Harvonsgard wrote: โThu Apr 04, 2024 8:26 am
Nice short film and overall a nice deck as well. Some will hate the one way back design but I actually like them if they make sense, like in this case. I prefer more fully custom decks but the details that have been touched are very nicely executed.
Thank you very much.
I wanted the user to feel as if it was a deck that they could never get tired of playing with, and bring alongside them to all of their adventures to make memories with.
I wanted the deck to represent a feeling for the user, and not a laundry list of "features", which is
why I am reluctant to expose this here.
If I switch frames to that of a collector, I understand why "fully custom" is used a lot. Here's my take as a designer.
You might have noticed if you looked closely in "Second Wind: An Ode to Playing Cards",
Most notably, as shown on the KS page and trailer was the back design animation with the clouds flowing. It is a 3D animation where not only the shape of the clouds changes, but also the shadows and lighting. As you many of you may know, 3D animations are EXTREMELY difficult to execute and time consuming. Which is why you rarely see them done for playing cards. For the most part, you'll encounter 2D animations on decks.
More subtly, you may have noticed if you watched REALLY closely,
the "Second Wind" deck has 52 different cloud patterns illustrated by me, embedded on the faces. This gives the user tons of new things to look at everytime they pop open the deck. It's like getting that exciting feeling of thumbing through a deck for the first time, every time.
Other features, like 3D shadows on the pips to "contain" the cloud patterns, and the subtle (noticeable in person) light pink borders/paper for faces, are things that make the deck fully custom in my opinion. But like i said earlier, I believe in providing a "feeling" to the users in which my cards resonate with, and not simply a laundry list of features for collectors to decide whether or not a deck is "custom" enough. That's my opinion as a designer.
On another note, I was asked to contribute a write up to an ebook on playing card design - "Cards in Your Favor", by Max Jung (Unique Playing Cards), a good friend of mine. I touched on the playing card industry having too many rules; collectors have a strict list of what they want, for example, custom courts, symetrical back designs, foil, etc.
This creates a checklist for new designers, and it takes away their creative vision in my opinion. A deck CAN have custom courts, but why does it NEED to have custom courts?
After seeing hundreds of decks with tacky custom courts/pips, it makes me wonder why effort can't be directed to produce something different, and make art, rather than catering to an audience.
I'm a big believer of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
To conclude, a question for all of the readers - Are "fully custom" decks seen as more valuable, since they require "more" effort to produce?
A.I. could whip me up a fully custom deck in less than a day. People, let's not let the term "fully custom" define our decisions. Maybe that's why so many collectors feel jaded right now. Because people started shopping to fulfill a checklist, and not to fulfill a feeling.
All of this is my own opinion, and I think its totally okay for different humans to have different points of view on things.
People are gonna hate me for saying all this here lol.
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