Square decks - pros? cons?

[Deanne]

One of the concepts I'm considering would really suit a square-shaped deck. I know there are a few of these around, but I've never used one personally.

As a reader, what do/would you like and dislike about square cards?
As a designer, creator, artist, etc can you think of any pros or cons of producing a square deck?

This idea would also work well on round cards, though I like that idea less personally. Would you have any preference to that over square?

Thanks for any info!
Deanne

 

[gregory]

No problems at all. The ONLY one I might find would be that you couldn't mix them with another, rectangular, deck as easily.

Cons - might cost more to print !

 

[PathWalker]

I work with circular cards quite a lot, and square cards occasionally.
Square cards are able to give you clarity if you wanted to use 90 degree left, reversed and 90 degree right positions. No blurring "is it this or that" kind of thing. I like that, when I chose to read that way. So I'd say go for squares if it suits your design and what you want to say. Ultimately it's YOUR deck, and you have to be pleased with it.
PathWalker

 

[Deanne]

Thanks so much to both of you!

I've been looking into the cost. Printer studio doesn't do square cards, and at Gamecrafter the price is about the same as regular Tarot sized. Haven't looked into other options yet (but very open to suggestions!)

The 90-degree rotation could work very well with my idea. That wasn't something I'd been thinking of but I can definitely work with that

 

[Gwynydd]

The only square deck I have an like is the Miracles Now affirmation deck. It has no pictures, text only. I think for me, the square decks I really am put off by are the huge ones. If it's going to be square, I prefer it to be a tidy size that fits in my hand. But for a deck with pictures, I'd probably give it a miss.

 

[Deanne]

Thanks Gwynydd.

What size would work for you? This was one of the possible concerns I had, since the larger square cards are wider than a typical Tarot deck, but the smaller ones are quite small (may be hard to see the image).

 

[earthair]

I created a square deck (- it had to be squares 1) because of the 4 directions, like Pathwalker said, and 2) the court cards are stars formed from 2 cards stacked, one which tells you whether it's queen/king/page/knight and one which tells you the element).

The pros... I found with using Gamecrafter that - if memory serves correct- the way the images fit on a sheet it works out more economical if you need more than 78 cards, which I did. The downside is that they don't really have boxes to fit square decks, and their postage costs have put people off buying- I've had no sales at all from the UK!
As a reader, the smaller size cards are great for swooshing around on a table and creating large spreads in a small area. I have toyed with the idea of releasing it on large cards too, and may well do in the future as they can be riffled (and I do like to riffle ) .

But I would say don't do a square deck unless a design feature absolutely requires cards to be square, otherwise you will be dealing with box issues unnecessarily!

 

[rylla]

I like variety so I am all for square decks (which are fewer than the regular tarot cards). The only square deck I have is the Javanne tarot. As said before the square shape adds depth to the reading (as they may fall beside the reverse position in a 90 degree to the right or left). This is a pro but for those who don't read reversals might be a con.

Javanne is not a well known deck but the Starlight Dragon tarot just came out and those who use it might have more to say about their experiences with square decks and how much they like a tarot deck in this shape. I, personally, like it.

 

[Deanne]

The downside is that they don't really have boxes to fit square decks, and their postage costs have put people off buying- I've had no sales at all from the UK!

I'm not too concerned about this. I'll be publishing a companion book too, which thegamecrafter can't do. I plan to offer the 'deck only' version through TGC, but will order a run equal to the book run for myself, and package those in a nicer set. I realise that's more risk to me (and more work!), but I want this available. So, if an ill-fitting box is part of the 'deck only' option, maybe it'll encourage more buyers of the set (though postage may still be high from Canada, but I'll do what I can).

As a reader, the smaller size cards are great for swooshing around on a table and creating large spreads in a small area. I have toyed with the idea of releasing it on large cards too, and may well do in the future as they can be riffled (and I do like to riffle ) .

Just to clarify, did you use the 2.5" square cards? I was leaning more towards the 3.5" ones, as the smaller size seems tiny (though I'd love an option in between!). If so, how easy/difficult is it to see the images clearly?

As said before the square shape adds depth to the reading (as they may fall beside the reverse position in a 90 degree to the right or left). This is a pro but for those who don't read reversals might be a con.

I don't usually read reversals myself - but when I do, I use a different system than most people seem to. I have a plan to outline this (along with the extra 2 directions, if I go with squares) in my book - but to highlight the fact that this is my preferred method, and that I encourage readers to use whatever approach works best for them.


Keep the feedback coming - all has been very helpful so far <3

 

[earthair]

Just to clarify, did you use the 2.5" square cards? I was leaning more towards the 3.5" ones, as the smaller size seems tiny (though I'd love an option in between!). If so, how easy/difficult is it to see the images clearly?

Yes I used the small ones. The images are easy to see clearly, because I specifically designed the images for small cards; meaning I was careful not to cram too much in- the images are very simple and minimalist. The 'unsafe' printing area TGC give is quite large so I centred the images in quite a conservative space!
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/earthair-experimental-elemental-tarot/