Hi folks,
This is Kevin here from the Toronto Playing Card Co. Myself and Emily have been hard at work over the past few months creating what you now see as the Olde Bones deck. Sorry I did not get to this forum sooner, but Rose was kind enough to send me an invite and I have just seen this thread now.
So I know we are getting beat up pretty hard on this thing and I do get it. I understand that to many playing card aficionados such as Don, we have overlooked certain key elements that optimizes these playing cards for functionality. To be straight up, the mix up regarding the indexes was purely an oversight. We have since re-released the artwork with the standard indexes and hope that it now satisfies this issue.
In response to the statement about being able to identify a card's suit from the side, this is also a good point and honestly not something we considered. I really do not know if this will actually be the case (my gut feel is that any individual card's edge is too thin to identify this), but I also can recognize that Don has a great deal of experience with playing cards and may have encountered such an issue in the past.
Right or wrong, our primary approach to this deck has been as a work of art. We think that playing cards are an awesome medium to showcase an artist's talent. I mean, where else can you spend 10 or 15 bucks and receive 54 individually crafted works of art? Now I can already almost hear Don laughing to my previous statement, as it is very clear he thinks our deck is anything but art. But like them or hate them, Emily did pour her soul into crafting these cards. And I believe that is the thing about all good art - it will be loved by some and hated by others.
Another point Don has made was regarding the colour palate in general. I won't spend too much time on this as this is clearly a personal preference. To us, we were trying to achieve a certain mood. It was a creative decision. Some people like this mood for the deck while others may not. If we are fortunate and do get into the stretch goals with this campaign, however, we are definitely playing with the idea of a more colourful "celebration deck".
The people who have supported our project on Kickstarter have been incredibly encouraging. I have received many private messages from backers telling me that they think the deck is beautiful and that they cannot wait to have it in hand. I am sure that just as many people do not like it. But we really were not trying to be all things to all people.
There has been so much learning that has come through this process. I already know that on our next deck there are many things I would do differently. Some of those things are functional points that have been highlighted here, other things are from an artistic perspective, and even some things are from a marketing standpoint. To us though, this has been a wild ride that we are super stoked to be on. We have amazing supporters that we are trying to produce the best product we can for. We have had a very open dialogue with our supporters (I hope Rose who has messaged me privately would agree) and will continue to do so to respond to their needs and concerns.
What gets us really pumped is to think that this thing we have been working on that began with just the germ of an idea will be exported literally around the globe if this campaign is successful. We have backers in Canada, US, England, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Japan, and many places in between. It's so cool to think this little deck we have been working on may actually resonate with and inspire someone on the other side of the planet. How satisfying is that, right?
Anyway, I've rambled now. I know there will still be many critics but I hope this helps to explain where we are coming from with this deck. As a side note we just released our Jokers today. I will post them here for Don to tear apart
Is the designer still using two different background colors for the two different colors of the suits? It still acts as a giveaway. Hard to feint that you're holding a club flush when the other players know you were dealt a red card...
Does the designer plan on adding any real contrast anytime soon? Because without it, this deck will end up resembling well-mixed wet concrete.
I doubt it since these concerns aren't expressed at the comments section of the campaign. Maybe it's about time someone invited the designer here.
I got someone already on the case! Another wouldn't hurt, of course...
Yeah, I did invite Kevin to join us here and share his thoughts and plans...that was yesterday...perhaps another friendly welcoming message may inspire him.