Hello Discourse,
My name is Ari Steffen. I am the creator of Radical 80s playing cards on kickstarter. Reading your expert opinions has been both humbling and real. I am not use to my work receiving so much scrutiny. with what said I appreciate your opinions and feedback.
Let me address a few things.
- I made some ammeter mistakes when I launched the page and some of my images were cmyk. While it looked fine on my computer it looked like crap to some. so I had to take a bunch of images down and repost them as rgb. That is why the back disappeared.
The back- I like the cassette checkers design... but none of you seem to and a few others have felt the some way. I am taking feedback and working on several others designs. On monday I will put it to a vote of the backers.
The Pips. The digital lcd numbers are a unique feature of this deck. Did you ever turn a calculator upside down and spell words when you were a kid? you can do that with this deck. 01137 is Hello. (the extra cards are a digital 1 and 0)
You can also use this deck to rate anything... like the 1980s Olympics... or what you think of this deck.
Finally, 80s guys don’t have time to count pips. they have digital clocks, digital watches, and now digital cards.
This is my first deck and It means a lot to me. I want to make it the best I can. I respect your opinions and input. keep it coming!
First, welcome, Ari. Drop by the Introduce Yourself board when you have a chance and let us really get to know you better.
Suggestions:
* I know you love the neon, but for the sake of deck function, consider either going with two colors, or if you really want four, try finding more complementary pairs, such as using pink and magenta for the red suits and sky blue and electric blue for the black suits.
* I'm assuming the "zero" card is your version of a ten. Consider making the index read "10" with the center of the card remaining a "0". And the negative space...I'm all for not cluttering a card, but your design seems really empty. How about trying a line of pips along the bottom of the card, similar to the line sometimes used for distinguishing the difference between a 6 and a 9. You deck especially needs this, since when the cards get shuffled up and dealt, the 6 and the 9 are nearly identical - and at a distance, might as well be.
* We love the hairstyles for the court cards. We despise the clip-art insertions of '80s paraphernalia - why not use your talents and draw them into the image using the same style of the courts? That hair is awesome! I would even go so far as to recommend altering the court outfits themselves into something more in the style of '80s fashions. For a good example of a similar transformation, check out the Bicycle Black Tie deck - it was launched on Kickstarter so the page should still be available. It's a fantastic deck, transforming the courts into the hoi polloi at a formal function. By stripping away the complex traditional court designs, you'll find it easier to incorporate original art images into the courts, I think, of objects like boom boxes and brick cellphones.
* Consider replacing the Rubik's Cube with something else. I know, it's very iconically '80s (despite being invented in 1974!), but it's also a patented, trademarked item. Consider shiny compact discs, a "luggable" portable computer or some other more generic item. USPC's well-known Legal Department will stop your project cold if you don't own the rights to everything that appears in your deck - and that's if you're lucky. Projects have been destroyed with legal battles over the ownership and licensing of copyrights and trademarks.
