Custom Deck Feedback, Please

[Brodyds]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I'm looking for some feedback on a deck that I've designed. It's based off of some of the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, as well as some 16th century architecture.
The goal is to launch the deck on Kickstarter within the next couple of months. So let me know your thoughts!

[Don Boyer]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I'm looking for some feedback on a deck that I've designed. It's based off of some of the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, as well as some 16th century architecture.
The goal is to launch the deck on Kickstarter within the next couple of months. So let me know your thoughts!

I understand where you're going with the theme, but it looks like you've taken a bit of daVinci's work and a bit of architecture, tossed them into Photoshop and came up with a symmetrical pattern.  My point here is that it lacks creativity and originality.  You'd do better to make something based on said works but that was original and of your own design and handiwork.

Consider even staying away from daVinci altogether - he's been done a few times and not very long ago in playing cards.  My personal rules of playing card design include this one: "If you're doing something that's been done before, and recently at that, either do it better or do something else."  Everyone remembers the first team to reach the summit of Mount Everest - no one remembers the fourth, the twelfth, the 378th, etc., unless they do it in a unique way, like getting there in record time, parasailing off the peak or holding Burning Man Nepal at the base camp.  While architecture has been done before as well, if you focused on 16th-century architecture and did it up right, you might be on to something unique and original.

[Brodyds]

Thank you for the candid response, Don. In my research before tackling the project, I hadn't found anything quite like it. But since reading your comment, I've delved a little deeper and found that it's indeed out there. There was a Da Vinci deck published on Kickstarter as recently as 2015. I really wish I'd found some of this stuff sooner..
I appreciate you pointing me in that direction. Maybe I will just launch it on KS anyway for the experience.

Best,

Brody

[Brodyds]

Any other feedback would help a lot!

[Don Boyer]

I appreciate you pointing me in that direction. Maybe I will just launch it on KS anyway for the experience.

Consider this:

OPTION A - you leave the project as it is.  You launch a Kickstarter for it, as you said, for "experience."  It takes time, effort, etc. to promote the deck, keep interest going, and so on.  Sure, it might succeed - but it might fail, even if you put a lot of effort into it, because the market might not be ready for another daVinci deck so soon, especially one that looks like it needs more polish.  That time and effort, rather than going into a successful project, goes into a project you thought had a smaller chance in the first place and you have only "experience" to show for it - no deck, no sales, just experience.  You debate whether it's worth putting the effort into another attempt.

OPTION B - you retool the project NOW instead of just tossing it at the wall and hoping it sticks.  You make it more interesting, more unique, more beautiful from the start - THEN you launch.  You're still getting "experience," but if you do it just right, you're also getting your deck successfully funded, making cards and money for yourself.  If and when it comes time to launch project #2, you can proudly proclaim you have a hit under your belt, increasing your odds of a second success because people like working with creators that have a proven track record.

Which of those two options sounds more appealing to you?  Perhaps I exaggerate just a little, but trust me, the examples I just gave you aren't that far off the mark.

What would hold you back from using Option B instead of Option A?