Antithesis Deck - Kickstarter

[Firthetic]

Launching in 7 days...

http://www.jetcitylimited.com/antithesis/









*edited to make images abit more manageble - click for bigness! (MCJ)

[montecarlojoe]

I'm not usually one for skulls, but some of the design on these is wonderfully intricate.

Can't help by think that the backs, blacks and tuck could do with a colour - the red cards look fantastic with their bright scarlet highlights and the rest of the deck is missing that. A rich cobalt blue maybe?

[volantangel]

Haha Joe we were editing the photos at the same time. whats does ucimg do ?

I dont about this deck though. I liked what i first saw, but looking at these again, i am simply not that attracted to it, perhaps its the lack of colours.

[montecarlojoe]

Haha Joe we were editing the photos at the same time. whats does ucimg do ?

Same as [img] but limits on-screen width to 800 and height to 600, and makes them clickable - the original sized image opens in a new window.
Would loved to have changed the [img] tags themselves but they are more or less hard-coded.

perhaps its the lack of colours.

Yeah - this is definitely the weekest point for me.

[Firthetic]

Haha Joe we were editing the photos at the same time. whats does ucimg do ?

I dont about this deck though. I liked what i first saw, but looking at these again, i am simply not that attracted to it, perhaps its the lack of colours.

Thanks for editing the photos, I posted them on my phone.

Like Joe, I am a fan of the intricate art. Will see what the tiers look like...

[Verloren]

I dont about this deck though. I liked what i first saw, but looking at these again, i am simply not that attracted to it, perhaps its the lack of colours.

Maybe a bit more color on the back, but, imo, this already looks like a pretty good deck.

[volantangel]

im not saying it doesnt look good. Its intricate for sure. But this wouldnt be a deck that ill keep coming back to.

[Yashi]

I don't mind the lack of color since the red pops out but what about for the black cards? The design is nice though and I love the mushrooms on the king. I'll be pledging if I can fit it in the budget.

[vasta41]

I like the pips. And the black-and-white and red contrast is great

[Eoghann]

Wow, I love it!
The intricate back reminds me of the artwork from dystopian/sci fi pinball games such as Centaur and Bride of Pin Bot. Really great.

[volantangel]

I just realised, the back is clearly one-way isnt it..

[charlie81dbz]

I just realised, the back is clearly one-way isnt it..

Very one way, lol. I was wondering why no one had complained yet. XD Personally, I never really minded a one way back if they look nice, and these cards have definitely piqued my interest. Really glad Firthetic shared them, and I'll be in for a pair at least once they launch depending on pricing and how well they've done their research if they are first timers.

charlie

[th4mo]

Wow, these look really cool. I am in for sure.

Definitely not a deck for rotational symmetry purists, as the courts also are different from top to bottom. You can get a look at a couple of entire court cards if you go to his website.

Plus, I was wondering when someone was finally going to address Kickstarter's current dearth of skulls on playing cards...

[Sher]

I'm not usually interested in decks with skulls as one of the prominent designs, but I like the style of these. It's not quite a "gotta have it" deck for me, but it's very close.

[MichaelRyanNorton]

Hey United Cardists! Thanks for taking a look at Antithesis!

Producing this deck is a collaborative effort between my friend Adam, a crazy artist and designer, and myself. Adam and I are excited to dialogue with you and flattered you've already taken an interest. I can address some of the concerns and suggestions that have been shared here.

Separately, I'll post in the "Introduce yourself" thread, with some background about myself, for those who are interested. I look forward to getting to know some of you. To be honest, I'm pretty overwhelmed right now obsessing over the details of producing the Antithesis campaign. I've been in conversation with a few of the awesome card designers that have executed great Kickstarter campaigns as well, and if you guys are as helpful and kind as they are, I'm going to really enjoy this community. Okay I'll just dive in:

Skulls
Yes, more skulls. It might not be obvious from the initial product pics, but only half of each card is skeletal, while the other half is fleshy. The Antihesis concept is all about duality.

Style
We're now pushing toward a more classic card look based on historical card design via wood block printing, and reminiscent of Durer's etching. Personally I enjoy that look more than a modern graphic design feel, and Adam is quite capable of executing it. For a taste of what he has been up to lately, take a look at his account at http://Instagram.com/FrozeLake" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Color
We're open to adding another color, but right now we're focused on simplifying and translating the shading in the current designs into hatching as opposed to values or gradients. This will look much better. We want the design to be independently strong, and the addition of a color to be a bonus, not a necessary feature in order to make the illustrations work. Part of the motivation for achieving this is that we want to the designs to translate into one color formats as well, and have already been experimenting with laser etching on wood and acrylic.

Detail
We're going to push the level of detail to the limit without crossing the line. If you look at Adam's portfolio you'll see his style is erratic and overly detailed. We've collected several dozen decks that include high levels of detail and studied what works and what doesn't work in them. We make enlargements of them, hi-res scans, etc. and inspect. There are some areas in Adam's current design that will have to change in order to print reliably without blending, and we will be very attentive to this. I've also been in conversation with the USPCC and have been working with their guidelines and templates from the beginning.

One Way vs. Two Way Cards
As I type these words Adam is designing a two-way card back. We're also planning to present a Bicycle branded tuck case (design… nearly done), as well as alternate decks, if there is enough interest. We're considering splitting the two halves of the Antithesis courts into light/life and dark/death versions. That would leave us a deck full of flesh-covered orderly stuff and another deck full of skeletal, decaying entropy.

Deck Variation Options
In our dream world, we end up producing 6 versions:

- Antithesis (original)
- Antithesis Light/Life
- Antithesis Dark/Death
- Antithesis Bicycle (original)
- Antithesis Bicycle Light/Life
- Antithesis Bicycle Dark/Death

We're happy to apply the two-way back to all versions, and the light vs. dark versions would be attractive to symmetry purists. That's a lot of versions though. I do like the idea of having a non-skull version for my grandma (and @th4mo). I welcome your suggestions as to how to navigate these options. If we succeed in funding any of the above variations above and beyond an original Antithesis deck, you can be sure we'll make them each unique in a few special ways. We get giddy about that type of thing.

@montecarlojoe - cobalt blue is a good suggestion!
@volantangel - Adam will hypnotize you with charisma and magic.
@eoghann, @yashi, @vasta41, @verloren, @sher143 - Thanks!!!
@th4mo - i got your dearth right here!
@charlie81dbz - Adam and I are both first timers at printing playing cards with the USPCC. As for Kickstarter in general, I've been part of designing and consulting on a handful of successful projects. As for the business side I've managed businesses that involved creative work, printing, shipping, managing mountains of detailed and disparate order data, and more. Adam is trained as an industrial designer and pumps his designs out as fast as Jackson Robinson. He's a creative machine and a well spring of intriguing concepts. We're up to the challenge!

[Eoghann]

One thing: don't do six decks. Specially on a first campaign. That's biting more than you can chew plus it would cost a fortune. Focus on the original Antithesis and build from there.

Go Bicycle only if the logo adds to the artwork, don't use it a crutch to boost sales. A lot of the recent heavy hitters have dropped the Bike logo in favor of artwork and everyone's alright with that. Requiem, Origins, Grotesque to name a few.

[th4mo]

Hey United Cardists! Thanks for taking a look at Antithesis!
...
We're up to the challenge!

Hi MRN,

Welcome to UC! I'm glad you could join us with such a detailed response regarding your deck.
Sounds like you guys have really put a lot of thought into your project and that is great to hear.
I'm really looking forward to seeing where you guys go from here.

and as I was saying... we need MOAR SKULLZ on KS!!!!

And i'm all for additional color too, as long as you stay away from that rave green crap!

[lolo]

Back looks like some Druillet (a French cartoonist) sketches...

The global design is not my cup of tea... But some could like it !

[MichaelRyanNorton]

Thought I'd drop a note here as a head's up... As some of you noticed, we've been delayed a day.

Antithesis will launch on Kickstarter tomorrow morning, Wednesday February 19th, at 9:00 AM PST (GMT -8).

I'm sure you all know that Kickstarter HQ has been working overtime over the last week responding to a potential security threat to their site. This has affected the project review teams, which seem to be a bit backlogged, resulting in longer turn-around times for project review and approval. We received final approval today, and will push the launch button in the morning!

Cheers!

[MichaelRyanNorton]

We're live! I just pushed the GO button on this Kickstarter rollercoaster.
Woooohoooo... now let's make some Antithesis cards. This should be fun.
I'm holed up in a favorite Seattle coffee shop, with a tasty beverage, ready to make fun awesome stuff.
Life is good.

[MOD edit: I hacked the KS page link out of this message and popped it into the OP (original post up top)]

[dazzleguts]

Hi Michael, and welcome to UC.

I just went looking at your KS and noticed there is no 2 and/or 3 deck pledge level. With card collectors that is an extremely popular pledge since we usually get one deck to open and one or two to keep sealed. 4 decks is too much for some, especially with the number of decks out there right now. An add-on option would allow pledgers to make a 2 deck order.

You mentioned Durer's engravings, have either of you seen the 16th century illustrations from the anatomy books of Andreas Vesalius? Worth looking at if you are interested in man's discovery of the workings of his own body.

[Jock1971]

I like the look of this deck. I`m with Eoghann about the bicycle brand tuck box though,i don`t think a huge name on the box will benefit the design.

[MichaelRyanNorton]

Hi DazzleGuts, Thanks for the tip about Andreas Vesalius. I'm enjoying his work very much!

I'm also very into Ernst Haeckel. I don't know whether it's been attempted, but I think his classic Art Forms in Nature is begging to be translated into the playing card format. I haven't noticed something like that in either the WWPCM or the Cary Database. I've been experimenting with it a bit. I think Adam's Antithesis designs are also influenced by the broader sacred geomtery which appears throughout nature and in much of Haeckel's illustration.

@Jock1971 & @Eoghann - We agree completely with your thoughts on a Bicycle edition of the Antithesis tuck. If we're funded to the point of being able to produce a variation of the Antithesis design with Bicycle branding, it will be a complete redesign of the tuck case, not a simple addition of the Bicycle logo.

3D

[Sher]

This project has been cancelled

[Mike Ratledge]

This project has been cancelled

Shame: I've seen several fund with bigger margins that than recently. He could have made that! I understand if he was too close on his margins, something funded at 102% might work less than or equal to 98%, not pointing fingers at all, just saying...

[Eoghann]

Yeah, I thought he was gonna stick till the end. I'm sure he had other reasons to shut down prematurely.

[montecarlojoe]

Shame - I like it!

But it does mean next time there will be more art to show off from the start.

[MichaelRyanNorton]

Hey guys! Yes, you're all correct. I agree, we could have made it past the 15k goal, from observing the statistics of similar campaigns, and also based on the direct messages I've received this week. It was really a handful of factors that when combined made the decision to cancel an obvious one. Ultimately it comes down to knowing that we can do a lot better, both in terms of design and funding, and we didn't want to take the money and commit to that production schedule just yet. A few people are a little mad that we canceled, but most are very supportive, and trust that we're doing the right thing and the final product will be that much better for it. After all, we're only going to make an Antithesis deck once. We won't be satisfied if it's not legendary. It's got to be epic in every way!

[adanyeva2]

Hey guys! Yes, you're all correct. I agree, we could have made it past the 15k goal, from observing the statistics of similar campaigns, and also based on the direct messages I've received this week. It was really a handful of factors that when combined made the decision to cancel an obvious one. Ultimately it comes down to knowing that we can do a lot better, both in terms of design and funding, and we didn't want to take the money and commit to that production schedule just yet. A few people are a little mad that we canceled, but most are very supportive, and trust that we're doing the right thing and the final product will be that much better for it. After all, we're only going to make an Antithesis deck once. We won't be satisfied if it's not legendary. It's got to be epic in every way!

Cool. I'm looking forward to check which improvements will be added. Definitely one the best looking decks in the last times. Can we have an approx. date for relaunching the project?