Tragoedia Macbethi Playing Cards - Experience the Tragedy of Macbeth

[CallOn84]

Hello everyone!

I'm happy to announce the pre-launch page for the Tragoedia Macbethi Playing Cards is now live! After two years of designing our deck, we finally made it. We had many challenges if you haven't followed the design thread on the "Custom Deck Drafting Board" subforum, from having to change illustrators and, effectively, throwing ten months of work into the bin and starting from scratch again, to having the very unfortunate road accident in December last year that left me hospitalised during Christmas with two haemorrhages and pneumocephalus.

But even with all that, we finally arrive at this point.

I want to thank the many people I had lovely discussions with on the "Custom Deck Drafting Board" subforum who not only gave me some lovely comments about the designs but also gave us some feedback. Without all your help and opinions, we wouldn't have gotten our design to where it is now. So again, to those people who interacted with me and the 167,000 viewers who clicked the design thread and even considered taking some time out of their lives to read it, thank you.

Here's the pre-launch page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ar ... ying-cards

If you want to be notified of the launch, click the "Notify me on launch" button. Otherwise, we'll see you all soon.

Kind regards,

Viet-Anh

[mtsedwards72]

This English teacher and Shakespeare lover will be there with bells on!

[CallOn84]

This English teacher and Shakespeare lover will be there with bells on!

I studied Shakespeare plays in secondary school as part of my English Literature GCSE. In my boy's school, we studied war and tragedy plays, while our partner girl's school studied love and romance plays. I love Shakespeare's plays like Macbeth. I hated writing an essay analysis for my exam, though.

I remember going to the Globe Theatre to watch Merchant of Venice, which was quite fun — even though you wouldn't call it a "comedy" today. But being there for the first time and watching a play in person was neat.

[mtsedwards72]

This English teacher and Shakespeare lover will be there with bells on!

I studied Shakespeare plays in secondary school as part of my English Literature GCSE. In my boy's school, we studied war and tragedy plays, while our partner girl's school studied love and romance plays. I love Shakespeare's plays like Macbeth. I hated writing an essay analysis for my exam, though.

I remember going to the Globe Theatre to watch Merchant of Venice, which was quite fun — even though you wouldn't call it a "comedy" today. But being there for the first time and watching a play in person was neat.

I much prefer teaching tragedies over love and romance. Macbeth is my favorite, even though every English major at UCBerkeley swore that Hamlet was the thinking man's Shakespeare. Feh.

And the fact that you so casually throw about going to the Globe Theatre makes me green with envy. Lucky duck! But with those street creds, I'm sure this deck will be fantastic!

[CallOn84]

This English teacher and Shakespeare lover will be there with bells on!

I studied Shakespeare plays in secondary school as part of my English Literature GCSE. In my boy's school, we studied war and tragedy plays, while our partner girl's school studied love and romance plays. I love Shakespeare's plays like Macbeth. I hated writing an essay analysis for my exam, though.

I remember going to the Globe Theatre to watch Merchant of Venice, which was quite fun — even though you wouldn't call it a "comedy" today. But being there for the first time and watching a play in person was neat.

I much prefer teaching tragedies over love and romance. Macbeth is my favorite, even though every English major at UCBerkeley swore that Hamlet was the thinking man's Shakespeare. Feh.

And the fact that you so casually throw about going to the Globe Theatre makes me green with envy. Lucky duck! But with those street creds, I'm sure this deck will be fantastic!

Thank you for the kind words and good luck, and thank you for even being interested in our deck to begin with

[CallOn84]

Here are more pictures of our deck in its full glory.

I can't wait for the 26th of April!

[mtsedwards72]

Stunning! Think we can get a sneak peek at the number cards and pips? ;p

[CallOn84]

Stunning! Think we can get a sneak peek at the number cards and pips? ;p

Mmm... maybe

[CallOn84]

Continuing with adding the themes and concepts of Macbeth to our playing cards, we designed custom pips that simplify the suits' meaning.

• The spade pips represent the supernatural, witchcraft, magic, and darkness. To illustrate those themes, we ingrained two crows into the pip. Crows were often seen as symbols of the supernatural, evil force, and witchcraft during Shakespeare's time, so they made the most sense as a symbol for the spade pip.

• The diamond pip represents cruelty and the victims of Macbeth's tyranny. It took some time for us to decide what symbol to incorporate into the pip, but we later decided to go with a single rose. The rationale came from Remembrance Day when red poppies are used to remember those who have fallen and as a sign of hope for a peaceful future. So, we went with something similar but with a rose instead.

• The club pip represents the royal court of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This was the second most challenging thing to figure out due to the unique shape of the pip. We then decided on a cross to be incorporated with the pip as an ironic play. When the play was set in the 11th century, Christianity would have gained its foothold, and religion was heavily used as part of the royal assent. If you became a king or queen, you were effectively given the role by God, a.k.a God-given (divine) right to rule. Often, Christian symbolism uses bright and warm colours, such as white and yellow, as it was seen as purity and the symbol of light. Using that logic, the inverse should also be true, where dark colours like black would be seen as corrupt. So, we thought, why not stick the cross into the club pip and create the antithesis of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

• Finally, the heart pip represents the light and the eventual prevail of good from tyranny and evil. We took the ideas of the club pip and found symbols that mean a symbol of light, with the sun being an evident conclusion of our search. Throughout history, the sun has been seen as the symbol of life, light, warmth, power, and divinity. Incorporating the sun as part of the pip created a perfect contrast to the club pip, and as you see from the court cards that we'll show you soon, it makes an ideal symbol for the heart pip.

If you have any questions, let me know!

[DeepCard]

Beautiful and classic deck

[CallOn84]

Beautiful and classic deck

The biggest priority when we designed the deck was that the deck had to be playable. There are many wonderfully designed playing cards out there that miss the mark because the way its designed makes it not really usable.

We wanted to ensure that the deck, even though it's not the intended purpose of it, can be used for a game night or a magic trick if needed. That way, the person having the deck can choose to do whatever they want with it, rather than being confined to having it only be on a shelf.

[mtsedwards72]

This is the first deck that is tempting me to buy a brick of. I can just imagine handing my students a deck and asking them to identify the characters as well as analyze the symbolism of the pips. Willing to be they wouldn’t be able to come up with anything half as elegant as your explanation. Bravo!

[CallOn84]

This is the first deck that is tempting me to buy a brick of. I can just imagine handing my students a deck and asking them to identify the characters as well as analyze the symbolism of the pips. Willing to be they wouldn’t be able to come up with anything half as elegant as your explanation. Bravo!

A goal of mine is to have the Standard Edition be sold in both the Globe Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company's respective gift shops. It would be an honour to have our deck there!

[Honeybee]

We seem to have 2 of this thread going at present

[CallOn84]

We seem to have 2 of this thread going at present

I do apologise. I had it in my head that I would have needed one for those who know about the project through the design thread and have one for those who don't. Now that I think about it, kind of dumb

I'll stop posting on the design thread and reverse the title to that. For now, I'll keep all the content here. Sorry!

[CallOn84]

Double, double, toil and trouble! Our Kickstarter launch is just one week away, and excitement is brewing. Get ready to dive into the world of Macbeth with our enchanting playing cards. Each card holds a story of ambition and consequence waiting to be told. Mark your calendars for April 26th and join us on this unforgettable journey!

[mtsedwards72]

If this campaign is successful, would you consider doing an entire line of Shakespeare decks? Or at least one of the comedies and one of the histories to complete a set?

[CallOn84]

If this campaign is successful, would you consider doing an entire line of Shakespeare decks? Or at least one of the comedies and one of the histories to complete a set?

It hasn't been on our mind, since we have three more playing cards planned, but it's not off the table

[mtsedwards72]

Signed up for your newsletter. Can’t wait to see what else you have up your sleeve

[GandalfPC]

Plenty of room in those sleeves

[CallOn84]

Plenty of room in those sleeves


IMG_0851.jpeg

Are you referring to my response to HoneyBee regarding the white space for the court cards on the design thread?

[mtsedwards72]

Plenty of room in those sleeves


IMG_0851.jpeg

Are you referring to my response to HoneyBee regarding the white space for the court cards on the design thread?

I think he was referencing my comment about "something up your sleeve"

[CallOn84]

Plenty of room in those sleeves


IMG_0851.jpeg

Are you referring to my response to HoneyBee regarding the white space for the court cards on the design thread?

I think he was referencing my comment about "something up your sleeve"

Ah, that's fair. In the design thread, Honeybee talked about the courts having too much negative space, and I gave him my answer. So, when GandalfPC said that, I thought he was referring to that

[CallOn84]

As the stars align, so does our anticipation!

With just six days left until our Kickstarter launch, we're gearing up to unveil our Tragoedia Macbethi Playing Cards based on Macbeth. From the eerie allure of the witches to the tragic downfall of kings, every card in our deck captures the essence of Shakespeare's timeless tale. Stay tuned for more previews and surprises leading up to April 26th!

[mtsedwards72]

Oooh, lemme guess: K is Duncan, Q is Banquo, J is Macduff?

[CallOn84]

Oooh, lemme guess: K is Duncan, Q is Banquo, J is Macduff?

You got one right.

The Jack is Macduff, the Queen is Lennox, and the King is Malcolm.

[mtsedwards72]

Oh, I always confuse Lennox and Ross; in my head, they're interchangeable. Shame on me! And I always pictured Malcolm to be younger? But yay for my getting Macduff correct! Is Lady Macbeth the Queen of Spades? Because that would be the best since spades = swords in tarot.

[CallOn84]

Oh, I always confuse Lennox and Ross; in my head, they're interchangeable. Shame on me! And I always pictured Malcolm to be younger? But yay for my getting Macduff correct! Is Lady Macbeth the Queen of Spades? Because that would be the best since spades = swords in tarot.

Well, Lennox is the antithesis of Ross. For context, our version of Ross is based on the A24 adaptation of Macbeth (which is an excellent film; by the way, you should watch it). In that adaptation, Ross does Macbeth's bidding in the shadows and is not guilty. On the contrary, Lennox was part of Macbeth's court and became guilty after a while, to which he defected and helped Malcolm and Macduff with reinforcements.

Malcolm's age is a matter of interpretation, as the play doesn't really state at what age he became king (as far as I can remember). As for Lady Macbeth, yes. If you read what each pip represents, you can put together what character each of the court cards is.

[CallOn84]

The curtain rises on a new chapter!

Only four days remain until the launch of our Kickstarter campaign, where we'll introduce you to our captivating Tragoedia Macbethi Playing Cards based on Macbeth. Prepare to immerse yourself in a world of ambition, intrigue, and fate as we bring Shakespeare's tragedy to life in a whole new way. Don't miss out - April 26th is just around the corner!

[CallOn84]

Darkness falls across the land, but our Kickstarter launch draws near!

Just three days remain until we reveal our Tragoedia Macbethi Playing Cards, based on Macbeth, to the world. Whether you're a lover of Shakespeare or simply appreciate beautiful design, there's something for everyone in our deck. Get ready to seize your destiny on April 26th!