or any other copy on the page. You don't even realize you're doing it. Plus, people naturally scan a page (cards included) in a backward 'S' pattern, your eye leaving the page at the bottom right. That's where you want to put any lasting info, contact, phone #, etc.

pasara said:

There are quite a few decks out there that are really great despite the labels. Haindl for example is one of them. (I trimmed mine, though.)

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Haindl is great however you can get it. Keywords, no keywords-- just be glad to have the Haindl.

I hated the Quest because there was soooooo much on it.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/quest/

The Kissa tarot has keywords but I can't understand them so I am happy

- oh and I love, love the LS decks with small pictures instead of words.

Aerin said:

- oh and I love, love the LS decks with small pictures instead of words.

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Me too. Ric - are you watching ???

sapienza said:

LS multi-lingual titles are a nightmare and completely distracting!

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And that's the main reason I avoid LS decks wherever possible (along with the fact so many look like comic book illustrations). I do have the Visconti mini. However, the text is so small as to be illegible, which leaves me wondering why LS put the text on the minis at all.