Bicycle String Art Deck

[S.C.]

Hey guys (and girls) I've been working on this deck for a while now. The original inspiration is from those string art pieces that were hugely popular mid century. I've also been playing around with the court cards trying to incorporate the style and still keep them functional. I also wanted a deck that looks good in motion (i.e flourishing, etc...) let me know what you guys think. I've gotten almost all the court cards done and I'm working on the tuck case design next. any feedback would be appreciated.

back design



Ace of spades



Ace Of Clubs



Queen of hearts



King of spades

[Don Boyer]

Hey guys (and girls) I've been working on this deck for a while now. The original inspiration is from those string art pieces that were hugely popular mid century. I've also been playing around with the court cards trying to incorporate the style and still keep them functional. I also wanted a deck that looks good in motion (i.e flourishing, etc...) let me know what you guys think. I've gotten almost all the court cards done and I'm working on the tuck case design next. any feedback would be appreciated.

Lighten the background of the back design to make the string pattern stand out.  Consider losing the dots - you already have a complex enough pattern there; it will look cleaner and more elegant without them.

The AoS design - the spade is OK, the rest needs work.  Not attractive.  Can you fill in the spade more?

The courts - you need to change up that string pattern a little or the courts will look cookie-cutter and boring.  The scaling needs work as well.  You need to give your characters headgear - that queen looks like the top of her head was cut off Frankenstein-style.  If you're going to scale up to the size of that king, lose the in-picture pips that are currently on top of his head.

[Zlaker]

Heh, I was also working on something similar before moving to my current project.

Leaving some samples. Anyways idk if i'll be coming back to this project.

I'm uploading these from my iPad, so I had to view these on a special program as they still have layers and stuff.

I actually have a version of the back design that does to have the guidelines.

Also I believe the lines are too heavy in your background finer lines might look better.

[S.C.]

Hey guys (and girls) I've been working on this deck for a while now. The original inspiration is from those string art pieces that were hugely popular mid century. I've also been playing around with the court cards trying to incorporate the style and still keep them functional. I also wanted a deck that looks good in motion (i.e flourishing, etc...) let me know what you guys think. I've gotten almost all the court cards done and I'm working on the tuck case design next. any feedback would be appreciated.

Lighten the background of the back design to make the string pattern stand out.  Consider losing the dots - you already have a complex enough pattern there; it will look cleaner and more elegant without them.

The AoS design - the spade is OK, the rest needs work.  Not attractive.  Can you fill in the spade more?

The courts - you need to change up that string pattern a little or the courts will look cookie-cutter and boring.  The scaling needs work as well.  You need to give your characters headgear - that queen looks like the top of her head was cut off Frankenstein-style.  If you're going to scale up to the size of that king, lose the in-picture pips that are currently on top of his head.

thanks for the feedback don. ill play with the backround of the back design a bit. i was wondering if you can elaborate on the Aos comment. i can add color to the spade maybe as a backround but do you think i should take it further than that? maybe add more of the line art behind it as well? My plan was to have the real bicycle logo on the top but maybe more design would work better? I agree with the Frankenstein comment.lol. that was my biggest dilemma, how to incorporate the string design element into the court cards. I went so far as to create an entire court person (i guess you can say) out of the line art but it really looked bad so i scrapped it immediately. the other idea was to remove the court faces all together and do some geometric patterns (i.e. different crowns, etc...) thanks again, ill mess more with the design when i get home and update.

[Don Boyer]

Hey guys (and girls) I've been working on this deck for a while now. The original inspiration is from those string art pieces that were hugely popular mid century. I've also been playing around with the court cards trying to incorporate the style and still keep them functional. I also wanted a deck that looks good in motion (i.e flourishing, etc...) let me know what you guys think. I've gotten almost all the court cards done and I'm working on the tuck case design next. any feedback would be appreciated.

Lighten the background of the back design to make the string pattern stand out.  Consider losing the dots - you already have a complex enough pattern there; it will look cleaner and more elegant without them.

The AoS design - the spade is OK, the rest needs work.  Not attractive.  Can you fill in the spade more?

The courts - you need to change up that string pattern a little or the courts will look cookie-cutter and boring.  The scaling needs work as well.  You need to give your characters headgear - that queen looks like the top of her head was cut off Frankenstein-style.  If you're going to scale up to the size of that king, lose the in-picture pips that are currently on top of his head.

thanks for the feedback don. ill play with the backround of the back design a bit. i was wondering if you can elaborate on the Aos comment. i can add color to the spade maybe as a backround but do you think i should take it further than that? maybe add more of the line art behind it as well? My plan was to have the real bicycle logo on the top but maybe more design would work better? I agree with the Frankenstein comment.lol. that was my biggest dilemma, how to incorporate the string design element into the court cards. I went so far as to create an entire court person (i guess you can say) out of the line art but it really looked bad so i scrapped it immediately. the other idea was to remove the court faces all together and do some geometric patterns (i.e. different crowns, etc...) thanks again, ill mess more with the design when i get home and update.

Compare the classic AoS to yours and you'll know what I'm talking about.  The typeface, the empty space in the spade...  It doesn't look very good.

Look at the older AoS, like the one from Zenneth Kok's Gold Seal New Fan Backs.  You could really DO something with that spade as far as embellishments with string design.

The string separator isn't bad at all - but if you have the SAME, exact one on all the courts, that's where it looks boring.  Consider changing the side it starts from on some, maybe make a "string frame" on some, etc. - change them up a bit.

[S.C.]

Hey guys (and girls) I've been working on this deck for a while now. The original inspiration is from those string art pieces that were hugely popular mid century. I've also been playing around with the court cards trying to incorporate the style and still keep them functional. I also wanted a deck that looks good in motion (i.e flourishing, etc...) let me know what you guys think. I've gotten almost all the court cards done and I'm working on the tuck case design next. any feedback would be appreciated.

Lighten the background of the back design to make the string pattern stand out.  Consider losing the dots - you already have a complex enough pattern there; it will look cleaner and more elegant without them.

The AoS design - the spade is OK, the rest needs work.  Not attractive.  Can you fill in the spade more?

The courts - you need to change up that string pattern a little or the courts will look cookie-cutter and boring.  The scaling needs work as well.  You need to give your characters headgear - that queen looks like the top of her head was cut off Frankenstein-style.  If you're going to scale up to the size of that king, lose the in-picture pips that are currently on top of his head.

thanks for the feedback don. ill play with the backround of the back design a bit. i was wondering if you can elaborate on the Aos comment. i can add color to the spade maybe as a backround but do you think i should take it further than that? maybe add more of the line art behind it as well? My plan was to have the real bicycle logo on the top but maybe more design would work better? I agree with the Frankenstein comment.lol. that was my biggest dilemma, how to incorporate the string design element into the court cards. I went so far as to create an entire court person (i guess you can say) out of the line art but it really looked bad so i scrapped it immediately. the other idea was to remove the court faces all together and do some geometric patterns (i.e. different crowns, etc...) thanks again, ill mess more with the design when i get home and update.

Compare the classic AoS to yours and you'll know what I'm talking about.  The typeface, the empty space in the spade...  It doesn't look very good.

Look at the older AoS, like the one from Zenneth Kok's Gold Seal New Fan Backs.  You could really DO something with that spade as far as embellishments with string design.

The string separator isn't bad at all - but if you have the SAME, exact one on all the courts, that's where it looks boring.  Consider changing the side it starts from on some, maybe make a "string frame" on some, etc. - change them up a bit.

I went back and looked at the example you were talking about and I completely agree with you. I was going for simplicity but i think i can still achieve that and make it look elegant. I get where your going with the court cards as far as breaking out different string designs. Ill play with it when i get home and see what i can come up with. thanks again for all the input. Ill update with some new pics when I get something worked out. 

[Don Boyer]

Compare the classic AoS to yours and you'll know what I'm talking about.  The typeface, the empty space in the spade...  It doesn't look very good.

Look at the older AoS, like the one from Zenneth Kok's Gold Seal New Fan Backs.  You could really DO something with that spade as far as embellishments with string design.

The string separator isn't bad at all - but if you have the SAME, exact one on all the courts, that's where it looks boring.  Consider changing the side it starts from on some, maybe make a "string frame" on some, etc. - change them up a bit.

I went back and looked at the example you were talking about and I completely agree with you. I was going for simplicity but i think i can still achieve that and make it look elegant. I get where your going with the court cards as far as breaking out different string designs. Ill play with it when i get home and see what i can come up with. thanks again for all the input. Ill update with some new pics when I get something worked out. 

Remember one detail here, though - USPC will no longer allow alterations to their AoS design.  You'd have to come up with something unique that didn't too closely resemble their trademarks.  Use what they have as a launching point and make it your own.

[S.C.]

so heres a few options for the back. I did one in a lighter blue/teal color and then went a whole other direction and did a light grey. what do you think? im  playing with the court cards and the aos now but its a bit of work so ill put them up as soon as i get something together.

@don thanks again for all your help on this.

option 1


option 2 (grey)


im kinda digging the grey, its a nice contrast, i was almost think metallic ink would be a nice touch.

[Don Boyer]

so heres a few options for the back. I did one in a lighter blue/teal color and then went a whole other direction and did a light grey. what do you think? im  playing with the court cards and the aos now but its a bit of work so ill put them up as soon as i get something together.

@don thanks again for all your help on this.

im kinda digging the grey, its a nice contrast, i was almost think metallic ink would be a nice touch.

The black on gray isn't good - too dark.  Remember the black face cards in the Tragic Royalty deck and the mostly-black back?  The teal has much more punch to it (and better contrast) and you can even make a stretch goal of a second color to make color changes/poker sets.  Red-orange would make a cool second color for this!

[Collector]

I respect any type of art. But I saw better strings on playing cards (will post soon on my blog). Try coloured strings. I believe court cards can be more interesting.

Anyway I wish you good luck.

[Don Boyer]

I respect any type of art. But I saw better strings on playing cards (will post soon on my blog). Try coloured strings. I believe court cards can be more interesting.

Anyway I wish you good luck.

Colored strings actually sounds like an element this design was missing!  You could make an awesome back with more color in it!  With colored strings, the gray background would work very well.

[S.C.]

I respect any type of art. But I saw better strings on playing cards (will post soon on my blog). Try coloured strings. I believe court cards can be more interesting.

Anyway I wish you good luck.

Colored strings actually sounds like an element this design was missing!  You could make an awesome back with more color in it!  With colored strings, the gray background would work very well.

this is where i first started but i was worried it would be too busy. so i went for simpler. Not necessarily these colors but i was playing around with a few options on this back as well.

[MrMollusk]

Definitely a step in the right direction. But I feel the black is too different from the red. If you made the black a dark shade of red, I think it would tie into the back design much better.

[Don Boyer]

Definitely a step in the right direction. But I feel the black is too different from the red. If you made the black a dark shade of red, I think it would tie into the back design much better.

Combine a darker red with that light blue background and you could have something there.

Alternately, you could go more colorful - multiple colors.  But that might get too busy.

[S.C.]

heres a few options for the back ive been working on.

opt 1



opt 2

[Don Boyer]

heres a few options for the back ive been working on.

Try option one with a dark blue or dark green (or even purple) for the light blue lines and give that same light blue color on the background.  Then you see what you think of it.  Might work, might not, but I think it's worth investigating.

[MrMollusk]

I like the red on red one.

[S.C.]

so i revamped the AOS and wanted to get your guys opinion. Im feeling like this is the direction I want to take the whole deck in.



thanks again for all your input guys.

[Don Boyer]

so i revamped the AOS and wanted to get your guys opinion. Im feeling like this is the direction I want to take the whole deck in.

thanks again for all your input guys.

I gotta be honest here - there's a few issues.

That font for the body text has to go - it's terrible.  You'd practically be better off just sticking with the standard lettering found on a Bicycle AoS.  Or what about making little "string art" letters?  THAT would fit the theme to a T.

The indices...  First, that font's color scheme looks strange and doesn't appear to have any connection with the deck's art/theme.  And I was NEVER a fan of "splitting indices"; it's one of the reasons I never backed Bicycle Eclipse and have no interest in buying it.  Either shrink the art so it doesn't reach the indices or somehow frame the indices to "divorce" them from the string design.

[Collector]

As I promised:
http://playingcardcollector.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/behance-handmade-spirograph-playing-cards-design-by-rochelle-li/