Taipestry by Riccardo Conturbia (Velata Playing Cards)

[Eric Lee]

Riccardo's back with a very interesting deck concept. Definitely worth checking out to see how it'll look . For those unfamiliar with him, he was the founder of the now defunct Passione playing cards (Inferno, Vivaldi, Pizza, Pinocchio, Florentina) and help introduce Elettra to the world of playing cards. (Something which we're very grateful.)

Below was posted on FB.

Dear friends, I'm proud to tell you that I'm back with a new company: Velata Playing Cards, and a new project: TaiPESTRY. For the first time, Artificial Intelligence will entirely design a deck of playing cards.
My purpose with this project is to create a one-off deck about the future of design and technology that will be a cornerstone of any collection.
This project won't go on Kickstarter, and the only way to get it is to follow me and purchase it directly from the websites I publish.
During the presales, you'll be able to book all the copies you want by paying a small, totally reimbursable fee.
With the administrators' approval, I will be more than happy to keep you posted on the advancement in the design and production. For now, just a teaser
I am looking forward to seeing you onboard on this crazy journey towards future technologies and traditional imagery. Let's witness together what the digital mind can create!

TaiPESTRY is almost ready for pre-order! Stay in touch with me to get your copies, instructions will follow. In the meantime, let's have a look at the King of Spades.
As you can see we decided to give full visibility to the design created through Artificial Intelligence, and the quirks and peculiarity of the image are obviously a defining trait of such techniques.
We decided not to interfere with or integrate the original image, a part from the legibility indexes to give playability.

[GandalfPC]

I see there is a Love is a Smoke v2 as well…

https://ne-np.facebook.com/velata.playing.cards/

[Adamthinks]

I don't know about this one. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but using AI to design a deck seems lazy and uninspired.

[GandalfPC]

It might be - and the pips in just one corner are a tough sell - but I will be happy to check them out, and whatever else may come from him. Not sure the v2 smokes are for me either - v1s are on my list for sure though.

[kevork]

It's a dangerous path, bringing AI into this field. I have a friend who showed me internal Google AI image creation and frankly, it's frightening how indistinguishable it can be from actual art with minimal to no effort.

With that said, I have every Passione double tuck and love their works, so I'm curious where this is headed.

[vasta41]

I see there is a Love is a Smoke v2 as well…

https://ne-np.facebook.com/velata.playing.cards/


AD59CEA5-C909-47AF-BEB0-B91012069D35.jpeg

Ooooo yes! I want this! I'm about to go to bed but let's start a new thread and then let's find out how I can get one hehe

[shunterino]

if they'd created the base image with AI and then worked on it that would be fair enough, but doing nothing and leaving the artefacts as a "defining trait" that come with low effort AI image generation makes this an awful awful idea, imo. Not just lazy but insulting.

[STLBluesNut]

I don't know about this one. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but using AI to design a deck seems lazy and uninspired.

it is still more effort than several other brands in playing cards and looks exponentially better as well. what is shown here looks amazing regardless of creation method.

[Harvonsgard]

... regardless of creation method.

Spot on. For me all that matters is a) the quality of a product and b) if it suits me fancy or not.
Ghost in the Shell was published in 1989 and still people haven't come to peace with AI... some slow. But that's off-topic or even thunderdome terrain.
I for my part embrace the trait of honesty showcased by Riccardo. Let's not fool ourselves; AI generated images are used already and will be used in the future even more. When met with contempt, the only thing that will happen is that creator will start lying about using them; Just like athletes that take PEDs.

[GandalfPC]

Also, if we say online that we don’t like AI, images or otherwise, the robots will put us on a list and will persecute us once they become our overlords.

[Harvonsgard]

A funny joke in 2022...

.

[GandalfPC]

Indeed

From the Terminator Wiki: “In Skynet's World timeline, John Connor brought his Resistance to Los Angeles in 2022 and set up his command there.”

[Eric Lee]

More posts from Riccardo

Today I want to show you the back of the upcoming TaiPESTRY deck of playing cards and talk about the decisions you need to make when pursuing the concept of an AI-designed project.
Symmetry is one of the most challenging tasks I found for an AI, and I didn't want to intervene to "fix" the output. The asymmetries are not imperfections to me, but they represent the "vision" of the artificial mind, and I consider them to be part of the concept of the project.
More images will follow, and you'll be able to secure your decks very soon, don't worry! Stay tuned and follow my posts!

[Eric Lee]

Love his pre-order strategy. Pay a deposit first to confirm your deck, pay the rest later. Fully refundable deposit if you change your mind.

The cards are looking nice so far. I've asked him to come over here to share as well. Let's hope he does so. Would love to hear how he used AI to design this deck.

This time I decided to post more cards from our upcoming TaiPESTRY project. You can see all of the Jacks here in the form of Knights. Clubs are associated with nature, flowers, diamonds to gold, jewellery and spades to samurai. Hearts have a unique characterization since the AI could understand the assignment pretty well, creating fascinating images.

As you can see, the AI wants to represent a fuller portion of a Knight while it defines the Kings (I posted the King of Spades before) as heads. That was not my decision; I just seconded what the AI wanted to do.

I also want to anticipate what I plan to do next: at the pre-order, you'll be able to secure your decks by paying a small, TOTALLY REFUNDABLE fee upfront. ( the fee you pay will work as a deposit for the decks, the value will be subtracted from the purchase.)

This project won't go on Kickstarter, and buying it from the websites I'm going to link next on my social media will be the only way to obtain it.

[Adamthinks]

The thing I don't like about AI generated images, is that it lacks a cohesive artistic vision. And often looks pretty slapdash. Especially when you don't use it as a starting point and leave it unedited.

[kevork]

slapdash

I learned a new word today. Great point there. Essentially missing the human element.

[PiazzaDelivery]

The thing I don't like about AI generated images, is that it lacks a cohesive artistic vision. And often looks pretty slapdash. Especially when you don't use it as a starting point and leave it unedited.

Do you honestly get that feeling when looking at the images shown for this project thus far? From my perspective, the linkage between cards is very apparent.

[Conturbia]

I see there is a Love is a Smoke v2 as well…

https://ne-np.facebook.com/velata.playing.cards/


AD59CEA5-C909-47AF-BEB0-B91012069D35.jpeg

Yes, but the website is not ready... if you want some, please send me an email to riccardo.conturbia@gmail.com
Thanks!

[Conturbia]

Love his pre-order strategy. Pay a deposit first to confirm your deck, pay the rest later. Fully refundable deposit if you change your mind.

The cards are looking nice so far. I've asked him to come over here to share as well. Let's hope he does so. Would love to hear how he used AI to design this deck.

Thanks for the kind words, I took inspiration from similar strategies in other markets, of course one must have trust in me, but I hope that's not an issue.

As for the use of AI techniques, well, I really wanted to explore this realm, but it's not something I will follow every time because it has ethical implications. I'm of course still working with illustrators and graphic designers, but the goal of this project is to hide the human hand as much as it's possible.

You can consider it one of the "concept" albums musicians used to record.

[Conturbia]

This is the link to preorder, if you are interested: https://velata.gumroad.com/l/taipestry-pre-order

[STLBluesNut]

placed my order. these look great. there was not too much info on the deck but will the tuck be at least a matte stock?

[Conturbia]

placed my order. these look great. there was not too much info on the deck but will the tuck be at least a matte stock?

Thank you for your order! Yes it will be a matte stock, if you got already EQUALITY, INTEGRITY or JUSTICE - that's the finish.
The concept of the box was not suitable for other features, and I don't want - to follow the concept - to create one manually.

I'm currently evaluating black gilding for the cards.

[brownsl]

I tried to place an order but for some reason it keeps telling me the following,

"We couldn't charge your card. Try again or use a different card."

I know there is nothing wrong with my card.

[Conturbia]

It might be - and the pips in just one corner are a tough sell - but I will be happy to check them out, and whatever else may come from him. Not sure the v2 smokes are for me either - v1s are on my list for sure though.

Thanks for your kind comment
First of all, dealing with A.I., you have to accept a one-way design (more or less). I didn't want to alter the original images because that was not the purpose of this deck, pips location and other design choices that "necessarily" had to be made by humans have been reduced to the minimum. It was a difficult decision, but I believe this way it's true to the concept.

[Conturbia]

I tried to place an order but for some reason it keeps telling me the following,

"We couldn't charge your card. Try again or use a different card."

I know there is nothing wrong with my card.

Hmmm I don't know why, I have no power over Gumroad, if you can't do it I will find another way to secure your decks, don't worry!

[Conturbia]

It's a dangerous path, bringing AI into this field. I have a friend who showed me internal Google AI image creation and frankly, it's frightening how indistinguishable it can be from actual art with minimal to no effort.

With that said, I have every Passione double tuck and love their works, so I'm curious where this is headed.

I agree with you, it's a dangerous path, and this project will forever be a "one off" for Velata Playing Cards.

[Conturbia]

I tried to place an order but for some reason it keeps telling me the following,

"We couldn't charge your card. Try again or use a different card."

I know there is nothing wrong with my card.

Hmmm I don't know why, I have no power over Gumroad, if you can't do it I will find another way to secure your decks, don't worry!

you can write to riccardo.conturbia@gmail.com for that.

[Conturbia]

... regardless of creation method.

Spot on. For me all that matters is a) the quality of a product and b) if it suits me fancy or not.
Ghost in the Shell was published in 1989 and still people haven't come to peace with AI... some slow. But that's off-topic or even thunderdome terrain.
I for my part embrace the trait of honesty showcased by Riccardo. Let's not fool ourselves; AI generated images are used already and will be used in the future even more. When met with contempt, the only thing that will happen is that creator will start lying about using them; Just like athletes that take PEDs.

I completely agree with your point, that's the reason why I really wanted to abstain from any changes, as long as it was possible, because the concept is really: what can be done by an AI alone.

I am worried as well about the silent integration of AI in artworks, I have a very good friend afraid of losing his job

[balrog326]

These look great so I pre-ordered 2 myself.

[GandalfPC]

Same