The Shield Maiden Deck, prototype and feedback

[Massiz]

Hello everybody,

I'm from Italy and newbie in this world, but I'd like to try immediately the hard way. I'm developing a deck with my 11 year old son, a tribute to vikings women/warrior, also known as Shield Maiden.
So the look is obviously nordic, and no men will appear, as I decided to use young women for the J.
I have some prototypes to show to you and I'd like to have some feedback. Do not consider watermark or errors here and there, I used that stuff just to make prototypes.
In the back I chose the Lagertha Shield, with some other decoration based on the vikings/celtic arts, with some small runes. As you can see in the upper left corner, we are considering adding some light blue in corners.
For the faces, we started with a dirt white background (as you see for the J) but then we decided to go more dark. We are deciding about dimensions of symbols, especially the one under font and numbers (I think the smaller are better).
If we'll decide to go for a run, we are going to redesign a lot of parts, and get personalized arts from an artist (we used so far some public found on the net).
Thanks for any consideration that you will share with us.

Max & Jacky

Proto2.jpg (658.31 KiB) Viewed 1480 times

Proto3.jpg (693.26 KiB) Viewed 1480 times

Proto4.jpg (651.17 KiB) Viewed 1480 times

[BaconWise]

I think there is always room for a well-executed Nordic theme, at least in my opinion. Some of my favorites include Helheim, Midgard, and Ragnarok by Nicolai Aeroe; Kalevala by Guru Playing Cards (Sunish Chabba); Luminosity by Jody Eklund; and two new projects to be fulfilled in the coming months in Amazons Spartans by Agitcom, and Warrior Women by Headless Kings - both of which feature only women, which is neat.

I think your design is promising but it will need to be nearly flawless to catch the attention of collectors, especially considering the recent projects in the same vein. I had a few thoughts about what you have shared:

- I would consider making the back two-way as that will appeal to a wider audience.
- I REALLY like your pips.
- I like the idea of the corner features on your Queen of Hearts, but I think it will need to be more integrated into the illustration. As it stands, it just doesn't look organic and it actually distracts a bit. I also understand this is just a placeholder, but I think integration should be considered.

Please keep sharing updates and let us know more about the tuck box and how the number cards will look as well. Thank you for sharing!

[Massiz]

Thanks.
I was considering all the point that you touched, especially for the more integration of the corners. I'm also refining images to appear better. I will try to work on the dragons to see how can I go for the two-way back.

[Massiz]

Few updates.
I worked a bit on the back, using better lines (thanks vectors) and now the dragons are more integrated (but still one-way), and I changed the runes using ones completely redesigned. I added the blue in the corners, and converted all blue in the same color code. I want to show you also a number card. As you can see, now the pips under the number are smaller, but I think need more space between the index and the pips inside the card.

[Massiz]

I found easy to work on dragons to make 'em two-way. I'm considering to remove the sword and the axes, leaving only the Lagertha Shield. I'm also trying to more integrate the corners for the courts, and here you can see 2 different ways. The bottom has a level that goes over the illustration, otherwise the one in the right up has the illustration overlaying a bit over the corner, hiding some details of it. Looks a lot better to me but I can't understand what to follow.

[PiazzaDelivery]

Is that Avril Lavigne?

[Massiz]

Is that Avril Lavigne?

Hahahahaha now that you've said that, yeah looks like a bit...

[STLBluesNut]

I really like the lighter blue on the shield of the first back shown. When I scrolled down and saw that I could feel my eyes widen and said to myself, wow! Changing it to the darker blue does not have the same effect. I like the design for the back a lot.

I also like the art of the courts but the format of the border needs to be worked on I think. Perhaps some sort of rectangle or oval frame with some scroll work. I don't think the fading edge is doing much justice to the art.

Sent from my S10+ using Tapatalk

[Massiz]

Hi guys, another day, another update. Added a frame all over the art, and I think it's pretty good. Looks a bit different 'cause it's more warrior and less woman... but I like it.
What do you think?

EDIT: added another typer of frame, soft, for the queen of spades

[Harvonsgard]

Hmm... without any intend to disrespect, but those frames give me a very souvenir deck vibe. Not good incorporated imo.

[Massiz]

Hey, when you go public you have to accept critics, really no problem in your words

[MagikFingerz]

Agree with Harvey, they just restrict the artwork on an already small space.

I feel like those frames are an attempt to solve the problem that is created by having backgrounds as part of the court cards (which may indicate that they're not made specifically for a deck of playing cards, but I wouldn't know), ie the background has to either fade out somehow or be boxed in. Remove the background scenery, and you'll have no need for frames

[Massiz]

I have a lot of respect about your opinion but I want try to understand. There’s a lot of decks with frames, even alteady funded on KS, so I decided for this way, because I like it. Surely I want to work on integration.

[Harvonsgard]

Often words are so insufficient . It is hard to describe. There is nothing wrong with frames and borders. It all depends how good they merge with the artwork. The transition is very harsh in your draft. Dunno how to describe it better. Always keep in mind, it's just an opinion. If you're happy with the look then go for it.

[Massiz]

First of all, I’m here to learn,you are a gentleman, I’ll keep work on it