My New Deck

[mrdude42]

I still need to think of a name for this deck but I've been working on it for quite some time now. I think the hardest part is doing the faces and the hands... Does anyone have any feedback on what I've got so far?

[John B.]

this should be in the design board. I find it to simple and am wondering why the club is green and diamond is blue, while heart is red and spade is black.

[Don Boyer]

I still need to think of a name for this deck but I've been working on it for quite some time now. I think the hardest part is doing the faces and the hands... Does anyone have any feedback on what I've got so far?

Very clean designs; I like them.  Will you be coloring them?  Even just in black-and-white, the minimalism is gorgeous while not going overboard.

this should be in the design board. I find it to simple and am wondering why the club is green and diamond is blue, while heart is red and spade is black.

It's a common feature in decks designed for greater clarity to use four different colors to represent the four suits.  It's used in the current version of the Bicycle Lo-Vision decks.  I'm told the feature is a little more common in Europe than here, but that with an aging population with aging eyeballs, the four-color pips are easier to distinguish from each other.  For poker players, it's harder to confuse one suit for another when putting together a flush if the pips come in four colors instead of only two.  But it makes playing many forms of solitaire hell!

[xela]

@Johnny: I believe this is still being completed.

I can't wait to see this when you finish it. You definitely have talent. Keep us posted, eh?

Also, for the hands, scan a standard Bicycle court card, trace it, and get an idea for what you have to do to create it.

[Paul Carpenter]

I think this is a very good start. Are you planning on adding color to these? If not, I think you will be told that you are copying the Pedale Design deck, which is not true but timed out such for you.

Something I'd pursue is to look at using varying line widths in the illustration. I think that right now they appear a little bit unsubstantial and "weak" perhaps, but bulking up a line or two here and there could add a little visual weight and some differences for the eye to catch on to.

Definitely keep at it!

[Don Boyer]

I think this is a very good start. Are you planning on adding color to these? If not, I think you will be told that you are copying the Pedale Design deck, which is not true but timed out such for you.

Something I'd pursue is to look at using varying line widths in the illustration. I think that right now they appear a little bit unsubstantial and "weak" perhaps, but bulking up a line or two here and there could add a little visual weight and some differences for the eye to catch on to.

Definitely keep at it!

I would never confuse this deck with the Pedale "Misc. Goods Co." deck.  Anyone making the connection would be very mistaken.  The style of both designs is very different, though at present both are somewhat monochromatic and line-heavy.  This style is more fluid than angular.

[mrdude42]

This is not done yet but what do you guys think of the backside I've been working on for this deck? I'm trying to design it so it can be easily turned into a marked deck too.



Here are some more cards too:

[xela]

I like the pips, I like the direction the court cards are going. I do not think the blue used for the diamonds will be visible enough. I don't like the big E's on the back design, and I think they would be far better off with some kind of cool, intricate design in the middles.

Looking forward to seeing this deck progress, keep us posted!

[Utterfool]

I agree with Alex, the E should go.
Due to it's shape it appears off center of the medallion and is a little "off putting"
I unfortunately don't have an alternate suggestion for you as to what to add.
Also love the courts except for the eyes on the jack. they don't seem to fit with the simplicity of the cards and look cut and pasted.

[Leif]

I agree with Alex in pretty much everything he is saying. I particularly like how you have taken elements from the standard courts and made your own version of them, in a modern simplistic way. I understand that the faces pose a challenge, I think you have great moustaches and beards. When I look at the standard faces I actually have some problems understanding the facial features. The mouths hardly look like what I think a mouth should look like, yet they work just fine. Try  taking a mouth from a standard court card and apply it to your court card. You probably have to tweak it a little to make it look good. Another idea is to print the head and try to find the shape and look of the face using pen and paper, you clearly have the talent.

And the E has got to go. Some intricate spirally design would look great.

Keep at it, and never give up.

[Don Boyer]

This is not done yet but what do you guys think of the backside I've been working on for this deck? I'm trying to design it so it can be easily turned into a marked deck too.

Did you notice that the design is not two-way?  Was that intentional?

[MrMollusk]

I love the minimalist style. As everyone else already said, the E should probably be replaced. I realize lots of people like the 4 different suit colors, but I personally think it detracts from the deck. 4 colored suits is the main thing that kept me from backing the Vanda deck. But that's completely my personal preference. I will say that if you enlarged the back design, you could give the deck thin borders, making it much more appealing to cardists and magicians.
Looks awesome so far!

[Don Boyer]

It's possible that you can accomplish a four-color design while retaining the traditional two-color scheme people know and love.

Two ways:
1: make the suits red and black as traditional, use four colors on the value digits/letters.
2: use four-color suits with two-color values.

I like 1) myself.

You can also keep the colors traditional, but use shading - for example, grey clubs and pink diamonds to go with black spades and red hearts.  Close enough to recognize fast as their two traditional colors, unique enough to be easily differentiated visually.

[Zlaker]

The deck overall looks really nice, the court cards seem a bit cartoonish, buy they work excellent with the layout and the use of white space.

The back it's a bit heavy on the lines but it looks ok, the E I think is a bit weird, maybe the deck name or a different seal would look nice, maybe a rampant lion to further break the linear.

Anyways just tossing some comments.

[mrdude42]

Here's what I got so far for the rest of the cards. What do you guys think? It's probably hard to see so you may wanna download the picture with the dropbox link to be able to zoom in more clearly.

Note these are not complete. Still a work in progress.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dc3rfnny5cqg372/Sheet%20Deck%20Poster%202.png

[MrMollusk]

As much as I like it, I think that the black and yellow coloration on the back looks a bit too much like the Misc. Playing Cards deck.
Great uncut!

[Don Boyer]

As much as I like it, I think that the black and yellow coloration on the back looks a bit too much like the Misc. Playing Cards deck.
Great uncut!

On that, we disagree.  Misc. Goods Co. was mostly black with some gold linework, while this deck is a more even mix of black an yellow/gold.  That big ol' "E", though...  I still remember the biggest complaint people had about the Style deck from BeDeceived was the huge "B" logo on the card backs (that and the nearly-identical courts that looked like stripped-down Sentinels courts).

[mrdude42]

Thanks for the input. That gold color is just one I threw into the backside to see how it looked with color. No colors are finalized yet. The back design is still in progress too. I have another question now though. Which looks better? Pips/Numbers on 2 corners or 4 corners?

[Don Boyer]

Thanks for the input. That gold color is just one I threw into the backside to see how it looked with color. No colors are finalized yet. The back design is still in progress too. I have another question now though. Which looks better? Pips/Numbers on 2 corners or 4 corners?

I'm fine with either, but some Americans actively avoid the four-index designs.  Can't imagine why.  Probably has a lot to do with how the two-index design being the traditional design here - some people are very particular about changes to the classic design they've become accustomed to, even if it isn't really a global standard.  That, or they hate lefties! 

[Leif]

Thanks for the input. That gold color is just one I threw into the backside to see how it looked with color. No colors are finalized yet. The back design is still in progress too. I have another question now though. Which looks better? Pips/Numbers on 2 corners or 4 corners?

I'm used to pips on 2 corners, I've never even seen a 4 index deck live. I think it looks rather cool with 4 indices on your deck, though, it adds a strangely satisfying feeling of symmetry, I like that, to the deck.