Æ project

[Pyramid.ink]

Hi there,
As i was suggested in my presentation thread, i open a thread here to showcase the process of my current project.
To give a bit of context: it is a standard 55 deck trying to synthetize various influences, around a mythological theme.
The starting point of the project was the study of the names you can find on old french playing cards, especially the lady of spades: pallas. Since then, the project evolved and the showcased mythologies changed, but the name kind of stuck from there.
After many designs iterations, i am currently finishing laying everything out and hope to be able to launch funding at the beginning of 2024.
I am yet unclear on fabrication. I know i want to go through a real card manufacturer and i am currently discussing with several: cartamundi wjpc and a thrid one.
If you have questions and observations i will be very happy to answer them!

[Pyramid.ink]

Hello!
Here are some more pictures, focusing on the screenprinting process that lead to the first prototype.
It was quite an adventure, a lot of prep had to be done with the file to get exploitable stencils, and as the friends i was working with were in a new space, they didn’t had their marks on how the emulsion was going to dry and all these place relevant technical aspects.
In the end we managed to make 20 decks & salvage most of the less good prints as artist proof (around 5 more). It was nice to see these drawings exist as cards at least, and for the first time.

[Pyramid.ink]

Hello there,
today I wanted to share with you some peeks of the first proto work sessions.
Visuals are gif, so think to click'em to make them play. It was not easy to make files that fit here but i somehow managed.
I see your feedbacks about the pictures, feel free to engage discussion around the deck and process too, I'll be very happy to share about the project!
see you around!

[kevork]

How rewarding that must feel to see your artwork turning into something real. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.

[Honeybee]

LE PERE is my favourite but I am not sure if it would be enough to make me a purchaser
Will it have any red on it?
is the ILE PERE at one end intentional?

[Pyramid.ink]

Thanks everyone for the kind words, i will reply about the specific questions:

LE PERE is my favourite but I am not sure if it would be enough to make me a purchaser
Will it have any red on it?
is the ILE PERE at one end intentional?

about the color scheme: these first pics were of the very first printed prototype for the deck. The final version will use a cmyk color scheme reminiscent of the international standard (which also happens to be more affordable with local card manufacturers). So yes, red is among the final selected colors.
About the ILE it was not intentional, and you have a good eye to have caught it. The purpose of these test prints were exactly that: catching mistakes in the designs. Typos, wrong way symmetries and so on. V1.1 (pictured below) corrected most of these issues but some reappeared with design harmonizations switching to v2 then v3. V3.1 (pictured below) is currently being proofread, as the idea is to switch to the card manufacturer for V.4, that will be the last, commercialized one.

[Pyramid.ink]

As i said earlier, several versions of the deck have been made, with an iterative design approach. Today i wanted to give a peek at the v2-cup.
The main difference with v1 is the presence of four illustrated aces, with antagonistic figures from the depicted mythologies. Here you have spades with the sphinge.
The leap between v2 and v3 is more pronounced, but it is a story for another day

[Harvonsgard]

I like what I'm seeing here.

[Pyramid.ink]

happy new year!!!
with attached pic of the <3 version
see you soon!

[Pyramid.ink]

hello there,

long time since I have last given updates, here is some promo material for the project, made from the cards designs.
they are postcard format cards riso printed in 3 layers. Not ideal to play but ideal to frame. They will be accessible as entry level subs on the ks.

Hoping from your feedback on these ones, see ya around

[Pyramid.ink]

Hello there, as the conception of the project is nearing completion, and as it was suggested again in some other places, i dediced to resume sharing about the project here.
Today I wanted to share a big part of completing the project, the designs of the back of the cards. It was a big roadblock for the longest time but i believe i finally designed something i am happy with.

[Pyramid.ink]

The proof print has finally come in the mail!
the mailman was ery brutal with it, so pages are bent, but i was able to check how it is going to look, and it is pretty good.
I've exchanged with the manufacturer today and made final corrections, i should receive a final digital proof tomorrow that i think i'll validate and i'll have my first (small) test batch!

pretty hyped by the situation honestly

[BaconWise]

Quite a fascinating project. I am definitely intrigued and will likely be backing this one. Will any of the prototypes be available?

[Pyramid.ink]

Thanks for the kind words.
Regarding the prototypes some are already on sale, mostly the ones i don’t need anymore. As they are single pieces or very limited copies they are quite expensive, and as they are prototypes they come with printing weirdness. They were use to test colors, papers, drawing and so on… if they can appeal to an enthusiast, they won’t be super meaningful to many.

The proof with holo print is a bit different, it is part of a test batch, which is not a proto anymore & more like the alpha of the project. This batch will also be sold, and will be more like a real deck, with the quantity of the run allowing for special prints such as holo & silver, and industrial finishes such as standardized cuts and varnishes.
For the beautiful deck, this is the one you’ll want. It will be available on ks and on my website.

[Pyramid.ink]

Bad new everyone, i noobed hard and the alpha won’t be produced for christmas. The related good new is that i will have more to place as retributions on kickstarter and also will get more funding from friends who will be deprived of their planned chrismas gifts. Keep tûed, i’ll dhare something else tonight!

[Pyramid.ink]

Hello again, more news for the evening, i will of course rework these board this is a first iteration.
As you may have already noticed from the pics and timeline, this project has been (still is in fact) a long run. The process had many steps, some reconsiderations, some cards wildly changed. The most important idea: expanding the reference frame of classical depicted figure, remained, so the core concept remained the same. As things went by, the ancient greek and egyptian families were dropped. The reason is that the assortiment of figures depicted remained very typically western, and these cultures, as far as we know, did not play a part in defining playing cards as a medium.

[Pyramid.ink]

hello again, today a small process update, still about the evolutions.
There were several steps in the making, i think it can be interesting to share:

before the project: some playing cards drafts and a pretty advanced project laying the foundations of what i do associate with each suit
start of the project: from the queen of spade, name Pallas in french decks, i start designing aegis
before printing the screenprinted v1: I rework the original drawings and harmonize them, so the quality of the faces is more consistent
starting from version 2 (prototype cups and <3): i add figures on the aces, depicting mythological beasts of the depicted cultures
starting from version 3: two suits are redesigned and so are the jokers, several papers and color schemes are tested. Printers are contacted.

Version 4 is the alpha: designs are cleaned up so i can recolor things easily and consistently, an alpha batch is ordered

[Pyramid.ink]

A quick shot of two cut cards from the proof print

[Pyramid.ink]

& a v.<3 photoshoot.
This version was made in 3 copies for 3 friends. The back is an excerpt of a poem i written for the 4 of us.

[Pyramid.ink]

Hello there. While i wait for the aloha to print, i do other stuff. Among them designing tee for the campain. Tomorrow i’ll print them!

I reworked the jokers for the designs

[Pyramid.ink]

Hello there, it was a lot of uncertainty and stress but i managed to finally try fabric screenprinting and realize these tees!
They came up pretty well and the process went mostly good except for a swoosh of emulsion peeler on the front stencil, and forgotting to clamp the frame when i started the backs for the first time. If i have some left or additional budg’ on the ks i think i’ll do more for the retributions. I will not print them myself probably but now i know it can be done!

[whatwillitbenow]

The T-Shirts are really sick. I’m excited for this project to launch and have been following it for some time now!

[Pyramid.ink]

The T-Shirts are really sick. I’m excited for this project to launch and have been following it for some time now!

hey a lot of thanks for this positive feedback, glad to hear the project has caught your eyes. I don't wanna spoil too much but i think i am closing the moment I have enough gas & the context being ok to launch a funding campain. As I said previously on the post, WJPC offer seems pretty solid for my situation, but whatever i choose, i'll keep the forum up to date!

[Pyramid.ink]

hello everyone! a new week has started here and I wanted to share the evolutions of the son (jack of hearts) design.
Hope you'll enjoy, see you later!

[Pyramid.ink]

iterations and small modifications were a big part of the project, the king of clubs was especially subjected to them, even after the broad lines of the final design were set. On of the reason was the androgyny of the chosen figure, which had to be conveyed yet not too pronounced so he was not confused for a queen. The second set of modification was in the same vein as the one you could see on the last two versions of the jack of hearts, shifting the face to get a specific pose. This idea arrived late in the design process but was imo quit important: each series of face has been designed in a specific face pose, to help the association between drawings and values: kings face forward, queens are 3/4, and jacks are profile.

Hope you enjoy the peeks in the process, hope I'll be able to tell you about the ks date very soon, it will be somewhere in the (probably first part of) first quarter of 2025.

[Pyramid.ink]

Old photoshoot of the v1. Screenprint makes terrible, very sticky playing cards, ideal to build houses

[Pyramid.ink]

More prototypes, here some of the v3.

[Pyramid.ink]

The joker shirts, worn. Wadayathink?

[Pyramid.ink]

Some close up shots from the jokers riso cards. Le me know what you want to see and also what could motivate you to fund the project

[Honeybee]

My favourite thing is the card backs - the black and the blue