Hi guys, first post here on the forums, forgive me if I'm out of place to post this, but I'm wondering; what do you guys prefer in a deck design? Minimalist design elements (e.g. NOC decks or Rounders) Or sophisticated designs (most E and T11 decks)
Personally, I started out as a huge fan of E decks but as time has gone on I find myself more and more drawn to simplicity.
What do you guys think?
First of all, I think I'm happy to see a new member! You should make a topic for yourself on the "Introduce Yourself" board and give the gang a chance to get to know you better.
I'm in agreement with Sovereign in terms of how you're thinking minimal versus complex rather than sophisticated. I've seen many minimal designs that are very sophisticated. I actually don't have a preference between the two as a collector. I think they both have their places in the custom deck world.
I will confess that as a magician, I'd probably steer away from the unfamiliar if performing for a general audience. In such cases, it's not complex versus minimal - it's familiar versus unfamiliar. I'd go for a familiar deck, and it tends to be easier to find gaffs in familiar designs. I want to perform with something that my audience will recognize and identify with.
But there are exceptions for specialized audiences - for example, if I was performing at a hipster bar, I might bring something like Sentinels or the Mechanic deck, and if I knew there's be some Goth/emo-types around or it was near Halloween, I'd go for a good full-custom Karnival deck like Dose Redux or Inferno.