Is my concept good enough? Feedback much appreciated

[Nova]

Hi Guys,

Intro
I am Nova, 30 years old and from the Netherlands. I have a job as a text writer but in my free time i'd love to do some graphic and 3d design as a hobby. Ever since signing up on this forum almost two years ago I got inspired with playing cards. Mainly because of the limitations a 52 card deck has from a design point-of-view but also the contrast of great art provided on the decks by both long standing professional artist as well as talented enthousiasts.

Now as you can probably guess I wanted to design my own deck of cards and i finally found the time for it. It's important to know that this is a hobby for me, I do not want or expect to make any profit but it would be really cool to have a professional print run of my own deck. Now I have experience with launching kickstarter projects, although not card related and I live very nearby the head office of cartamundi so it is relatively easy for me to communicate and arrange a print run, so the practical things worry me less.

Is the design good enough?
However what worries me the most is, is my art and my idea good enough? I see some very great looking designs fail in the kickstarter campaign and while this a hobby for me I would be dissapointed if I put in all the effort and do not get any succes. Now I saw some very usefull and knowledgable feedback on this forum so I open this topic while I am still in the concept stage. I figured out it would be best to receive some good advice rather soon than later to avoid having to change or cancel the project when too much time has already gotten in.

So below you will find 4 concept arts of queens, jacks and kings to give you an idea of what I want. regarding these concepts I have a few notes and questions; (please note these are rough concepts/sketches containing multiple smaller and bigger design flaws)

Notes
- The deck should be a little casino card game themed. All the characters will hold or place betting chips, the idea behind it being that we always play with the playing cards but when are the cards themselves actually playing. Instead of traditional jacks there will be male or female dealers at the playing card tables.
- It will be relatively traditional designed with full color pips, limited colors and borders to give it an autenthical look, although completely in my own drawing style.

Questions
- Based on the concept, do you guys think that my art is 'good enough'/professional enough looking to be featured on the cards when running a campaign?
- What do you guys think about the theme?
- Regarding the (female) dealers instead of Jacks, do you guys think this is a major problem/turn off for possible buyers?
- Any other tips, hints or tricks that come to your minds?

Again, sorry for the relatively long read but all feedback is welcome. If not (very) negative I will also proceed with the designing process and keep this thread up to date so other designers can see some more of the development between a concept and a fully finished card game design.

Best Regards,
Nova.

[Don Boyer]

I think you've actually got a decent start here, Nova.  I'd consider a few tweaks.

Make the art BIGGER!  There's a lot of empty "real estate" on those face cards of yours; fill them with eye candy, something visually interesting, rather than negative space.

Along those same lines, consider getting rid of the black borders surrounding the art and separating it from the indices.  Doing so will make the art look larger than life, I think.  I've seen a few decks do this to good effect.

Work on the font and pips a bit.  The "J" in the Jack looks boldface while the "K" and "Q" in the Kings and Queens looks standard.  All three look a bit on the plain side - again, go for something more visually interesting, less modern and sterile.  You don't want to go too crazy, since the indices still need to be easy to read, but you don't want boring, either.  Jazz up the pips just a little bit as well - something to give them a unique signature while still leaving them highly recognizable.

Where's the back design?  What about the tuck box?  You still have a lot of work to go, here!