Tarot No-Nos

[Lost girl]

Greetings,

I am a Tarot-Newbie and am attempting to learn more about tarot by creating a personal deck. I am working on my 3rd card so it is still early enough to fix mistakes. What are the major No-nos that I should avoid when making my deck? What are the things they everyone likes? For example I have heard that some people like cards without borders. What about Font issues... I assume that I should keep the same font on all of the cards, but should I also keep the same font color on all of the cards? Any advice is welcome.

Thanks :-)

Holly

[Sidhe-Ra]

Hi!

If, as you say, you are wanting to create a deck for personal use, and to further your understanding of tarot, why does it matter what anyone else thinks? Do what you like! x

[thinbuddha]

I agree- do what suits you- it's a great idea, and a great way to learn.

It is such a deep subject that no matter what you know now, you will have learned enough by the end of the process that you would want to do it again anyway (or live with the "imperfections")

[Lost girl]

True, and I WILL do what feels right for me. However, If I am going to create a deck, I want to make it the best deck possible. Creating 78 cards is a big project and I would hate to get the deck finished and have something be out-of-whack because of a stupid mistake. This is a learning experience for me and I am open to any suggestions. If someone who knows a lot more than I do about Tarot, (which is almost everyone) has preferences it may be for a very good reason. Besides they might suggest something that would make my deck all the better.

Holly

[Annabelle]

It's impossible for me to say what "everyone likes," but I can tell you what I like . Since I have a thing for quirky, colorful, collage decks, I don't see a problem with using different fonts and different colors for the card titles, if you find it artistically pleasing.

As for borders, personally I prefer them. Just a small, simple border, though. Big borders with lots of stuff in them (symbols, etc.) truly annoy me.

But these are just my personal preferences . . . . you should definitely just do what feels right for you, and have a good time with it .

[fairyhedgehog]

I think the trouble is that there really aren't any 'right answers'.

If you want to know what kind of decks are popular, you could look at aeclectic's top ten decks and see what they have in common, if anything! My personal favourites aren't in there though: the Hanson-Roberts, the Whimsical, the Ancestral Path. I do like the Universal Waite though.

For what it's worth: I don't care about font, I don't like big borders but like little ones and I like the Fool to have no number.

Having said that, I think that if you try to get it 'right' by other people's standards, you could end up pleasing no one. I think that the best decks are ones where the creator has stuck to their vision whether other people share it or not.

[Lost girl]

Originally Posted by fairyhedgehog

I think the trouble is that there really aren't any 'right answers'.

If you want to know what kind of decks are popular, you could look at aeclectic's top ten decks and see what they have in common, if anything! My personal favourites aren't in there though: the Hanson-Roberts, the Whimsical, the Ancestral Path. I do like the Universal Waite though.

Cool thanks :-)

[thinbuddha]

If you just want opinions....

I think that there should be more borderless cards- so often the borders don't look right.

Titles are OK, but I would like to see some more decks without any words on them.

Stick to traditional images/suits until you know a great deal about tarot, and have good reasons that you want to change the suits (or Majors, for that matter)

2 male and 2 female court cards (King,Queen,Prince,Princess or some similar variation) beats the 3 male/1 female RW ratio. The RW fans are going to clobber me over the head for that one, but really now- these cards supposedly have qabalistic attributions.... and those attributions imply 2 of each gender.

Stick to what you know- if you don't know Buddhist philosophy (and I don't- despite the name) then don't try to make a buddhist deck. Don't know Christianity.... same deal. If you only really know life from the inside of a fast food joint, then you should make the fast food tarot (I'm picturing a grease stained pattern for the backs). My point is that you shouldn't try to be mysteriously important if your knowledge isn't about such things, because people will know the difference.

-tb

[Lost girl]

Originally Posted by thinbuddha

2 male and 2 female court cards (King,Queen,Prince,Princess or some similar variation) beats the 3 male/1 female RW ratio. The RW fans are going to clobber me over the head for that one, but really now- these cards supposedly have qabalistic attributions.... and those attributions imply 2 of each gender.

I totally agree! I have not gotten to the minors yet, although I have been thinking about the minor suits. I have been working on the major arcana and have been basically picking a single card, reading about it, thinking about what image the card brings into my head and then creating the cards. I have only finished 2 and am working on the third so it is still very early in the process. They are here if you want to take a look at them.

http://www.hollyglenn.com

Thanks for the help :-)

Holly

[thinbuddha]

Pretty cool images. You are doing this work on computer, eh? (Adobe Illustrator?)

I suggest that you post you initial drawings and have people give input before anything reaches a polished version. No sense doing a "final" fool, and then have someone point out some fatal flaw.... not that I see a fatal flaw- though I'm not too sure how I feel about the scene on the death card.