Philosophy Deck Design

[martinpulido]

Hello, everyone! I am new to the Discourse and the online playing card community in general, so I will start with a brief introduction. My name is Martin Pulido, and like most here, I love card games (as well as board games). I've run a blog for the playing card game BANG! for over a year now and created various expansions for it. I have recently wanted to get back into drawing and design, and so I created a project for myself: to create a deck of philosophy themed playing cards. I have always loved studying philosophy--it's fun to explore our lives and the world we live in, look for justifications (if any) for our deeply held beliefs, and it also creates great late night conversations. In making a deck about philosophy, I wanted it to be (1) aesthetically pleasing, (2) thought provoking, and (3) functional. An ambitious goal.

Through much deliberation, I determined to organize the suits according to philosophical time periods: spades (ancient and medieval philosophers), diamonds (modern philosophers: 16th-18th c.), clubs (contemporary analytic philosophers: 19th - 21st c.), and hearts (contemporary continental philosophers: 19th - 21st c.). Each card suit also has a unique card face background, highlighting ideas taught by philosophers in the specified time period. These backgrounds are gray or a faint red on white depending on the suit, and I hope help in suit identification. I prefer the white backgrounds/borders as they limit damage from scuffing (or so I believe; maybe I am wrong?).

Each card contains a personally hand-drawn and then vectorized and digitally finished portrait of an important philosopher. I tried to find the most famous depiction of the philosopher, regardless of the medium (sculpture, drawing, painting, photo, etc.) and then redraw it to have a more consistent look across the cards. Many design decisions were tough: I looked up in biographies to discover the hair color of many philosophers, but with ancient philosophers, I just had to arbitrarily decide. I also had to make decisions on clothing. Here is an example of the design process from the original famous depiction to the hand-drawn art, to the vectorized art, and the digitally-finished piece:

Since each card, versus just the court face cards, portrayed a specific philosopher, I chose not to include pips. I tried to include some "micro pips" that went vertical up and down the sides of the portraits, but I found these to be too busy and not very appealing. I recognize that this will be a downside for the pip enthusiasts. 12-16 philosophers, however, didn't seem to cut it for the deck, so I had to make a call, which ended up being a lot more work for me! Maybe it was a bad one.

The next step was to make the cards "thought provoking." I concluded to include a quote from each philosopher that wasn't loaded with jargon, so it could be understood by the layman. I also tried not to pick quotes that were (a) cliche, (b) made funny trite statements but said little philosophically, (c) made little sense out of context (Nietzsche's "God is dead" for instance), (d) ridiculed the philosopher by making his ideas appear impossible to understand (Heidegger's statement "The nothing itself nothings" is often used in this respect), or (e) were too religious (this deck is about philosophy, not theology). This required lots of reading, careful selection, and revision to get the right quotes. One of the consequences of including quotes such as these was the inability to have the philosopher's art be symmetrical. My design decisions will make this deck definitely a novelty piece, but I can't see a "thought provoking" philosophy-themed deck being done another way well (very subjective claim, I know). Perhaps it shouldn't have been done at all, then? Maybe.

Anyway, here are some samples of the art: 2 cards from each suit.

That should give you some idea of the style of the cards I have gone for and substantiate what I claimed about the design above. As for the backs, I have been debating between two designs: (1) a smaller version of a tuckbox art piece that I created. (2) a colored version of the famous Flammarion wood engraving of a man peering into the "true" universe beyond appearances. For the tuckbox, I chose to recreate a section of Raphael's famous School of Athens piece. I kept Plato and Aristotle at the forefront of the piece, but replaced the figures around them in Raphael's version with philosophers from later eras (Bertrand Russell, Immanuel Kant, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, etc.). I think the piece turned out quite nice, but the artist is usually biased! Here is a crude mockup of the tuckbox:

So I could use that art piece on the card backs or use the flammarion piece. Here is an example of the 2 options with their horizontal orientation:

So on to my feedback questions:

(1) Which back should I use (if any of those 2)?

(2) What do you think of the overall design? Do I succeed at making the deck aesthetically pleasing, thought provoking, and functional? While I had to make definite trade offs between those different goals, is it overall satisfactory? What suggestions would you make that align with those goals?

(3) Given the non-traditional format of these cards, would anyone besides myself be interested in this deck? I imagine a few philosophy geeks might appreciate them, but would anyone else? Does it have any wider "promise"?

(4) Any other suggestions?

[xela]

Welcome to the forums! Allow me to offer my two cents:

1. Neither of those backs are two-way, and therefore you won't have much luck appealing to the folks who like card games and magic. As artwork, it's fantastic, but a playing card isn't just a canvas. Consider revising the first back into a two-way orientation.

2. The deck is definitely aesthetically pleasing, and definitely thought provoking. Again, as art, it's great. It also exemplifies those philosophers quite well. Going back to #1, think about if you want to appeal to the magic/card game market.

3. As of now your demographic is limited to philosophy geeks, as you said, as well as gift giving. You definitely want to expand to card games to make good sales, and it may be worth considering expanding to magic and cardistry applications as well.

I love where this is headed, do keep us posted on progress!

[martinpulido]

Hey Alex,

Thanks for the prompt response. Your feelings were what I expected from the card game/magic side of things, so good to hear those things confirmed. Creating a 2-sided or symmetrical back is a good suggestion and frankly the easiest to implement. I will work on a new piece of art that has that built into it, and then post an update back here.

As for other design changes, it feels like I am at the crossroads between thought provoking and functionality. Removing the quotes will definitely remove the former while providing an opportunity to improve the latter. I will have to sit and ponder on some other possibilities.

Any general design suggestions for cardistry applications? Thanks again for the time you put into your thoughtful response.

[Don Boyer]

My two cents:


While Alex is right on the point of decks needing a two-way back to appeal to magicians and cardists, it's not an ironclad rule.  Having said that, if you can find a two-way design that's aesthetically pleasing, by all means, use it.  I'm rather fond of the (very colorful) piece printed right side up and upside down on the back of the deck, perhaps with some scroll work, filigree, etc. between them.  This would give your deck a very colorful appearance, making it popular with cardists.


Now for magicians AND cardists, cardists want flashy, while magicians want practical.  Give the card backs (and fronts) a thin white border at the edge - as thin as you can print it without causing registration errors in cutting.


I'm a little disappointed you didn't save a suit for Eastern philosophers!  Perhaps the next deck?


The backgrounds of the card fronts look VERY busy.  You wanted to include pips but not in a dysfunctional way, right?  How about using standard pip layouts in the background with your philosopher of choice in the foreground, with the pips in a faded color that doesn't interfere with reading the text and seeing the portrait in the foreground as well?  You could even do this for the face cards - it could look very cool having a washed-out image of a traditional king, queen or jack in the background, done light enough to allow the front to shine, but still there for us to see.  To pull the suits together with your theme, include one image common to the time period and philosophers - but in the mid-ground, sort of "over the shoulder" of the portrait, and done in solid color (no faded look).


So - what about the jokers?


The tuck box - most of the decks made today have glued bottoms on the folded-out tuck case - the quote you have on the bottom flap would never see the light outside the printing and packing shop.


As much as I make all these suggestions, I really like the deck as it exists now.  But then again, I'm a bit of an oddball, so... 


Another issue for cardists - they generally like good, air-cushion type stock and a slick, long-lasting finish.  If you were printing with USPC, this would be something along the lines of Bee or Bee Casino stock with Magic Finish.  If that turns out too costly, you can step down the stock to Bicycle or Aristocrat (both are very good stocks) and don't skimp on the finish, especially if this deck's going to have the amount of ink printed on the stock as I think this one will have.  Card performance can degrade with a lot of ink, but Magic Finish was sort of the "magic bullet", the cure to heavily-inked decks to give them good - even great - performance characteristics.


If you want to capture the collector's market, I hate to say it, but your best shot is to have the deck Bicycle-branded.  Most collectors we encounter here are USPC specialists, and a large subset of those are into the Bicycle brand almost exclusively.  If you don't go USPC, go with a printer that can do at least the same quality of work - preferably better.  There are a few decks out there that "broke the mold" - non-USPC made with excellent performance, design and finish.  But that unfortunately tends to be the exception rather than the rule, which is why so many collectors would rather burn their collection than get a deck made from a different company...  Sad, silly, but also true.  (OK, I exaggerate a little, but the general idea is still true!)

[martinpulido]

Don! That was a fantastic amount of information. I am about to get on the road for a business trip, but I will get back to your comments tonight. Thanks so much the suggestions in advance, though! As for your jokers question, I chose to use skeptical thought experiments from philosophy. The first is Descartes' Evil Demon (or evil genie as it is in the French). He supposed it was logically possible that there could be an evil being manipulating his entire perception of what he thought was reality. The second is a modern variation on this, that of the "brain in a vat," where all of our experience of reality is governed by a super computer programmed by a mad scientist (yeah, Matrix definitely picked up on this). I thought these would be appropriate sense the jokers warp the game, skewing reality. The art on them is still tentative and needs some improvement. Here is a draft of them:

I tried to create unique backgrounds for them as with the suits.

And as for Eastern philosophers, yes, a second deck was what I imagined for them. It seemed to me that western philosophers were, on the whole, more popular to an English-speaking audience than Eastern. I am betting that a layman can name more western philosophers than eastern. For the latter, they'd probably list off Confucius and Siddartha Gautama and then stop. That being said, I quite enjoy Eastern philosophers, and exposing people to their thought would be quite rewarding as well. That deck would be historically structured like the western deck. Although contemporary eastern philosophy would have a lot of crossovers with Western, which could be a fascinating conundrum if the deck was not about simply philosophers who lived in the east, but philosophers that typify eastern philosophic ideas. Definitely not unsolvable, just a challenge.

[Don Boyer]

An Eastern Philosophy deck, done right, will be a hot, HOT seller in Asia.  They're crazy for playing cards over there, and now account for a significant share of the market.  If a deck has an Asian theme or comes from an Asian designer/artist, it's that much more popular.


Keep us posted!

[martinpulido]

Hey Don,

Finally getting back with you!

(1) The back design: good to know the 2-way design isn't an ironclad rule. Here is my attempt to make that flammarion engraving into a 2-way piece:

I think it's headed in the right direction; I think the eye of the sun still needs some work though.

I have also toyed around with some different card face designs (top left is original for comparison's sake):

On the whole, I still like the original most. The top middle might be promising; I don't mind the micro-pips as much in this new orientation. The background needs to be lighter still. The bottom left makes the text feel less heavy and creates textual symmetry in the orientation. Maybe a bad idea though, lol. I'm not really a big fan of the others, but I thought I would show some of the ideas I had burnt through. There were many others that were too awful to share. Any opinions on these new designs?

(2) White Border: Got it. Any idea how thin this should be? On some of my BANG! cards I did an 1/8" with printers, but I imagine I can get smaller.

(3) Backgrounds: They are busy. The easiest solution is to perhaps make them lighter so while busy they don't stand out a ton. Then you had the suggestion of just picking one element, I tried that in one of the new design setups shown above, but I think I kept it faded. I'll take a look at the solid color turn out as you noted. As for using the pips as backgrounds, I tried this but the philosophers in the foreground (at any decent size, say as small as an inch) made it hard to recognize them. Nice thought, though!
 
(4) Tuckbox quote on bottom: Duly noted. I will probably keep the Schopenhauer quote, which is more applicable to the deck, and ax the general philosophy quote by Aristotle on the top.

(5) Stock and finish: Great instructions. If I see enough interest, I will probably try to kickstart the deck. I would start with the Bicycle stock with magic finish, and then if I got enough funding, I would upgrade to the Bee stock. That being said, I imagine there is no exclusivity to using the Bicycle brand with the stock. I mean that it could have Bee stock and still have the bicycle brand, right? Just checking. You are right I will probably have to go with the brand, since I imagine collector's will be the majority of my audience.

(6) Asian market: Wow; I had no idea they were that into playing cards. I suppose that is good news for doing the other deck then. I have to admit, I am far less versed in eastern philosophy, and should probably consult them on who the most important figures are. I definitely know 52 of them, but I am probably evaluating their value through a western philosopher's lens. It would be good to see which philosophers they deem are most important and adjust from there.

Thanks for all the feedback!

[martinpulido]

Random idea that may be worthless: I wonder if I could provide hidden text quotes on the cards through the use of QR codes. The codes could be placed say on one of the pips if I put those in instead, or they could be placed on the back of the cards to replace the eye of the sun. A person could scan the code and then get the quote. While this is a novel idea, and does get rid of the text to make room for other design elements, I wonder if anyone would use it? Interesting at all?

[xela]

Random idea that may be worthless: I wonder if I could provide hidden text quotes on the cards through the use of QR codes. The codes could be placed say on one of the pips if I put those in instead, or they could be placed on the back of the cards to replace the eye of the sun. A person could scan the code and then get the quote. While this is a novel idea, and does get rid of the text to make room for other design elements, I wonder if anyone would use it? Interesting at all?

From my experience with QR codes and the card community - people love them! They're getting more and more powerful, and you can do more and more with them. It's also a brilliant way to get people to spend more time with the cards, seeing as how we will sit here looking up each quote and enjoying them.

I do personally think that having the quotes right there in the deck would be nice though. If you go with USPCC, they give you two Joker slots and two ad card slots. Perhaps fill up some of those cards with the quotes? I fit a LOT of text on my ad-card for the Vortex.

[Don Boyer]

Here's some more ideas for you.


Since you're planning an Eastern Philosophy deck, consider calling this one the "Western Philosophy" deck.


On to your reply...


1) That two-way design looks fantastic!  If you're going two-way, that's what I recommend.  It's beautiful.


I like the second face concept, believe it or not.  One of the most beautiful decks was made in the 1920s and had some gorgeous, gorgeous contemporary art as a full one-way design, with a simple line of pips along the side for the number cards at the opposing corners, much like the way you have them.  The difference was that deck pointed them all in the same direction, from the bottom left corner going up, and even framed them to set them apart from the art.


The other face concepts handle the text, and sometimes the pips, in a more "gimmicky" fashion and aren't as easy to read.


Whether you do that second concept as a one-way, long image or as a two-way image with the text in the center, the text will still be one-way.  If you could fill the card with a real "framed picture" of the philosopher, perhaps in a setting contemporary to him or her or duplicated in whole or in part from a famous painting, you could stick with the one-way design you have now, using that instead of full-card portraits, and using the portrait-style two-way style only for the court cards (kings, queens, jacks, possibly jokers).  It would allow you to get rid of the imagery in the background and replace it with some REAL art, if you see what I mean.  The potential for a gorgeous deck increases significantly - though the difficulty level and time needed will increase a good deal as well.


2) Border - look at a pack of off-the-shelf "Standard" Bicycle cards.  Look at the border.  Now picture something perhaps about half as thick.  The thinner you can make the border without creating registration errors, the better it will look - but eliminating the border will make the deck more limited in appeal for magicians.  If you're having a border, make it a sexy one! 


Another alternative would be to use a matching colored border on both sides, but then the deck becomes prone to chipping at the edges, whereas chips on a white border only reveal the white underneath.  If you did choose that alternative, perhaps a cool-looking painting frame would look gorgeous, instead of a plain strip of color...but it would need a matching frame on the front and back to get magicians interested more.


3) If you don't go with the "full-card painting" idea, then using a single element, a bit more faded, makes the cards a lot less busy-looking while still tying together your theme of philosophical schools of thought divided by suit.


4) needs no comment.


5) You can, use any stock you wish on a USPC-branded deck.  I've seen Bicycle decks made with Aristocrat stock and Bee Casino stock, I've seen Bees made with Aristocrat...


When you have your concept more locked down, consider trying to go with HOPC first.  The House of Playing Cards takes submissions from the public, and if they find a deck they like, they'll finance the production and share the profits with you after the costs of production are recouped.  Better still, unlike most Kickstarter projects, you aren't limited to making just a single print run - if the demand for the deck is there, they will make a new print run available for sale when the old one runs out.  It's an awesome thing to not have to deal with all the logistics...    Go to http://houseofplayingcards.com/submit/ for more information on that alternative.


6) If you're into philosophy as much as you appear to be, you must know a few experts who are well-versed in Eastern philosophy, or at the least people who can point you to those experts.  Pick their brains!


The ideas about using QR codes are actually very useful.  You could provide a QR code on the box bottom that leads to a website about the philosophers in the deck and others of note.  You can use a different code on the ad card to lead to a promotional website for the NEXT deck - you don't even have to say what the deck is, in case your concept ideas change, since it's just a web page address; you can put whatever you want or need to on it.


If you're planning on attracting magicians, they like gaff cards, the simplest and most common of which being a double-backed card and a blank-faced card.  I think one ad card slot used for a double backer would be enough for this concept.


If you wanted to make two gaffs and still have an advertisement, put a QR code on the jokers!  That can lead to your advertisement online.


There's so many unexplored possibilities with QR codes...  I've even heard of a deck using a QR code to link the spectator that a trick is being performed on to a webpage revealing the card!

[martinpulido]

Thanks again, Alex and Don! Great thoughts. As per usual, I will have to get back to responding to the majority of the content later on; probably tomorrow. However, I did want to explain the potential use of the QR codes in the deck a little more.

There didn't seem to be an easy way to incorporate them on the card faces, but I think there is a way to incorporate them into the card backs without sacrificing the design or giving the card away. In the symmetrical flammarion engraving I subtracted the sun from the original place in the engraving, modified it and made it "whole," and then used it to separate the 2 orientations of the smaller engraving. In the center of the sun I can place the QR codes with adjusted colors to fit it. The codes can be placed in a diamond orientation to break up the block feeling of them and fit the vertical symmetry. Also, Level H QR codes have 30% error correction, so I can still include place a design element in the center of the code (the eye) to help the code fit more into the overall design. I have chosen to make the eye smaller to allow for damage to the QR code itself through scuffing and still be readable. Perhaps I should even remove the eye to allow for more damage over time, versus intentionally damaging it ab initio for design purposes! So here is a sample of a QR code using Anaximander's quote:



You should be able to read the QR code with a device that has a reader (smart phone, Nintendo 3DS, etc). Alternatively, this image can be saved and then uploaded to an online decoder: http://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx. I am a little new to QR Code design, so I will have to make sure the codes are readable across platforms and that the codes don't have any resize issues.

On the design it should only be a half inch. The blocks should be small enough not to "give anything away," not to mention they look very similar, which is nice since it still keeps with the symmetrical feel. Here is what I was thinking for the whole back design:



I doubt the reduced quality image there will be QR code readable, but the full printed version should be fine. Definitely something I would proof. Anyway, on the whole I think it is a cool idea. The question is whether it should just be an extra element that is pleasing or if it should be employed in a way to simplify the design. For the former, I could include some biographical data, more quotes, a list of important contributions, famous work, or something along those lines. If I had a website for the the deck, I could have a small page for each philosopher that it even links to. For the latter, perhaps one could remove the quotes from the front and place them in the code instead. I am hesitant to do so since not all will have QR code readers nor want to use them all of the time. But then again, players probably won't be reading the quotes all of the time either, so the text may "get in the way" after the first few initial reads. I could always stick quotes on extra cards, say ad cards in the deck as Alex pointed out. What do you think? Should the code be in addition or used to simplify, and if not for the quotes, what else could it simplify?

[Don Boyer]

I would leave individualized codes off the backs - it essentially makes your deck not just one-way, but marked.


If you really want to use QRs instead of printed quotes on the cards, then put them front and center - literally.  The most common placements I can think of would be 1) place it dead center in-between a two-headed design, 2) place it in one or both corners of a larger one-way design, or 3) at the start or end of the single line of text identifying the philosopher.


I do prefer using at least a brief quote, perhaps followed by a QR.  Put it in small print if you want.  Those tidbits of information are one of the key features setting your deck apart from the rest.


Another pip idea - there was a design for cards from over a hundred years ago called Triplicates.  Instead of a standard number or letter for value with a pip, the cards instead had miniature images of a card with all the pips on it in the index corners.  Imagine in the opposing corners using "triplicates" images (so named because the end result card image appeared three times on the face) and place a QR next to a small-print quote or at least the subject's name.


As far as the eye in the QR code, that's COOL!

[martinpulido]

Forgive the doublepost.

[martinpulido]

Hey Don,

I think you are right about the marked cards issue. I suppose it is hypothetically possible for someone to recognize the cards based on their backs (at least the dealer), so that won't work. Can't undermine that mechanic. I don't think that there is a good place to put them on the front of the cards; there are too many elements already. The ideal would be to place them in an area where they don't add anything extra--for instance, if the suits could be designed to include the QR codes in them. With the 30% correction this is possible, but the problem would be that the suits would be too large, not really fit for glancing at the values of cards through the corners.

If I were to use the QR codes for this deck, I might put them on the 2 extra cards. I have wondered a bit more on how QR codes are read--can you have 2 on 1 card for instance; does it read both if 2 are captured in the camera or does it capture only 1 of its choice?

For a future QR code project, I thought it would be cool to create a composers deck, where the QR code on the front page linked directly to one of their pieces.

I have been working more on the 2 way face design. I prefer the middle one below that I think reduces some of the clutter in the design. The downside is that the art is smaller since it cannot slip underneath the extra element. Nonetheless, I think the simplicity at this point is preferred. What do you think?



Mine are like the triplicates you suggested, but were based on an image I found online through my research where the card's value was placed in a miniature form only in the top left hand corner:



Mine of course included the bottom right hand as well for symmetry, and thus like the triplicates in this sense. Thanks for the help!

[Don Boyer]

An interesting suggestion:


Take the middle design.  Eliminate the "pip corners".  Enlarge the art so it's nearly half-card size.  Make a pip pattern that's nearly one-quarter of the card in size, place it centered under the quote.  To the left of the pips, a QR code linking to a webpage with more info about the philosopher.


For the court cards, go "full page" with the art, since no pips are needed, and place the QR code on the left of the quote, which will rest between the QR and the "upside-down" index.


You also have the option to reduce the index size for a more old-fashioned look, but anyone with bad vision might not like it!  It does make for a good look, though, especially for art decks like this, and it allows tight fans to still show most if not all of the index.


It makes the faces one-way, but they already are with the quotation text, so why not go "all in" and really use that?  It leaves you with a very functional deck with larger art, the quote, the pips, the indices AND a QR code on every card.

[martinpulido]

I thought of a more minimalist design idea that is fully symmetrical you may or may not like:

(1) Removed the quotes.
(2) Replaced quotes with key ideas of the philosopher, such as William James' "stream of consciousness." The key ideas are placed in the background replacing the old abstract idea collages. They repeat all across the card. I arranged the text boxes of the key ideas so that they are symmetrical. NOTE: I am thinking of still using those collages, but working them into the aces.
(3) Kept the philosopher art and made it two way.
(4) In between the philosopher art I placed pips that are vertically symmetrical.
(5) Names of philosophers either read vertically down the card sides (my preference) OR are in the background text.

Here is an example:

What do you think? I am sad to see the quotes go, but something is still learned about the philosopher this way and the design is more conducive to playing cards while also less complicated.

[NathanCanadas]

So, honestly, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the two-way back design without the QR code. As for the quotes and stuff, my favorite was the 3 of spades with the quote surrounding the center pips. If you could have the name of the philosopher along the long side of the card below the indexes, I think that would be perfect. Thx!
Nathan

[martinpulido]

I created a similar design that keeps the quotes, but uses some text wraps to make it easier to read. I also changed the pip design so that it was less "fancy," and more legible:



And a new 1-way for kicks and giggles with smaller art and symmetrical text (and Nietzsche for fun; I know that the suit is not correct. He'll actually be a one-eyed king):

[Utterfool]

This is getting way to complicated.
I really feel bad for you, creation by committee is so difficult.
I have to say you are handling it in stride.

That being said
I don't like the wrap around text, it makes it look to jumbled
I think you should stay with the quote that just runs through the entire back
or go back up to the earlier designs with the quote running down the side and instead of the circular pip design use your new pip design.

This quote lay out  with the pip layout in the next picture  ( just my opinion, pushing you closer to insanity)

[NathanCanadas]

If you are planning on having the quote run in the back, I hope it will be pretty faded, because the latest example you gave with bold ink I found confusing, hard to read, and distracting from the image.

[Don Boyer]

The Nietzsche 6 of Spades is my favorite so far.  The larger image is far more attractive.

Since it's a one-way image of the subject philosopher, do away with the inverted text and include the philosopher's full name and time period in which he or she lived.  If you leave out the pips altogether, I don't see this deck suffering for it.  QR codes are nice, but for simplicity's sake, you can just put one on the box that takes the user to a website covering all of the philosophers and call it a day right there.  I'm feeling now that 54 different QRs all pointing to a different page on the same site will get tedious after a while.

[NathanCanadas]

Yes, I also like the Nietzsche one a lot. I think it would be a bit nice if his name were in bold, to separate him from the quote and for us to easily read his name.

[martinpulido]

@Don: Just saw that I had missed your response. For the Nietzsche one, would you want just the quote on the top without  the name, and then the name with time period on the bottom?

I wanted to start a poll, but it doesn't make much sense to use the forum's built in one as I didn't see anyway to include pictures. I wanted to get votes on the best overall design for the card fronts since I have been getting feedback. I have nine designs below for you to choose from. I have already whittled down the results based on feedback I have gotten from the playing card and philosophy communities.

I would greatly appreciate it if:

(1) You listed the number you liked most (ie, 7).
(2) You stated whether you would buy a deck (this helps me prioritize the results; i definitely take all under consideration--as should be apparent by now--but I should cater more to those actually interested in getting a deck).

[Don Boyer]

OK, my personal preference would be something more like #7.  It's got the biggest art, the quote, the philosopher's name and the years of birth and death.

I would really like a combination of #7 and #8 - quote is readable regardless of which direction the card faces.  Take the text from #7, place it where it appears in #8 and use a portrait closer to the size seen in #7.

If you were insistent on a two-headed design, #1 has the largest portraits and a more traditional pip layout in the corners - BUT, as with #7 and #8, I have a better combined idea in mind.

This deck, with everything that's on it, truly doesn't require pips.  Using only indices will give a cleaner, less cluttered appearance.  This would be a fusion of #1 and #2, with something extra.  Shed the central pips in #2, use larger images like #1, make the portraits meet at a "center line" similar to early two-headed card designs, and at that line place a text box indicating the "era" the philosopher belongs to, which you had thought of as being sorted by suit.  You can fancy the text box up a bit, perhaps making it look like a rolled-open scroll, or done the same way you see building names on classic architecture of the period.  Alternately, you could use the box to show the philosopher's name and era and have only the quote in the corners.  Wanna get really wild?  You can use two DIFFERENT quotes in each corner.

Since this is a philosophers' deck, worrying about pips in the design should be secondary to showcasing the philosophers; otherwise, just buy a pack of standard Bicycles and call it a day... 

[Aaron]

this isnt really something I see myself buying, but I like the effort put in it.