Small versus Big Cards

[Chiriku]

Even though I can comfortably shuffle decks like the Large Thoth, the Rohrig, the Druid Craft, I like a deck to feel compact in the hand. There's a size that just feels right and, considering the size of my hands, it is actually quite small. I like the mid-sized Thoth size, the Navigators of the Mystic SEA, the standard RWS, LoS size.

...

But there's no point us whining because publishers will go on putting bright white borders on them and using up the space. It would be so lovely to have cards a bit bigger than your average playing card (just a little) and very, very minimal borders, with the image filling all but 2 m.m. Even my oldest, most used decks have never worn out that much border

Anna K (2nd edition), which I've been using this week for Deck of the Week, proves that even for a bigger-is-better person like me, there is a certain sort of smallish card that works very well, and that is the wide, square shape. It fits very well in the hand--as you say, yes, even for those of us without small hand worries, there's an appealing feel to a deck that rests comfortably in the hand---yet the wideness of it gives a feeling of expansiveness and generosity; the user feels the card isn't stinting on content and that we're getting full benefit of the scene.

Of course, as I always state, an important factor in whether or not a smaller deck will work is the size relative to the visual intricacy of the images. Navigators' Trumps are too small relative to all that's packed into the image. On the other hand, Wild Uknown, with its sparse imagery, could easily get away with a smaller card (even though I'm glad it didn't).

Shadowscapes is the classic example of the deck that suffers greatly and loses many potential fans because of the size-to-intricacy ratio being wildly out of proportion. But what would happen if the cards increased in size to the left and right a la the Anna K or the Ancestral Path...wouldn't that please BOTH the squinting eyes and the hands of many tarotists out there?

Of course, we know they never will. I have low expectations for MM publishers deviating from their proven selling formulae. (Yes, I am aware that Lo Scarabeo will be putting out a new size for the Illuminati, but that is not something I expect to repeated often).

 

[raeanne]

(Applauding and would whistle but never learned how. )

As Lauren Bacall said: “If you want me just whistle. You know how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together and blow.”