Yucky LS backs!

I'm upping up this thread as I read other comments on ths subject and it could be nice to talk about "backs".

I think, in fact, that backs are one thing LS should put more effort onto.
We tend to forget that backside is as important as the front, sometimes more than any single card.

Open question may be: what is a back? What does it do? how does it enter the connection with a deck, the accuracy of a reading?
I think it help focusing. It is a door, the reader share with the querient. It shape the silence before the reading.

Getting back to LS decks I can only hope there has been a trend for better backs. In the beginning we used monochromatic backs. Now we are on full color backs... and many decks have now custom art for the deck.
Others still haven't, but I think we are doing some better backs.

Any feedback... good or bad, I will have my boss look at it.

Best,

ric

In my opinion, the back should be a reflection of the overall feel and style of the deck. Mainly because we do get to see a lot of it, and having the back reflect some of the feel of the front of the cards will make it easier to slide into the card meanings.

I'm sure most of us don't really give the backs much thought when doing readings since it's the front of the card that tells the story, but it is extra nice to do a reading with a deck that has a unified feeling, front and back.

For instance, the backs of the Magic Realist-decks do go in line with the colorscheme, the style and the theme of the decks and become a pretty background to the reading. Having the deck with the unturned cards laying right next to the turned cards wouldn't be a distraction since it feels so related.
While some other decks have backs that don't really go with the fronts and having the deck laying there displaying the back could deterr attention a little too much for comfort so one would be better off placing it off to the side a little further.

I tend to usually avoid LS decks because they seem too busy with the languages, in my opinion. I don't need to know what the cards is six different ways.
However, I did get the Gay Tarot, and I kind of like the backs. They show a blueish man whirlpooling into another man, identical as the other. The backs are reversible.

hi ric-

I appreciate your openness, and willingness to listen to feedback. I must say a lot of the LS back designs are very beautiful in my opinion. My only gripe is that a lot of your backs of late seem a bit mismatched to the deck. For example, the Ancient Tarots of Liguria-Piedmont. Correct me if I am wrong, but at one time the backs on this deck had an ochre colored background, which was later changed to a sort of antique white. The latter, a very beautiful design, but it just seems that the former was a better fit with this deck. And the Sola-Busca. I do not understand why you swapped the reddish-brown backs of the original for the frilly green artsy style in the newer editions. Again, the new back is a nice design, it is just that the old one seemed like a much better match.

I don't own a LOT of LS decks, but I have a few. I know it must take a lot of time and energy to do what you do, and it is appreciated. Thanks for all of the great decks you have made, and will continue to make. And thanks for listening.

Abrac

I do like the backs to be in the style of the deck. I really don't care if the back is reversable or not. I just got the Golden Tarot and the backs and gilt edging really fit the deck. Its nice to know that you are moving away from the monochrome trump backs. They're the ones that totally turn me off. Some very good examples have been given in this thread of what decks have nice backs. I personally want a back that reminds me that I'm working with Tarot cards. Mystery and a hint of something from the past.

Jen

I'm always ready to vote for a plain back with nothing on it - simple, clean, uncluttered, reversible, what more could one want?

I'm also not a big fan of different languages on each card. Believe it or not, I am smart enough to figure out what the card is no matter what language is on it

Can you post some pics of the deck...

The cards and it's back or a link to where i can see this deck. Sounds interesting, apart from the backs of course, I still say the gilded back is the best

Many Thanks for sharing,
Love Janey xx

Riccardo - just one positive one for you - the backs of the Universal Marseille are GORGEOUS. I love them. They quite make up for the famous misprint

In a way I somewhat agree with you even though I really don't pay much attention to the backs. At the moment the backs on my decks vary between a "diamond pattern" (on the Rider deck) to a circular design pattern with diamonds (or stones) in them (Gilded deck). I like the thought that my "more to the point" decks also have a rather sparse back whereas my more detailed decks have more complex backs. Ofcourse the Druidcraft (which I consider to be the most detailed deck I own) breaks this idea since its back is rather plain. A brown back with a golden motif on it.

So yeah, I do agree that the "diamond pattern" back on my Rider deck makes it look like an ordinary pack of cards but it never bothered me.

Hey Riccardo,

Actually my biggest beef with the LS backs are the monochrome backs that recycle the artwork for a single card which, other than color, are left unchanged (Liber T, Imagination) or doubled to make it reversible ( i.e. Fey, Durer, 1001 Nights, Mermaids, New Vision). Not only do I find it distracting to look at 78 copies of a single card's artwork, but often the choice of image seems to be haphazard and random. If the 79th piece of art makes that much of a cost difference, you'd be better served taking a small detail/element from a single card and blowing it up or repeating it on a colored field. Even a simple patterned back with some subtlety in color and image (like the Universal) would be preferable to the recycled card art

I don't even know if full 4-color is completely necessary, but relevant design would go a long way towards improvement. After executing 78 pieces of artwork, your artists could complete the job with a single reversible image, which after all, folks are going to look at more than any other. People respond to backs even subconsciously; the Magic Realist backs are a case in point: stylish, simple, and consonant with their individual decks.

On the other hand, I'd say the Dante and Gay Tarot backs are two of your most successful backs because they are in keeping with the feel of the artwork, and convey the tone of the entire deck... so that the cards work as a whole when spread. And I agree with Gregory, the recent Universal Marseille is also lovely.

I'll add my voice to the crowd of folks who really dislike the wasteful multilingual titling: I'd rather they were just in Italian for the Majors, and numbers for the Minors, which would free up a lot of real estate for the artists' images...

As always, thanks for soliciting opinions, and best of luck convincing your boss to take heed.

Scion