Vända (Crimson Edition) deck is coming to kickstarter soon!

[davegk]

Greetings all,

I discovered these forums recently and wanted to introduce myself. I'm a graphic designer / poker enthusiast and I've been playing card games in various forms my entire life.

I've been perusing kickstarter quite a bit lately and have been impressed with the results that many of the card deck projects have shown, so after months of conceptualizing, I finally started designing my own deck creation.

It's called Vända (Swedish, meaning 'turn / reverse / shift / flip / twist'). I'm getting ready to print the demo version of the deck that will be used to make the promo video and photos and hope to launch on kickstarter within the next month.

I can't reveal any of the card face designs yet, but I will say that this deck is the most innovative deck I've seen (from a design standpoint). Everyone I've shown it to so far has been blown away and is extremely excited about getting a deck (or a whole bunch of decks). It will have some amazing features that magicians will find useful and a very clean, modern look that designers and card players will drool over.

In the meantime, you can check out the logo on the website: http://www.vandacards.com
I will keep you updated and let you know when the kickstarter project is ready to launch.


update (8/26/12):

Okay, I've decided it's now time to unveil the details of the Vända deck...

Here are the highlights:

- minimalistic, completely innovative deck design
- simple, sleek, bold, and sexy back design
- simple corner symbols (combined card value / suit pip)
- all cards are rotationally-symmetrical (a feature that's completely unique to the Vända deck)
- unique new rotationally-symmetrical center pip symbols for hearts, spades, and clubs
- bold graphic ace designs
- unique diamond-shaped pip layout grid
- typographic court cards
- Bee casino-quality card stock (printed by US playing card company, maker of Bicycle and Bee brands)

magician features:

- three double-backed cards (red, gold, and purple back designs) for flashy color changes
- gimmick card (13 of diamonds)
- plenty of white space on all cards - perfect for signing chosen cards (and visible to an audience)
- smooth color change effect to/from adjoining number cards (2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 8-10)
- color change effect from ace of spades to back design
- 'magic' air-cushioned finish for easy handling and flourishing

Attached are some preliminary photos of the proof copy of the deck (better quality photos will be coming soon).

-David

[Evan]

This looks promising! I looked at the logo for the cards and the portfolio on your website and it all looks very good! I'd love to see the cards.

[davegk]

Thanks, Evan!

Card images will be posted soon...

I will also point out that I've solved the asymmetry problem that plagues all deck designs that I've ever seen (odd numbers including aces always have a "right side up") - every card in my deck is rotationally symmetrical.

-David

[davegk]

I guess I should show you something at least...
here's the pip designs

-David

[Don Boyer]

I will also point out that I've solved the asymmetry problem that plagues all deck designs that I've ever seen (odd numbers including aces always have a "right side up") - every card in my deck is rotationally symmetrical.

-David

That sounds a lot like the Core deck, another Kickstarter project...

[davegk]

I'm familiar with the Core deck and the only real similarity between that and my Vända deck is the minimalistic design approach - the artwork is completely different and although I have an original pip layout grid, it's nothing at all like the circular layout on the Core design.

Also, the Core deck design doesn't address the rotational asymmetry issue - in fact, it augments the noticeable difference on odd-numbered cards between right-side-up and upside-down.

-David

[Don Boyer]

I'm familiar with the Core deck and the only real similarity between that and my Vända deck is the minimalistic design approach - the artwork is completely different and although I have an original pip layout grid, it's nothing at all like the circular layout on the Core design.

Also, the Core deck design doesn't address the rotational asymmetry issue - in fact, it augments the noticeable difference on odd-numbered cards between right-side-up and upside-down.

-David

That's cool.  Now show us the cards already! 

[davegk]

ok, ok...

here's the back design (cobalt edition), the tuckbox front, and the entire tuckbox layout.

Note the tuckbox is a rough version that I did quickly to be printed with the demo version of the deck and there will probably be more info/details added to the final version.

-David

[Don Boyer]

ok, ok...

here's the back design (cobalt edition), the tuckbox front, and the entire tuckbox layout.

Note the tuckbox is a rough version that I did quickly to be printed with the demo version of the deck and there will probably be more info/details added to the final version.

-David

Hmm...  I'm not a design expert, and I'm not saying this is bad, but it's not really grabbing my attention.  Granted, I haven't seen a card front yet.

The idea of using all those spades on the back of the card was something I would not have thought of.  But I think in this case, it also made it look boring - it's too monotonous.  I understand you want a minimal style, but minimal doesn't need to be boring.  Ikea furniture - I love the stuff, it's mostly pretty minimal, but there's not much there that you'd call boring.

If you want to get the attention of card flourishers, you'll want to make the corners of your back design POP - they need something that really is striking - and with as thin a border as you can print (or even no border at all).  When someone's displaying an attractive fan, it's the corners that become visible.  The same will hold true for the indices on the card fronts.

Magicians won't necessarily be put off by boring - an overly-fancy deck can distract the observer's attention too much from the trick for it to have impact.  But this really needs something more interesting on the back, I think.  Otherwise, just throw a pattern of diamonds or squares on the back and call it a day.

The basic framework you have can work - a center design framed by four identical corner designs.  Tally Ho Fan Backs are a prime example of this design, as are Bicycle Rider Backs and more decks out there than I can count.  But you want to do something with that back that makes this deck stand out.

[Evan]

I'm with Don on this one. The back design isn't bad, but it could definitely be better. I do like the front of the box though!
And the pip design is nice.

Also, the shape of the flap on the top of the box looks different.... is this a USPCC deck?

[davegk]

Admittedly, the back design has been the most controversial aspect of the deck so far...some people love it, others not so much. The faces are where all of the innovation takes place...you'll see soon!

The deck will be printed by USPCC but I'm getting a proof deck from brahma (found out about them on this forum) and they have a different tuck template.

-David

[davegk]

Without changing the design, I could just swap the colors to match the front of the tuck box...it definitely has more pop.

-David

[Evan]

That back design looks SO MUCH better! It has an illusion to it also. I love it!

[davegk]

alternative option (blue corner patterns)

[davegk]

Three of the extra cards will be double-backs...with different versions for cool color change effects...

[Evan]

It looks very neat! I like the second back design with the blue corners the best. Since this is the "Cobalt Edition" will you print other colors if it is successful?

[davegk]

Yes, if this is successful, I plan to release other editions later with different color backs and a different magic gimmick card.
-David

[davegk]

After printing some samples of different designs and showing them to people, I've decided to simplify the back design a bit since most people found the simpler design to be much more eye-catching.

I'm also going to go with red ("Crimson") for the first edition of the Vända deck. Here's the front designs for the tuck boxes.

The plan is to print the black symbol on red background version and if enough decks sell, I'll offer the inverted version as well as a bonus offer (would print 5000 decks of each). Each backer would then receive an equal number of each of the two decks.

-David

[Evan]

I don't like the simpler design at all. The other designs you showed were already simple and these are making it too plain.

[Don Boyer]

I don't like the simpler design at all. The other designs you showed were already simple and these are making it too plain.

I actually find the simpler design more appealing.  It's classic and classy, very elegant.  I could easily imagine this as an old Arrco deck design.

[davegk]

It's been really interesting to show printed samples of the back designs and get input from people. Obviously I can't please everyone, but the general consensus was that the simpler designs were far more striking. Also, I think the more complex design might look better on screen but doesn't translate as well to print.

In any case, the simpler design will make more sense once you see the minimalistic front designs as well...coming soon!

-David

[Don Boyer]

It's been really interesting to show printed samples of the back designs and get input from people. Obviously I can't please everyone, but the general consensus was that the simpler designs were far more striking. Also, I think the more complex design might look better on screen but doesn't translate as well to print.

In any case, the simpler design will make more sense once you see the minimalistic front designs as well...coming soon!

-David

While there are exceptions, the growing trend among major card companies is to create simpler designs - attractive backs, standard faces (perhaps with a unique color scheme).  The most popular custom faces we're seeing a lot of would be like the Mechanic Deck, the Artifice deck, the CARC Bee Erdnase decks - still fairly traditional at their core.  Zenneth Kok is looking to create a new Bee deck that varies very little from the basic design because he wants to make a deck his audiences will relate with and recognize, that's not much different than what they might use at home while still having a little extra touch of style.  One of my favorite faces now would be the Mechanic Deck - I can't get enough of it!  Traditional Bicycle faces, but with unique color patterns on the pips that really look cool.

[iK9mod9]

Perhaps thinner borders 

[davegk]

Hmm...I think I'm pretty happy with the thickness of the borders - they look pretty well balanced to the solid color areas. But, I will try thinning them a little to see how it looks - thanks for the suggestion!
-David

[Evan]

I think thin borders will go nicely with these. And with thinner borders, it looks nicer in fans, spreads, etc.