Illustrated Minors...RWS or other...opinions?

Mallah

There is a plethora of illustrated minors decks out there. Many, if not most, seem to stick very close to RWS meanings and imagery...we call them clones.

I'd like your opinions on this:
Do you like minors to stick pretty close to RWS imagery and meanings, or do you like them to deviate into other possible meanings with the illustrations? And why?

Here's why I ask: I am creating a Tarot Deck, and the Majors are almost done. Which brings me to the minors. My personal preference in minors is "pips" or unillustrated minors. However, knowing that I am in the minority, and wanting to make an offering to everyone, I have decided to offer a choice of TWO minor arcanas...so you can pimp your own deck. Sort of like booster paks. So there will be both illustrated and non-illustrated options available. I read RWS decks for years, but know lots more meanings for the minor cards than are shown in the RWS tradition...and I can illustrate that way, or stick closer to RWS if it's what people prefer. I hope to use your input in helping me decide which way to go with my illustrated minors.

If anyone wants to view my majors, so far:
http://photobucket.com/stainedglasstarot

I also have a running thread over in Tarot Deck Creation if you want to offer opinions on the cards and participate in the creation of a new deck (I value and use much of the advice given).

To the mods: I know that this will generate some discussion re: this might go better in the "creation" thread, but I am speaking to the larger group about what they prefer in existing decks, and why...my question is not about creating the deck, it's about what people prefer in the decks they actually use. I'm hoping to get my question out into the river, not in the little side eddy where creation issues are discussed...more people will offer more opinions if they actually see my thread, y'know?
 

Masa

I generally prefer decks that stick very close to the RWS in meaning. However, I don't necessarily need the actual images to be clones. (I'm always impressed and pleased by decks that manage to depict the traditional meaning in unique way, llike, say, this 8 of Pents.)

On the other hand, I first learned the tarot meanings on a deck of Bicycle playing cards, so I have a lot of fondness for pips, too. It's easier to stray around and find more specific, intuitive meanings on my own that way, and to imagine all the decks I can remember instead of just the picture in front of me. So this is a very cool idea.. :)
 

Mallah

Yeah, shadowscapes is very cool that way.

I think it's cool when I come upon a totally different take on the same old image; one that falls outside the bucket of the traditional meaning... and yet fits the image to a T.

Who knows, maybe in the future I'll offer several different cards for each and every card, and let people pick their own...like pizza toppings. Right now, i'ts gonna hafta be an illustrated and a pip pack. We'll see what comes after that.

I can see it now: "Be the first on your block to collect em all!"
 

GryffinSong

If you're trying to appeal to the widest audience, then I'd make the illustrated minors have some link to RWS imagery, but if I were in your shoes I would NOT make them clones. Just have something in each image that can be interpreted in an RWS-like way.

For instance, take the four of swords. Rather than simply have a character lying down in a tomb-like setting, make some personal image that implies resting or whatever.

Good luck!!! :heart:
 

Carla

Oh, Mallah, please make pips! A good pip deck is so hard to find, but so wonderful. I am in love with the Davis Celtic Tarot. I know you like it, too. Have you considered doing both? Seriously. If your heart lies with the pips only minors, you should give thought to where your vision might take you with that.
 

Mallah

@ Carla...I will be doing pips...and probably first...though I might create the 2 minor arcanas simultaneously.

Once they are both available, I'll be doing "alternates" for various cards, as the inspirations strike, and offering them as collector cards...buy one, buy the yearly release...

Mallah's Custom Tarot...pimp your own deck. You can add the alternates you like, skip the ones you don't. That sort of thing.

@Gryff...yes, that's the sort of thing I was implying...I don't want to just copy RWS, but wondering if I should keep the link to those meanings in the imagery.

Thanks for the input, folks!
 

vee

If you have a compelling structure, symbolic reasoning, or narrative, I am A+ okay with straying away from any preordained system. Some good examples of this imo are Ancestral Path and Mary El.

If it's just random, then I am pickier. Really, it varies. There's a comfort in knowing that all the meanings are going to be known and that the images will just draw them out in new ways. There's a feeling of adventure when confronted with something different, though.
 

Mallah

@ vee

So it sounds like you are saying "As long as I can see where you are getting it from..." if it follows, based on number ,element, suit, and other meanings out there....
 

Masa

@ vee

So it sounds like you are saying "As long as I can see where you are getting it from..." if it follows, based on number ,element, suit, and other meanings out there....

Yeah, this works for me, too. As long as each card ties in with the rest of the deck. The problem a lot of theme decks have is that they just go, "Now let's draw a party, and now let's draw a fight, and now..."
 

Aset

I'm not sure what this is technically called but I actually favor minors like what's in the Thoth - they're illustrated but I'd say non-scenic. Somewhere between RWS and the simplest of pips. They give you some feeling without locking you into a very specific interpretation (example: RWS 6 of pentacles - someone is giving someone else some money, there's a give and take here; I feel that is awfully restrictive, but it's hard to avoid with that deck)

As for GryffinSong's suggestion about personalized graphic interpretations of the cards, I just posted a couple pictures of my own 4oS in the creation board that I think is in the same vein as RWS but will be a little more abstract (it's not done), which I prefer because I feel like it allows for more broad interpretation possibilities, and it's based on my own 4oS-type experience. But I'm not trying to make a deck for anyone else so I'm not concerning myself with broad appeal :)