Tarot Pink

[gregory]

Ash - you know I love you to bits - but the decision to put all the artist blurb on the cards was COMPLETELY financially unnecessary. I can get - and have supported - the change in card size, and even the having big borders - but that "advertising" text wall is inexcusable on a tarot deck, which one expects to be usable for reading, and was not even remotely necessary.

Rodney - if you want to flog me your spare, I will take it and trim it - Donnalee's looks pretty good - but I'm not buying another for that purpose - no matter how good the cause. And I will be amazed if they manage to sell the rest of the decks - unless by not showing them as they now look...

 

[sacredashes]

I know, gregs... I love you to bits too.. I do hope the deck sells even not in large numbers. It's all done now so I hope those who ordered can use them for meditation if not for reading or just as coasters if it comes to that

 

[rwcarter]

Like gregory, I fully understand and support changing the size of the deck to fit in with the reduced budget for the project. Adding that block of advertising text to the cards is inexcusable though. To cut some of the costs it would've made much more sense to dispose of the bag, which is way too small for the finished deck anyway. That way there would have been more money available to expand the LWB to include the info that ended up getting put on the cards. And there might even have been enough money to increase the size of the cards.

And while group chat with the artists to get their opinion was nice, it would've been even nicer to ask the people who funded the project which options they were willing to sacrifice in order to bring the project to fruition. Instead it comes across as, "I have your money now, so you'll just get whatever I choose to give you." The finished product is a complete slap in the face to everyone who backed the project. And I sent an email expressing my displeasure through Indiegogo in response to the update I got where we finally got to see the images. The silence that I got in response from Mr. Leong speaks volumes to me.

Was that layout with the horrid block of text introduced before or after the project didn't meet its funding goal? The answer to that question tells us whether there was planned deception or an unfortunate decision made. My understanding is that this was not Mr. Leong's first experience with tarot, so I'm even more confused about how he could think the finished product would be workable as a tarot deck. The campaign wasn't advertised as a meditation deck, so if that's what ended up being released, the backers should have had some input into that decision.

Thanks for those pics donnalee. I don't use or care about reversals, so that won't matter to me. Does the back look more like a pink ribbon now? That would fit in perfectly with the breast cancer focus of the project. And I have a corner rounder to deal with the square corners along the bottom after trimming. My initial reaction is to cut off everything under the image including the author's name, but even though that block of text is smaller than the block at the top, I guess it still balances out the image so I'll likely keep it.

Rodney

 

[danieljuk]

thank you for taking the time to reply Ash from your perspective. I don't think anyone outside America has received their decks yet and I got an email today about "orders are now being dispatched, there will be a further email when your order is sent out", so could be about two weeks from now and I will wait till I get mine to pass judgement. I really hope the artwork is what saves the deck because you all put a lot of time and creative effort into the deck

I agree with Rodney though that they did have to cut costs but it doesn't explain the text at the bottom and "calling card" of the artists. I think I would have preferred card keywords or an interpretation or nothing at all, that beautiful artwork could have taken up the whole space! I can't see how that cut costs, I don't mind the smaller cards or other sacrifices, it's purely the bad layout choices but oh well.

But I am hoping I really love the cards outside of that because I know Roxi and Ciro also put a lot of time into their cards as well as yours Ash

Donna your scissor work makes it look so much better!

 

[Citrin]

I really don't like collaborative decks so I knew from the start this wouldn't appeal to me...

But I am a big fan of some of the card creators, among them Benebell Wen. And I'd recommend you all to hop over to her blog because the reviewed the deck herself, and she agrees with the comments here about the horrible borders etc. So that was interesting to read.

Some of the cards are lovely. I really like Waldherr's in particular.

 

[rwcarter]

Thanks for the heads-up Citrin. The deck is available on GameCrafter and they're showing the deck as it is, not as we were lead to believe it would look.

I enjoyed Benebell's review of the deck, which brought up issues I hadn't even realized as I still don't have my copies in hand. I agree with her that if a second edition is ever made that addresses the many issues with this edition that I will support that edition when it's available even if Mr. Leong is involved. But I fear that this edition is such a failure that there won't be a second edition.

Rodney

 

[reall]

I did trim the spamtastic stuff off, and really like the results. Yes, the backs are not symmetrical so reversals would have to be with eyes closed, but that doesn't bother me. I did my usual personal-amateurish job with regular scissors, but here is what some of them look like.

like what you did here! you show us how this deck should be look like!)

I really don't like collaborative decks so I knew from the start this wouldn't appeal to me...

But I am a big fan of some of the card creators, among them Benebell Wen. And I'd recommend you all to hop over to her blog because the reviewed the deck herself, and she agrees with the comments here about the horrible borders etc. So that was interesting to read.

Some of the cards are lovely. I really like Waldherr's in particular.

same here! like her review! and example with white borders and text that makes sense is much better!

@rwcarter I totally agree here! when you are gathering founds you need to ask people who are willing to participate and support you and who will end up using this deck!
as good word is best promo!)

just to say I feel sorry for all artists who participated here! as their art end up cut off! and because of things like this they will probably think twice before giving hand for next cause!

my only regret here is that tech stuff should have someone who have any idea about oracle/ tarot cards so they should know we all prefer images without borders and pointless text!

in any case it's not place for promo! that should be posted online or in LWB or pdf for download or something!

I would prefer poker or mini size over compromising art like this!

at least we'll hope same mistake won't happen again in the future projects!

and at least they could avoid that mistake with gamecrafter deck?!x.x at least they have option for pdf download! so there is no reason to not publish borderless and textless edition for all of us who wish to have fantastic art and actual reading deck?!x,x facepalm

as things like this look like they don't have competent tech and production team!x.x

 

[earthair]

and at least they could avoid that mistake with gamecrafter deck?!x.x at least they have option for pdf download! so there is no reason to not publish borderless and textless edition for all of us who wish to have fantastic art and actual reading deck?!x,x facepalm

as things like this look like they don't have competent tech and production team!x.x

Yup.
And I don't buy the sob story about less funding meant the cards had to change. I bet they were always going to have the advertising blurb...because if you actually wanted to save money, you'd do it the easy way- stick the images in a plain simple pink border, slap on a Queen of Cups title or whatever, upload images to TGC and the job's done- you have a great deck. If you always planned to release on TGC you wouldn't waste money printing a lwb either.

Presumably the person who compiled all the images still has the original files? Yes? Well now, they just have to upload them all to TGC, in a text-less, border-less edition and start making money for the cause. I challenge them to do the right thing.

 

[gregory]

I am certain sure that the blurb was NOT a part of the original project. I have this from more than one person directly involved. Extreme cynicism don't help no-one !

And they WILL have the print over-run to dispose of, whatever may later happen on TGC. Where it was never planned to print it - and just as well; the way their decks ALWAYS incur customs charges mean I don't deal with them when I'm in the UK.

 

[desertrat]

Just thought I’d say something a little different…

I received my deck today and have to say that, after looking through it, I am relieved to find it is not nearly as bad as this thread would lead one to believe. In fact, IMO, it is not bad at all. Yes, placing the artist information on the card was not the best decision – better to have put it in the LWB that came with the deck – but it’s not nearly as distracting as I thought it would be. The cards seem to be regular tarot card size so that the artwork is still large enough to appreciate. I went through the deck, looking at the fabulous images, and grew happier with each card I saw – saying to myself “ooh! I have her/his tarot deck!”. I believe the artists put a lot of effort and love into their work. I remain as astounded today as I originally was when I first heard of the project that all these talented tarot people came together to produce, truly, a lovely deck. And I offer them my sincerest thanks for doing so. I am confident I will be able to read with it without any issues.

I do not regret supporting this project in the least. And if there should be a second edition printed with larger artwork and no advertising info, then I would purchase that also.