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Take 2

Quite nice looking - I like the one-wayness - but I'd only back the "Gray" version - with the more elegant backgrounds and no writing on the faces.

But the project needs to reach 30k before that unlocks - and I cant see myself backing before that point.

montecarlojoe wrote:Quite nice looking - I like the one-wayness - but I'd only back the "Gray" version - with the more elegant backgrounds and no writing on the faces.

But the project needs to reach 30k before that unlocks - and I cant see myself backing before that point.

I totally agree. File this under "Less is More" and "Surprising how few designers realize it" (alternatively "It's so easy to do and not even realize when you're doing it")

Same as you guys. Maybe I'd even get one of the regular ones too, for its uniqueness. But not without the Gray one.

Apparently she doesn't even know where the USPC is located, she has it being in Cincinnati still.

vmagic wrote:Apparently she doesn't even know where the USPC is located, she has it being in Cincinnati still.

I drive a 2013 Nissan Altima. NIssan is a Japanese company. The dealer who sold it to me told me it was assembled in Japan as if there was something special about it. When I inspected the car, I looked at the production plate - it was assembled in Tennessee. Suddenly the weirdest thing happened... nothing. It was still an Altima.

Point: So?

And while I'm being a total asshole to you about the comment - the "USPC?"

Try, "USPCC" the second "C" is for "Company," otherwise I'm just going to think there's a single United States Playing Card. So I'll take a point off of the deck designer of not knowing geography, but damned if she didn't nail that acronym. Take notes.

____

Personally, I like the art. It's like a throwback to late 70's drawing style, minimal color, and excellent use of negative space. I think she put a lot of thought into efficient and effective use of her space in these designs. That, and they're practical outside of general poker or blackjack. It's a novelty deck, but it's a well done novelty deck.

I can appreciate how, for the most part she has been quite thorough and done her research well. And I'm quite liking the artwork. I'll back it now to help push for that grey stretch goal.

vmagic wrote:Apparently she doesn't even know where the USPC is located, she has it being in Cincinnati still.

In addition to what EJ said, the factory is located very close to the border between KY and OH. Even T11 had a post on facebook recently with a caption saying "here at the USPCC in Ohio" or something similar, where people asked and they said it was pretty much on the border.

MagikFingerz wrote:

vmagic wrote:Apparently she doesn't even know where the USPC is located, she has it being in Cincinnati still.

In addition to what EJ said, the factory is located very close to the border between KY and OH. Even T11 had a post on facebook recently with a caption saying "here at the USPCC in Ohio" or something similar, where people asked and they said it was pretty much on the border.

Yeah, Erlanger, KY is pretty much a suburb of Cincinnati, OH. It's about a 10 minute drive according to Google Maps.

Live again updated original post

I really like this deck. I'm glad that she tried again with just the grey deck, which was the best version IMHO. I'm in for a deck, and heck, i even want the poster with the explanations too!

th4mo wrote:I really like this deck. I'm glad that she tried again with just the grey deck, which was the best version IMHO. I'm in for a deck, and heck, i even want the poster with the explanations too!

I would have gotten the poster too if it was exclusive to this deck. But it says it can be used with any regular deck of playing cards, and I have no interest in telling any fortunes.

MagikFingerz wrote:

th4mo wrote:I really like this deck. I'm glad that she tried again with just the grey deck, which was the best version IMHO. I'm in for a deck, and heck, i even want the poster with the explanations too!

I would have gotten the poster too if it was exclusive to this deck. But it says it can be used with any regular deck of playing cards, and I have no interest in telling any fortunes.

My interest in the poster is that it explains what the illustrations are, right? I was even thinking to hand the poster and an uncut sheet side by side...
If not, i'll need to take a closer look.

The idea that you can use it with any deck, AFAIU, is just that once you know what the 2 of spades is for this deck, it's the same for any 2 of spades, etc.

MagikFingerz wrote:

th4mo wrote:I really like this deck. I'm glad that she tried again with just the grey deck, which was the best version IMHO. I'm in for a deck, and heck, i even want the poster with the explanations too!

I would have gotten the poster too if it was exclusive to this deck. But it says it can be used with any regular deck of playing cards, and I have no interest in telling any fortunes.

Actually, I think she may be wrong on that one. The orientation of the card is important, so any card that looks the same reversed would mess it up. So I think that would limit it to a small number of custom decks.

Brillig wrote:

MagikFingerz wrote:

th4mo wrote:I really like this deck. I'm glad that she tried again with just the grey deck, which was the best version IMHO. I'm in for a deck, and heck, i even want the poster with the explanations too!

I would have gotten the poster too if it was exclusive to this deck. But it says it can be used with any regular deck of playing cards, and I have no interest in telling any fortunes.

Actually, I think she may be wrong on that one. The orientation of the card is important, so any card that looks the same reversed would mess it up. So I think that would limit it to a small number of custom decks.

Good point. I know nothing about cartomancy, I didn't know the orientation was important. It is one of the qualities i really like about her deck however.

Jennifer just joined our forums...Welcome to our little community

She added a link to the front page with close-ups of all the courts. Each suit has a theme (knives, music, etc.) which I'm guessing is explained in the poster.

I'll admit, I'm a fan of these. Even though they're one way, she got rid of the full-bleed shadows, I like the artwork, I like the style and I *much* prefer this deck without all the writing.

Here's the link for all the courts ... I've attached a couple of examples from each suit:
http://fatcatlogos.com/fortheseekers/im ... howWEB.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I get the impression these are made from actual photos. Looks like Jen's the Queen of Clubs.

Hi guys!
Thanks for the warm welcome and the constructive criticism. I saw this tread early on during the first Kickstarter campaign. I have to say..the Ohio thing...Horrifying!! haha! I worked so hard on everything and agonized on every detail...my heart sank when that was brought to my attention. Of all things..how did I miss that?!@! Was an easy fix and SO glad it was pointed out right away.

Less is more - I agree. The original design is of the gray "cartomancer" deck with the intention of expanding the artwork out to a deck with the full meanings on the cards and a deck with a full bleed and back with the "less is more" thing...a deck that feels clean but still has the fortune telling deck theme. Almost an elaborate revival of the antique Nile Fortune Telling Deck...to extreme! I even inquired with USPC about a plain vintage box design similar to the fabric covered slip boxes from a century ago and gilding. The minimum order for gold edges is an painful 15,000 yikes!...and the box..not possible.

The first Kickstarter campaign - Because cartomancy is a difficult thing to learn I thought I would go for the 2 decks with the meanings first and try to appeal to the beginner card readers and soothe my itch for the gray deck and the stripper deck at the end. Honestly, I thought all three were going to happen without question when the campaign first started. After the initial rush it was clear that it might only be the 2 and it felt like I was leaving one of my kids behind (the gray deck). I didn't realize how big the cartomancy community is and that they thrive on their own individual methods of reading the cards and I had no idea how many serious playing card collectors and magicians were out in the world. In a word..I underestimated my target audience. I know all three decks will be loved...I just started with the wrong ones. Not reaching the goal was okay though. It gave me an opportunity to improve the tuck boxes and adjust the shipping to something fair for the backers who live in Canada.

The poster - The poster's card images are from the "cartomancer" gray deck. There are meanings for both the upright and reverse positions for every card and some numerology associated with the numbers 1-10 and a lot of other useful information for fortune telling with playing cards. It's interesting that you guys picked up on the "for use with any standard deck of playing cards" and the possible problems associated with that. You can use any deck of 52 cards to tell fortunes, but to use the upright and reverse meanings...brace yourselves...you have to mark the cards so you know which way is up. There's a line at the bottom of the poster that explains that. Impossible for you guys to know...and you are indeed the first ones to question it.

Sorry to barge in like this... I was going to join before now but I felt like I would be crashing your party! Glad someone recommended this forum though...otherwise I probably wouldn't have taken the opportunity to look around. There's some pretty neat treads in here including this one!

Thanks for having an interest in my project! Wicked!!

Hi Jen,

You're not "barging in" at all! We love to hear from creators like you. It makes our discussion much more meaningful!
I'm backing your campaign as well and i'm very hopeful that you'll succeed this time around.

Eoghann...I have to say...I flat out love your avatar pic!

The queen of clubs is me. The suggestion to use my own likeness for the queen of clubs came from a very good friend of mine after I passed over an image of her in facebook that screamed "queen of hearts". I wasn't wild about the idea at first but when it came to creating "my" queen...it just somehow fit. The clubs are the workers of the bunch...ordinary people and I'm about as ordinary as they come.

And yep, I studied people in photographs to create the pips silhouettes. Considering what people would physically be doing in each of the meanings as far as acting them out and then finding inspiration photographs to use as an aide in keeping proportions life like and true was painfully time consuming but so worth it.

This forum is just a tad addictive. I just spent way, way too long seeing what you guys have to say about other Kickstarter campaigns. Y'all know your decks! Gald I joined! Thanks!

Welcome to the forums, Jen. I've been mulling over backing this deck and have to say, your posts have sold me. I'm backer #101. Good luck, hope it funds.

I'm not into fortune telling. this may sound strange but some friends and I experienced a paranormal event years ago that ended up being quite evil. I just stay away from all that as I don't think anything good can come of it. Still, the backs and the art are quite nice, just the subject matter is not for me.

chach..thank you! Happy to put some of this out there and explain some things and totally glad your on board! I think these are going to be amazing. The sample decks I got from a smaller printer are pretty dang good so the gray deck being made by USPC can't help but be wicked great!!

and walrus.... I understand your reservations! - I make ouija boards too..haha! They can be fierce if you feed them after midnight but otherwise they're pretty well behaved! - The cards are mellow.. They surprise me a lot but I've never been creeped out by these. They are more mysterious than scary. - Thanks for the compliment tho!!

Hi guys..thought I would pop in and update..

There is a wicked reward coming to the project in the next couple days you guys might want to watch for...not cards but totally a collectors item that goes with the project. - Walrus...I know this one will not appeal to you at all...haha - It's limited to only a couple. Just a heads up.

Having some technical difficulties with my web pages and my images in the updates are down for the moment. My web host said it could take up to 24 hours to have those images available again.. Sorry about that! I posted about it on the ForTheSeekers facebook as well... https://www.facebook.com/ForTheSeekers?ref=hl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll come back through and let you all know when that is fixed. I took out the link to the court cards because it was clicking through to a parked page. I'll add the link back in when the problem is resolved as well. I have a difficult time getting into this forum. I don't know if the servers are busy or what so if you need to contact me please feel free to do so via Kickstarter or facebook and I'll respond quickly.

Have a great night!
Jen

Fixed!

Very disappointing ... this didn't fund. The project creator says she's looking at non-USPCC options so she can do a short run. And she's right ... after two USPCC-priced fails on KS, it's time to move on. Still ... After all the work and tweaking, I'd hate to see the design just get dropped on the drawing room floor.

We watch so much *junk* that goes short run on other KS projects ... this is one where I think the project truly deserves to get printed. (As opposed to so many others that make us grab our heads and scream "Nooooooo!") The artwork is nicely done, the pips are imaginative, the proportions are good.

I hope she perseveres. And I hope she finds a quality short-run printer. I'm guessing there are some good alternatives to USPCC, and some spectacularly *bad* alternatives.

Anyone have a favorite for alternate printing?

Now live again

badpete69 wrote:Now live again

And already hit its goal. I'm definitely in for all three, nice to see a price drop from the previous campaigns

Jen: May we know the name of the printer you're using? I assume it has a lower per deck price than USPCC since you lowered your pledge prices (which I appreciate, at this point this deck is a "want" for me regardless of its ability to perform flourishes). I remember reading that the Alice in Wonderland deck (which had to switch from USPCC to Carta Mundi post-KS) creators said that the prices from Carta Mundi came out to about the same as USPCC's prices, which just seems silly to me.

EDIT: Thanks for the info, Dukes.

MagikFingerz wrote:Jen: May we know the name of the printer you're using? I assume it has a lower per deck price than USPCC since you lowered your pledge prices (which I appreciate, at this point this deck is a "want" for me regardless of its ability to perform flourishes). I remember reading that the Alice in Wonderland deck (which had to switch from USPCC to Carta Mundi post-KS) creators said that the prices from Carta Mundi came out to about the same as USPCC's prices, which just seems silly to me.

From the Comments

~Burgess Allison, it's between 3 printers. So far we have 2 sets back that are pretty dang great. They are nice sturdy cards with black cores and they have a nice finish...as a matter of fact both sets are almost identical. We are waiting on the third set from another printer before we make a final decision. I'll be sure to let you know when I know.