ACTIVE playing cards

[Don Boyer]

I, too, am a fan of the single-color back for this particular design.  It also makes for easier identification if you make a second or third color and at least two are in use at the same table, i.e., your typical beer-and-pretzels poker game.

[Fud]

My thought was to make a Poker pair deck: a red edition and a blue edition which would have (among other surprises) an identical red-themed back and a blue-themed back. I also have a busier back based on the bicycle design (attached) which is also vying for a shot. I thought that the simple back might be more appealing to a less card-savvy audience, and doing 2 separate colours in the simple back would have been much easier than pushing colours into the tricky bicycle one which is really a black and white design.

I’ve showed both back designs around and the opinion seems split between simple and complex. Any thoughts on which way to go, and if so, should I push ahead with a poker pair deck or just keep it a single one?

[Don Boyer]

You know my opinion - the simple pattern is better.  You're trying to shoehorn the Rider Back design into your concept with the complex back and it's a poor fit.

[ecNate]

You know my opinion - the simple pattern is better.  You're trying to shoehorn the Rider Back design into your concept with the complex back and it's a poor fit.

Perhaps, but it is FAR more interesting and ACTIVE than the plain back.  Perhaps a compromise and moving away from Rider back look would work, but I have nothing against showing some similar styles to the big boy on the block. 

[Fess]

UFO beaming up a lion = Win. 

[Fud]

I have gone back to the drawing board because I could not shake the idea that the rider imitation back was forcing a concept onto a theme that was not suitable for it (as Don said). I think this fresh revision is a nice compromise between the simplicity of the figures and the activity of the Pipmen. I have included 3 colours because I am hoping to do a White and a Red version as a poker pair, but I tested the regular back with inverted colours and it didn't look too bad so I thought I'd chuck it up to see what you thought.

I will mess around with the final figures before settling, but it's the concept that I'm going for here. What do you think? Sorry Fes; no UFO's beaming up lions in this one...

[Fess]

I like all of the new card back and colors. Good stuff, even without the UFO. The center element draws attention making it easy on the eye while the characters through out the rest of the card back add interest. Something the eye can discover after the initial glance. Adding that focus point, the string between the characters and the characters in a circular pattern in the center element has made quite a difference. I think this card back works well in a solid color regardless of color used, with exception of banana on white for obvious reasons.

I pick all three.

[Don Boyer]

If you are thinking poker pairs, give the white-on-black design a white border - black backs practically scream out for black faces, and black faces on one deck with white faces on the other (cough-ARCANE-cough) make for a terrible poker pair.  Or make it as a third deck stretch goal.

Overall, a great design.  Eye-catching and unique in a good way.

[Fud]

Thanks Don

I'm putting together the campaign page, prototypes are on their way; things are moving... We are on track for a Mid-January launch date (mark your calendars!)

Here are some more card for you - some hearts this time.

[HankMan]

I have gone back to the drawing board because I could not shake the idea that the rider imitation back was forcing a concept onto a theme that was not suitable for it (as Don said). I think this fresh revision is a nice compromise between the simplicity of the figures and the activity of the Pipmen. I have included 3 colours because I am hoping to do a White and a Red version as a poker pair, but I tested the regular back with inverted colours and it didn't look too bad so I thought I'd chuck it up to see what you thought.

I will mess around with the final figures before settling, but it's the concept that I'm going for here. What do you think? Sorry Fes; no UFO's beaming up lions in this one...

I love the back design, very interesting and makes people look deeper into each figures. big improvement from the fist draft of the back design 

[Fud]

I realised I had not given out any Jokers for the Pipmen deck yet... They are some of my favorites - fun, playful and a bit mischevous!

There will be 4 Jokers (that's right - 4); different ones for different decks Here are the Black edition Jokers!

Still on track for a January 14th launch - mark your callendars!

[Fud]

Another few spoilers for you fine folk

The campaign page is set up, prototypes are almost in hand, designs almost 100% - all ready to go in January!!!

Here are some 6's and 7's

[ecNate]

Going to duplicate my comments from elsewhere just to further the discussion here.

Fantabulus!!! Any chance you can do it sooner than that? I'm really anstsy to get my hands on this one! 

The 6oH I maybe don't get, but the grey triangles are distracting and I just don't see what is going on there. Are they shining flashlights or something?  If so, perhaps you can try it with a white background and slightly yellow beams shining from them instead?  I think that would be more obvious and less distracting.

The 6oS and 7oS are pretty neat, but the pipmen aren't really interacting WITH the pips, instead they are just kind of there. Especially the 6oS which is a bit of an anomaly with the dark background, I wonder if you could make it work some other way or find a different scenario there.. The colors on the 7oS are pretty sweet though and there is some interaction with the birds so it's still good, just not as awesome as some of the others.

I'm pretty sure we've seen the 7oC before, which is quite good. The 6oC makes me smile and the 7oH is brilliant!