el Tarot de Marcelino cardstock?

blue_fusion said:

So which do you think I should follow with the court cards of the Marcelino? I like both actually, the Spanish titles for consistency, and the Filipino-Spanish ones for the cultural mix feel, but I've got to use only one of them.

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Why? If the words are not used consistently in print or speech, why do they have to be consistent in the deck? Pick whichever you like for each card, no matter what language its roots are, and use it.

Hannafate said:

It's really pretty simple to scan Kraft paper, and use it as an all over background for your cards. (scan at at least 300 dpi to really catch the texture) You can also rough up the drawings themselves with some filters, to make them look like they are printed on rough paper. In most programs the filter is "add noise", set at "uniform". (you may have to then "colorize" to Kraft brown) Leave enough background around the images to be cut off when the cards are trimmed, and it should look just great!

Then you would have the rough look, but the cards could still be slick, and usable. Rough surfaced cards don't shuffle well.

Your deck is now on my want list.

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I guess my problem has to do with cutting down costs. It would be more costly to print scanned Kraft paper as that involves getting it done in full-colour, as opposed to printing it directly on Kraft paper, which would only involve black ink.

As for the smoothness, the printers I talked to will hopefully have resolved this by varnishing it matte.

And for the language, I decided to go with the original Spanish text...

I've gone to the press last Saturday, and they showed me test runs of the deck. Over-all, I'm pretty satisfied with them, though the board might be a bit too thick (80 sheets stacked are over 1.25 inches tall). I took some pics at the press, and yes, my hands are jittery, so they're a bit blurred.

negatives: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/necromancer151/marcelino01.jpg (the topmost has the pattern for the backs!)

uncut sheets:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/necromancer151/marcelino02.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/necromancer151/marcelino03.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v493/necromancer151/marcelino05.jpg

I opted for coloured ink as opposed to black and white since that gives an even richer feel. So the end product is something burgundy-like on brown kraft board, varnished. They will be die-cut so each card will be uniform in shape. It might take a month more for everything to be finished.

In terms of reflections on the experience, well, this is the first time I've gone to an offset press (as opposed to digital printers), and so far I'm wondering why I haven't thought of doing that before. Would have saved me a lot of hassle since they'd be doing almost everything. Then again, it involves bigger initial funds, than, say doing a DIY print-on-demand operation.

blue_fusion, how exciting to see them on sheets!

It looks like a well-crafted and -drafted deck with thought behind it. And it's appealing for it's humor and practicality.

Go get a publisher.

You have much to offer to one.

(blue_)

I finally got the actual, diecut(ed) cards last Wednesday! I must say I really like how they turned out. They are varnished instead of laminated, so the paper texture of the card's surface is retained. Also, Instead of choosing using black for the ink, the cards' images are rendered in a dark burgundy colour. Surpringly, the colour scheme reminds me of the Wooden Pirates deck (at least from the scans online).

Now I'm making the the hard book-type boxes that will house the cards, and the accordion LWB.

(AND it has a Happy Squirrel card too!)

Here are some pics I've taken of the deck and a box I was able to finish:

It looks great!!! And yes, it does have that same feel as the Wooden Pirate one, but I like this on more. The pirate tarot has a white border with the title and all.. this one doesn't. Soooo.. when can we buy it and where? *standing first in line*

Lol truelight! I'm still finishing the boxes, but that might only take a couple of days more. I shall post here when they're finally packed and ready.

I'm still also finishing the LWB that comes with the deck. Trying to make up a kooky text that goes with the deck.

What a lovely little deck you created blue fusion! I admire your spunk and your creativity. The decks featured in the first post are really outstanding as well....your talent seems to know no bounds!

blue_fusion said:

Lol truelight! I'm still finishing the boxes, but that might only take a couple of days more. I shall post here when they're finally packed and ready.

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Yippie!!!!

The Marcelino is nice, I do like it.

But I like the Masque Tarot. Have you completed that one? Do you have any to sell? Or at least more previews of it?