Hey Everyone,
Back again for another Tuesday Reveal. This week is two-fold. The first Reveal is the 2 Renders posted below. They are still images from the ORNATE Promo Animation. The second Reveal is a brand new Midnight Cards Facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/midnightcardsThe Facebook page has an organized collection of all of the images posted so far of the Cards, Poker Chips and 3d Renders. All of the Face Cards are on the page - except for the Hearts and Clubs Courts and the Gaff Cards. Those will be added after future Tuesday Reveals. Tucked away in the About section is a Design Story that explains my reasons for the different colored Face Cards and other design decisions. I have pasted it below in this posting for those who stay away from Facebook:
"When starting on the ORNATE series my goal was to create a "Black" deck of playing cards that was functional for a standard Poker game. I play Poker regularly and have noticed that every time we try to introduce a Black deck it wouldn't last more than a hand or two. The quick removal was usually due to the lack of suit color recognition and small Indice fonts in the corners. If Poker players can not easily tell what their opponents have face up, they are quick to boot a deck!
In my opinion the problem with the suit recognition stems from the Black background color. Almost everyone has grown up playing with standard, white background decks of cards. We are practically hardwired to associate Black with the Spade and Club suits and Red with the Heart and Diamond suits. So, when we see a Black background, our first instinct is to think "Spade or Club". Even the Red corner Indices and PIPs (for Hearts and Diamonds) wouldn't help much, as they are secondary to the abundance of Black. When playing a game like Poker this delay of suit color recognition could result in long and frustrating hands!
The first design element I wanted to incorporate into the ORNATES was a Red background for the Hearts and Diamonds and a Black/Dark Grey background for the Spades and Clubs. It's my theory that these different colored backgrounds would help achieve instant suit color recognition. They may not look standard in any sense, but I think anyone who gives the ORNATE Sapphire and Scarlet decks a chance at their next Poker Night will be pleasantly surprised at their functionality.
The decision to use a large, thick font for the corner Indices was to allow for easier card recognition from across a card table. A lot of custom decks are using aesthetically-pleasing fonts that may look great, but they aren't always large or bold enough to be readable from a few feet away. And lastly, I wanted to add a border to remove the chipping problem with Black decks. After playing around with the border details and overall design it became clear right away that I wanted to take the look into the Regal and ORNATE direction you see today!"
thanks, Randy
