Deck in progress: Brass & Steam (steampunk)

ematuskey

And another new card--the Emperor! Where the Empress is the Mother of Invention, the Emperor sets out to record and catalog all he surveys. Digital painting by the awesome Brooke Gillette for the forthcoming tarot of Brass & Steam!
 

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desertrat

I have all the completed (barring later revisions) cards up on my website, and I just wanted to show off--check it out!

http://www.brassandsteam.com/gallery.html

Cropped for a 4x6 card with a 1/8" border--I may go borderless, and I'm still contemplating the "right" card size. Finding the right balance between "showing off the art" versus "easy to shuffle" is harder than I thought. :p

Also keep in mind that these are simply mockups--the background (if there is one) will be better, probably choose a different font and text box color for the descriptors, etc. But as I get closer to the Kickstarter, I wanted to have something up to give an idea of what the deck could look like.

I vote for "showing off the art" (It's fantastic!) ;) I'm a terrible shuffler no matter what the card size. :)

And I also vote for borderless. There's not one borderless deck that I own about which I've thought "Pooh, a border would've really improved this deck." :p

Not that you've put the decision up to a vote, but I can't seem to keep my mouth shut. :rolleyes:
 

ematuskey

Heh, it's hard to argue with that logic! Honestly, the main reason I'm thinking border (aside from tradition) is the fact that my minor arcana, if fully illustrated, would be more like Future Solleone than RW--ie no multiples of the suits in the artwork--so I need to come up with an alternative way to make it clear which suit you're looking at. Long-term exposure to collectible card games gave me the idea of different colored borders (ie, red for wands, green for pentacles, blue for cups, etc). but I think for the major arcana at least, borderless is the way to go. Thanks for the feedback!
 

RavenDarkWind

Personally, I think borders look nice on cards. They aren't too distracting, but you can decorate them to make the theme more vivid. That's just my idea, though.
 

desertrat

Heh, it's hard to argue with that logic! Honestly, the main reason I'm thinking border (aside from tradition) is the fact that my minor arcana, if fully illustrated, would be more like Future Solleone than RW--ie no multiples of the suits in the artwork--so I need to come up with an alternative way to make it clear which suit you're looking at. Long-term exposure to collectible card games gave me the idea of different colored borders (ie, red for wands, green for pentacles, blue for cups, etc). but I think for the major arcana at least, borderless is the way to go. Thanks for the feedback!

Ah, well yes, I see your point. Borders or no borders, I'm sure we will be delighted with the finished product. Carry on. ;)
 

ematuskey

"I ATE'NT DEAD" (props if you get the reference)

Fingers crossed that there will be some more stuff to show you very soon, but for now, I wanted to show the latest piece of art that's been completed. Behold the card back art, done by Brooke Gillette!
 

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ematuskey

Different colored versions will serve as the background of the minor arcana cards (ie, red for wands, blue for cups, etc)--you won't see much of it, but it'll look better than the placeholder gold I've got there now. ;)
 

reall

OMG! THIS IS FANTASTIC!^^ LUV STEAMPUNK AND IDEA!^^ ;)))
btw will there be a companion book?^^
I would like to read your inspiration and ideas about this theme deck?^^ ;))

p.s I'll add you to my watch on DA!^^ :)))
 

ematuskey

Glad you like it, Reall! I'm pretty pleased with how Brooke ran with my concept myself. ;) And thanks for the DA follow!

Yes, there will be both a little white book and a full-size guide book, where I'll talk about, among other things, the inspiration for the major arcana and court cards (and probably the rest of the minor arcana if I end up getting all those illustrated).