So yes, I'd love to hear feedback on any aspects of the design. I've made some conscious choices that I know run against the grain, like a directional card back, full color print, and a somewhat narrow hard border, but I'm sure I'm missing out on subtleties as well. Most especially, I'm curious as to how important the standard pip layout is and anything I can learn on making this happen via Kickstarter, especially whether or not using UPCC or Chinese or other printers is a Big Deal.
Many thanks!
OK, where to start...
First, you have to know that the competition in that category is pretty stiff - that category being a playing card deck with a (insert-early-Industrial-Age-concept-here)-punk theme. It's actually becoming a bit on the tired side - there's a glut of them now, and Kickstarter's not being very kind to the active ones that remain. Cyberpunk is seeing some revival, as is Retro 8-Bit Gaming - they're on an upward trend. Check out the New Deck Report and Archive topic at the top of the Playing Card Plethora - I track all those trends, both on Kickstarter and from elsewhere. If you haven't already (sh'yeah, right), look at the previous steampunk-themed decks, both from Kickstarter AND from the other design houses (Theory11 created a trio of decks called "Bicycle Steam Punk") that didn't use Kickstarter. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting one. You need to look at what makes your deck different, interesting and BETTER than those designs - and if it isn't, you need to rethink your idea a bit longer until it is.
Your border? NOT narrow. Not compared to many decks we've seen. It's more like standard, really, if not a little on the thick side!
Full color back? We LOVE full color backs.
One-way back? Well, it doesn't automatically mean your deck will fail, but you will be restricting your customer base a lot by making that choice. If there's a subtle one-way mark on a two-way back, that's one thing - magicians love them while legitimate poker players won't buy them. But an obvious one-way back is totally different. To give you an idea, of all the decks created by the Conjuring Arts Research Center (CARC) the least-popular design they made was the "Ask Alexander" deck - and it's the only one with an obvious one-way back design.
Standard pip layout? If it's attractive, most of us wouldn't care less if it's not standard. Some decks are actually MORE appealing for their non-standard pip placements, as long as it looks good and isn't strange for the sake of being strange.
Printer... While USPC is not the be-all, end-all of playing card manufacture, they are the 800-pound gorilla in the room - a room full of chimps, by comparison. It is indeed possible to print a great quality deck outside of USPC - the recent Legends deck would be a great example of quality printing from Taiwan, while the Fournier 605 Lee Asher Signature Series decks are great work of high quality from a Spanish manufacturer (they're wholly-owned by USPC, but they're still operated independently from the mother ship).
Having said that, for some collectors, USPC is all there is and nothing else matters. And for a healthy percentage of those, the Bicycle brand itself is all they care about, and they have no desire to buy anything else. Sure, they're missing out on a larger world of playing cards, but it's what they chose. Go figure.
Using a company other than USPC or a brand other than Bicycle isn't the kiss of death. But it does dramatically reduce your deck's popularity. Printing with USPC would be considered critical to most, while the Bicycle brand is not as critical, merely noteworthy. It will cost you less and require less oversight to print an "unbranded" USPC deck, that's for certain - they charge for use of the brand name, the branding has to be approved by the Brand Manager for that brand, and there are restrictions on just what you can do with the design.
I think that's enough to chew on for now...
I also do consulting work for playing card designers, as you can see in my signature - give me a shout if you're interested.
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