Scopa Scuro idea

[fireshaper]

I'm really interested in designing different Italian decks, so I thought I would start with something easy. I present to you the Scopa Scuro deck (Scopa Dark)!

[Don Boyer]

It looks like it's got potential, but your sales in North America will be rather limited.  Best to target retailers in the EU, especially Italy.  We infrequently discuss those kinds of decks here, as most people prefer the International Standard.

[sprouts1115]

@fireshaper - I'm guessing.  4 of batons, King of cups, 4 of coins, and the Ace of swords.  Are you going to go for Knave, Horse, and King for your courts?

[fireshaper]

It looks like it's got potential, but your sales in North America will be rather limited.  Best to target retailers in the EU, especially Italy.  We infrequently discuss those kinds of decks here, as most people prefer the International Standard.

I was planning to sell mostly online, as I have zero knowledge of how to get these into retailers hands.

@fireshaper - I'm guessing.  4 of batons, King of cups, 4 of coins, and the Ace of swords.  Are you going to go for Knave, Horse, and King for your courts?

Yes, that's correct. I'm using the Napoletane deck as a base for this one. I still have yet to come up with a card back and tuck box design though.

[sprouts1115]

@fireshaper - You should change the design a little more.  It's almost a copy.  What a shame.  I bet you like the Ace of Coins. 

[Don Boyer]

It looks like it's got potential, but your sales in North America will be rather limited.  Best to target retailers in the EU, especially Italy.  We infrequently discuss those kinds of decks here, as most people prefer the International Standard.

I was planning to sell mostly online, as I have zero knowledge of how to get these into retailers hands.

Have you tried contacting a few EU retailers?  JP Playing Cards is in Britain, and CartesMagie.com is based in France - both shops' owners are members here.  Look around a little and I'm certain you'd find more.

[fireshaper]

@fireshaper - You should change the design a little more.  It's almost a copy.  What a shame.  I bet you like the Ace of Coins.

I mirrored the court cards and made the pips more like the french decks (reversing them on the bottom row) for pips that I could do that on. Here's a new preview.

[fireshaper]

Here's the horses (knights) of each suit. I'm not liking the horse of cups, but that horse is just so long, and I want to keep the symmetry!

EDIT: Okay, I modified the Horse of Cups more. It's not as symmetrical as I'd like but it fills the card more.

[fireshaper]

The card back design. My brand is Mandrake, and that weird creature is a female mandrake.

[Don Boyer]

As they appear now, your images all appear to be like photographic negatives.  Can you instead make them appear as positive images?  I think it would be more attractive.

While this is never mandatory, it's usually a good idea to keep the back design two-way - the same when rotated 180 degrees.  Either that, or a one-way design that's more obvious - say, one Mandrake image taking up the entire back.  A subtle, one-way design can be used by cheaters to rig a deck - for example, turn high-value cards one way and low-value cards the other when shuffling and now you know who's getting which value category.

[fireshaper]

As they appear now, your images all appear to be like photographic negatives.  Can you instead make them appear as positive images?  I think it would be more attractive.

What do you mean by positive images? White background with black pips/ faces?

For the back I didn't realize there was a subtle one-way design until you said something. You mean the bubble design behind the mandrake? Because I can see spots that aren't mirrored. I can fix that.

[Don Boyer]

As they appear now, your images all appear to be like photographic negatives.  Can you instead make them appear as positive images?  I think it would be more attractive.

What do you mean by positive images? White background with black pips/ faces?

For the back I didn't realize there was a subtle one-way design until you said something. You mean the bubble design behind the mandrake? Because I can see spots that aren't mirrored. I can fix that.

White background would be one way, but what about white outline around the character, with the background just within that area white and the lines in black.  Think about it - when has a negative image of a person looked more flattering?

I was referring to the cracked lines around the outer edge of the design.  Not even remotely symmetrical.

[sprouts1115]

@fireshaper - Don is right.  If you going to have a "1-way" back you need to hide it more in the center of the deck not on the edges.  The cracked lines are not symmetrical. Are you planing on having indices?  You could do a lot of wild and crazy things using the Tarot suits....

[Don Boyer]

@fireshaper - Don is right.  If you going to have a "1-way" back you need to hide it more in the center of the deck not on the edges.  The cracked lines are not symmetrical.

Actually, most subtle one-way designs are at the edge, allowing them to be easily identified in a spread or a hand.  However, the cracked lines are definitely NOT subtle.  But with the rest of the design being more two-way, it looks like something Fireshaper attempted to hide, sort of.

I say if you're going do any part of the design one-way that's not subtle to the point of hidden, then make the whole design one-way in an obvious manner.  The only caveat with that is, at least with International Standard decks, card players will tend to stay away from them for the reason I gave below.  Two-way designs normally sell better - but again, we're talking about a different deck standard and I have no idea what the audience for this deck would prefer.  If the target audience was little old ladies that love to play bridge, I'd say fine, they love one-way decks.  I simply don't know the audience for this design and standard.

[fireshaper]

Alright, I followed you guys advice. Don, I have to say, this looks much better! Thanks for the suggestion. I also took the crackled look off the back. I couldn't get it to look right because I think the figure-8 part is a wee bit off so it doesn't line up correctly. I may go back and change it but this is how it is for now.

Attached are the Kings and the card back!

[Don Boyer]

Alright, I followed you guys advice. Don, I have to say, this looks much better! Thanks for the suggestion. I also took the crackled look off the back. I couldn't get it to look right because I think the figure-8 part is a wee bit off so it doesn't line up correctly. I may go back and change it but this is how it is for now.

Attached are the Kings and the card back!

That makes a WORLD of difference!  The artwork is much easier to see and looks so much better.

Do the same for the mandrake on the card back!

[fireshaper]

You really have the eye for this, Don. Behold!

[Will W.]

You really have the eye for this, Don. Behold!

I agree. Looks so much better.  Nice job! 

[fireshaper]

I uploaded the card files to MPC, there's a bit of weird pixellation on them cards but I think that's because of how they shrink the images to preview them (I hope). I made them  the right size and 300dpi so I don't think there would be any weird pixellation on the final product.

Hopefully, they will turn out alright so I can take pictures of them for the Kickstarter.

[Don Boyer]

You really have the eye for this, Don. Behold!

It's why I have people seeking me out for design consultations! 

[fireshaper]

The cards have arrived from MPC! I did mess up, though, and chose the wrong back design. No worries though! Only a minor setback, not enough to keep the Kickstarter from starting. The website is set up (http://mandrakecards.com) with a teaser image and will be upgraded with more info as soon as the campaing begins.

[fireshaper]

The campaign starts tomorrow, Jan 7 @ 1PM EST!

[fireshaper]

It has begun!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1760907460/scopa-scuro-dark-themed-italian-playing-cards

[ecNate]

I like your general concept of updating old international decks, but don't care for the blacked out look personally.  Although the changes you've made here have been huge improvements.  That said, shipping costs are going to kill your project.  There is no discount at all for shipping why buying in bulk.  Also, the shipping costs in general are far too high.  I've backed other decks from MPC as a printer and gotten those delivered in US for $8-$10.  You are asking $14 ($12 EB) which is the norm for UPSCC decks which will be hard for people to justify, especially if they want to buy more than one they'll tend to cancel when they see the huge shipping costs.  You may want to check with your fulfillment company, there should be minimal to no additional cost between sending a single deck and up to 1-2 more.

Best of luck anyhow!

[fireshaper]

You are right. I misread the email from MPC about that. I'll update that info right away.