New to deck design - but not to design

[GOdesign]

First post...

I found this forum after talking with Dave (Vanda decks). I have run one successful kickstarter campaign for logo design and have followed several projects for deck design over the last few months.

Kickstarter Logo project. http://kck.st/xKUwuQ
Final website. http://www.gologofolio.blogspot.com

First off I am trained and registered as an architect. I have always been interested in all types of design, from buildings to products to graphic design. 

The deck in am currently working on is a minimalistic desk based on a set of geometric rules. It has similar design philosophies as the Vanda deck and also the Core deck (that I discovered today).

Part of the design involves redesign of all of the pips. The result is a new take on each of the suits, taking them down to their most primitive forms.

I just wanted to introduce myself to the forum and any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. I have read several other threads so far and have found that one item to reconsider is the back of the card and if it is two way.

Thanks in advance.

[GOdesign]

[xela]

Welcome to the boards. I love your work, and I am a huge fan of minimalistic designs. Less is more, in my opinion.

Here are some tips about cards:

The index (top left and bottom right corners) contains the value of the card (5,6,10,J,A, etc) and the suite (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs). These are usually stacked vertically on top of one another. The reason for this is practicality and readability.

The back design is usually a two-way design, meaning you can't tell the orientation of the card no matter how you turn it. This is to allow the cards to be used in card games, and most magic tricks.

You should work with the USPCC for your deck. You have very thing borders in your design. They will whine and cry about how hard that is to do, and try to convince you not to. Ignore them and make them print with thin borders anyway.

Quality handling in a deck usually comes with the caveat that the artwork has its limits. In your case, much of the subtle light grey grid lines on the backs of the deck will not be visible on the card itself. If you want to make a purely artistic deck, USPCC is not the way to go. You may have better luck with Gemaco or Brahma (contact Don Boyer on the forums here for info about Brahma's printing).

The pip designs you made may get criticized because there has already been a deck that did them very similarly. If I were you I would ignore the criticism, since there is no patent on geometric pips, and they have been around for decades.


Keep us updated.

[GOdesign]

Alex, Thanks for the comments. 

Thanks for the comments. I actually realized the two way back after looking through some others design threads.  I also adjusted to move the suit closer to the edge of the card.  I also believe I was using the wrong line on the template for the edge of card, so now the white borders are correct.

[Don Boyer]

Hello and welcome.

Normally, Alex, I would agree completely about the indices, but I actually likes his original indices.  It made the deck stand out more from all the other geometric-pip decks.  If printed small, perhaps on par with the small pips found in an old-style CARC deck, I think they'd work.

But I have to ask, why a four-color design?

I like that you paired red with pink - two shades of the same color.  But rather than going with black (or is it dark gray?) and blue, why not blue and sky blue?  It'll give you the distinctive four-color design you want while at the same time not being as much of a headache to play solitaire with!

I like the change you made to the card back.  Out of curiosity, how would that look if the repeating triangular grid were made up of while lines instead of light gray, and maybe a light gray background?  I think it would make a nice counterpart to the light gray lines on a white background used on the faces.  The back pips can either be black/dark gray or you can use the actual pip colors from the faces.

If you were curious about Brahma, they're based out of Mumbai and are a lot less expensive than USPC to work with.  But then you also have the issue with some potential customers that they only buy USPC-made decks.  However, for a mere $50 (last time I heard), they can manufacture a prototype deck for you.  USPC charges perhaps five or six times that much.  Additionally, Brahma doesn't charge extra for custom faces like USPC does.  There's no commitment to do the print run with Brahma after you've created a test deck.

[sprouts1115]

it's $70 for Brahma and $450 for USPCC for a test deck.

[GOdesign]

Normally, Alex, I would agree completely about the indices, but I actually likes his original indices.  It made the deck stand out more from all the other geometric-pip decks.  If printed small, perhaps on par with the small pips found in an old-style CARC deck, I think they'd work.

But I have to ask, why a four-color design?

I like that you paired red with pink - two shades of the same color.  But rather than going with black (or is it dark gray?) and blue, why not blue and sky blue?  It'll give you the distinctive four-color design you want while at the same time not being as much of a headache to play solitaire with!

I do think the latest design looks more playable.

Why 4 colors, I always thought it was confusing to have 2 suits the same color. I do like the idea of the clubs being grey instead. I used dark blue to keep it dark like the black(charcoal grey) spades.

Thanks for the comments.

[xela]

I prefer the current iteration of the design to the last one. Any plans for the jokers?

[sprouts1115]

go with 4 different colors.  it distinguishes the suits.  it's the modern trend. why just use red and black?  in texashold'em, you must know the card quickly.  in my deck,  i use red and black, but i also use dark red and dark purple.  hopefully the 4 suits will distinguish the suites at a distance. dark red relates to red and indigo relates to black. in the second deck i wish to make it will have 9 suits, 4 suits will relate to each other leaving A trump suit;  you know the first two(red and black)  if you like history, i say keep it simple.  Do you like swords, staffs, cups, and coins as suits.     

[GOdesign]

I prefer the current iteration of the design to the last one. Any plans for the jokers?

I was thinking a joker hat and do it similar to the crowns of the JQK.

[Don Boyer]

I prefer the current iteration of the design to the last one. Any plans for the jokers?

I was thinking a joker hat and do it similar to the crowns of the JQK.

I like that idea.

Just out of curiosity, are you married to the idea of this being being all triangular?  With all the geometric deck designs I see, it seems few people remember that a circle is also a shape.    You could easily create recognizable but unique pips using circles and triangles/diamonds only.  But that's a designer's preference - if triangles is something you want, then run with it.

[GOdesign]

Circles...that's my next deck if this one works out.

FYI. Just got approval from Kickstarter.

[MrMollusk]

Very nice deck. Second back design is such a huge win. In my personal opinion, I think the 4 colored suits are confusing, and the blue + pink don't seem to compliment the design of the deck. Design is fantastic, though. I have no doubt you'll succeed.

On an unrelated note: Good god, man! Your first project had a goal of $25?! I didn't know you could do that.

[GOdesign]

I think I agree with the pink and blue takes away from the design.  What do you think of 2 different reds and 2 different greys?

Here are the concepts and also the Jokers.

[MrMollusk]

Nice!
The final version is the best one yet. It's very simple, but at the same time very creative and interesting.

[GOdesign]

First concept for the box... if i go with the Bicycle brand.

[sprouts1115]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVvE3toVnXA

basic video, but has some good info..

[GOdesign]

thanks for the video... revised in 3D.

[Don Boyer]

thanks for the video... revised in 3D.

Two suggestions:

Use some color.  That sitting on a store shelf will look very boring.  Even additional shades of gray would help.

USPC will have final approval on the Bicycle logo - odds are it won't look exactly like that, but will conform to one of a few standard styles they use.  Keep that in mind as it will change the look of the tuck box.

[blackgin]

I am a fan of minimalistic deck and I love this design!
I agree with Don when he says to add some colors. It'll make the box more attractive.

[GOdesign]

I tried something new.  White box.

[sprouts1115]

damn white shows all 4 colored suits nicely!  just draw the seal and its complete.  hmm force the seal sticker to be centered and put on correctly.   

[Don Boyer]

I tried something new.  White box.

Now THAT looks like a BOX!  The only tweak I'd suggest is that if those are the reds you want to use for hearts and diamonds, make them just a wee bit further apart from each other in shade.  The gray and black look fine and are easily distinguished while still in the same "color family", but the burgundy and red look a little too close to each other.  Keep the burgundy, lighten (or brighten) the red some.

[MrMollusk]

That box looks sweet!
Love the black seal. Simple and direct.

[GOdesign]

We are live.

http://kck.st/16nkh5I