Wow, first I have to say thank you guys so much for checking the deck out. It really means alot to us. And you guys have some great points about the deck. The hardest thing about Design is trying to find that place where you make everyone happy, so for what it's worth, just know in our future decks, your words will be on our minds when we work.
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HM,
Welcome to the forums. I must say, I saw your Kickstarter a few days ago and had the same initial "Meh" reaction. However, I went through a similar situation with my cards, they were trashed horribly before the first deck I ever put on Kickstarter, and many were here to witness it. Of course that was on United Cardists, but the fact remains, the public has grown a voice and they aren't afraid to use it. You may not know me, and I'm not trying to say that I'm a somebody, but in my case, I encourage raw critique and a "no holds barred" type of feedback towards my product and toward other products hitting the market. It helps you gain insight into things you may have blinded yourself toward because you're in love with your own project. That's good that you're in love with your idea, you should be, else you shouldn't be trying to come to the market.
From a consumer product aspect, the Eclipse deck has a lot of potential, but your design aesthetic could use some work. The title font for "Eclipse" is highly illegible and part of design is knowing that less is more. Just because you can do a big outer glow or stroke on a font, doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do. I further agree that from a legibility standpoint, the indices need a way for them to stand apart from the border. From a brand strategy perspective, Bicycle will literally come after you if they see their logo re-envisioned as you have it drawn on your Kickstarter page. They have worked tirelessly for 125 years to create a brand worthy of recognition and we owe it to them as designers to respect their intellectual property and their brand space. If you intend to make it a Bicycle deck, that's awesome, but you should go through the proper channels and ask for permission to use the Bicycle Logo on your Kickstarter. They have been cracking down on that, specifically on Kickstarter, for a while and I'd rather give you a heads up than to have them make you pull your project completely.
Now, you'll notice a lot of this thread will tear you down, but offer advice on how to build your deck back up. A smart designer knows that there are certain aspects which can be highly detrimental to their deck if changed. Listen to the advice and make the changes you feel best meet the overall community's desires. It's sad to say, but there are many people throwing their hats in the ring right now to be deck designers, who don't have the first clue about consumerism. The fact is, it doesn't matter if you like the deck, it matters if the market you are trying to sell it to likes the deck. It's a fine line to try to appease everyone and you've mentioned that you know that's not possible. That's a great start. However, don't neglect the advice that Paul mentioned before you hopped into this thread; consider other candid responses that you are discovering as you find new forum topics talking about your project, those are the questions and points you should be reflecting on. Look at those and the other posts honestly and before taking a defensive stance and ask yourself if some changes will benefit your project for the better. Your ability to discern the right moves to make will determine your success or failure.
Lastly, as much as it pains me to point out, your spelling and grammar need some serious help. I say this with a caveat that I, myself, am not perfect in my grammar or spelling by any means (there are probably errors in this very post). I'm not saying this to poke fun or to demean you in anyway and I'm not saying you have to be perfect with grammar, but I am saying that errors should be minimal and not detract, or distract, from your core message. I'm saying this because as a man developing a company that is about to sell a product, you owe it to your consumers to respect them enough to write with decent vocabulary and spelling. To put it in analogy, imagine if Pepsi constantly had spelling errors in advertisements but was trying to take more market share from Coca-Cola, who, for the hypothetical sake of this conversation, had no errors in spelling or grammar in their ads. Who would be most likely to retain their share and perhaps gain more of the market? When you present yourself as a businessman in written communication, such as these forums or your Kickstarter page, it is really hard for people to connect with you as a professional if your sentences are structured poorly or broken by misplaced or misspelled words.
I hope you don't get angry at me for pointing that out, but that is where knowing your strengths and weaknesses comes in. If you know you aren't great at that part of your business, hire someone else to write your communications (as dictated by you) so that your thoughts are still the prevalent idea, or invite someone whom you regard highly in terms of their communication abilities, to proofread and correct your writing.
Keep a strong heart toward your goal and you'll get there.
- Lance
