Thanks for the praises guys!
I myself don't see the similarity with the Heretic deck myself. As cool as the Heretic decks may be, I believe my approach, style, and sensibilities are completely different from Stockholm 17.
As for the color of the standard deck, it's something I knew from the very get go would not have far reach implications but as it is a GREEK themed deck, it was the most logical and obvious choice for me. Creating something with a lot of restrictions was fun and I am happy with how it came out.
As for the Underworld Deck, I let my choices of color play more freely. It is something that invokes mood while simultaneously fitting the theme.

Last few hours folks! Thank you Allan, Don, Pete for all of your help!

I pledged for these cards about two hours ago, and posted the following comment for Steve while I was there:

Steve,
 
Love the cards, but I hope you'll consider one suggestion that I believe will make your deck even better.
Increase the size of all of your Court Card figures to the same full-size you have used for the Jack of Spades, King of Hearts, and the King of Diamonds; and you will have a much more uniform and professional deck!

Also, please follow and join the discussions of your deck on UnitedCardists.com, and on PlayingCardForum.com; where I believe they will recommend the same changes to your beautiful deck of cards. [I didn't know at the time that Steve was already doing this.]

Will Hart
Fullerton, California

Hi Will! Thank you for your suggestion. I designed the deck so that the court cards are of the same size in terms of body and skull size. The reason the cards you mentioned look bigger is due to the fact that they have bigger accessories so they take up a little more room. I went through the dilemma of resizing and sizing them and I found that the current system that I have them set worked best for me as a designer. Reason being is when rifling through a deck, I would want the eye level of the cards and the size to be the same with each pull of the card. Let me know if that makes sense!

As a backer of Dia de Los Muertos I am extremely impressed by the artwork of this deck. In terms of advice you came to the best place that you could (in my humble opinion) Don and many of the others have a lot of experience with the industry.

I may have to pledge for a deck of these. Dont worry about the theme being a little bit oversaturated, as long as you make this a high quality product, you will have created something worth collecting and cherishing.

Very good job so far. Color me optimistic on this one.

Thank you BeDoubleYou (BW?) lol! Those words mean a lot to me. I can tell everyone here is a true card enthusiast so I will look to them with suggestions.

Muertos- Day of the Dead is an over used theme, but this is the best one I have seen.
Looks classy and has an elegant touch. Love it

That's a real honor to hear that considering how awesome the other decks have been!

Thanks PurpleIce!

I had only heard of Calaveras Deck before after I had started designing this deck and the unfortunate fact that Dia De Los Muertos deck was released as I was almost done with my design, but regardless, can you let me know what were the other decks so i could avoid the pitfalls and traps they encountered? That would be much appreciated.

When it came to designing the deck, I wanted to blend the aesthetics of Dia De Los Muertos with my design style instead of replicating something that is synonmous with Dia De Los Muertos. I felt by bringing in my own aspect and style and rules, I would make this something unique that would stand out on it's own. It's absolutely unfortunate that Dia De Los Muertos is being played out but I spent months on this project and I can't let that deny the work I put into it.

The figures I used for the Court cards each had meaning into their position and their rank. All of them hold special purpose and played pivotal roles in the culture but are often overlooked in favor of the El Catrin and La Catrina type of character. I thought long and hard of how to integrate the suits of each corresponding card into the design and my end result is scene. I did that due to the fact that when I looked at traditional playing cards and covered up the number and pips, it was hard to guess which suit it belonged to.

I opted to stay away from red coloring since I thought it would not be necessary and that the designs would be easy to read. I used hollowed pips for the clubs and spades and whole pips for hearts and diamonds to facilitate that, but I've gotten awesome feedback about that so I will be playing around with working in some red to make it more distinguishable. I would love to give the backers the opportunity to unanimously decide which would be their favorite and go with that.

For the center pips, I approached it like I would a grid. I never understood why the pips were arranged the way they are in traditional decks. I understand the symmetry of having the cards the same both ways but it seemed off to me. By setting it up the way I have, I feel that the grid system is entirely consistent with the deck, never been done that way before, and something I would understand if I were looking at it from a subjective point of view. As for the gray that trails off into darkness, I apologize for that. Rest assured that the same color is throughout and does not actually fade.

You may be surprised to learn but the typograpy for the deck is entirely my own creation. I wanted to capture black letter calligraphy type but at the same time update into something more dynamic. I wish to release this type face to the public for people to use non-commercially. I feel it would be something a lot of other graphic designers can enjoy as well.

The reason why I chose to name the deck "Muertos" was due to two reasons. One, the implication and nod to the fact that it was inspired by Dia De Los Muertos and Two, due to the fact that it means Death/Dead. I think it would really funny and cool to be able to call yourself a "Death Dealer" when dealing out these cards. It's such a good pun and I find it so amusing!

Anyways! That's a bit of the tid bit of my design reasoning behind this deck and I hope it resonates with you! I look forward to hearing what you all have to say!

Hi, I'm the creator of the Deck and Pierre and Allan told me about this site. Thanks for your feedback Don! I'm looking into what I can about having it in foil as an upgrade. I would want for the backers to get the best bang for their buck