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Hello,

We are working on a new project and would like your ideas and suggestions in drafting this deck.

Thanks
Eddie

Nemean lion under Genus Panthera

The Labors of Hercules

Badass. This brings to mind the gladiator and lion fights of ancient rome, so going with that theme and Latin:

Mors per Leo (Death by Lion in Latin)
Leo Impetum (Lion Attack in Latin)
Gaius Leonis (Lion Gladiator in Latin)
Leo Bellator (Lion Warrior in Latin)

Okay, you've already named it, and you already know the theme, and we get to make suggestions for tweaks and we get to guess the name as part of a contest. Am I getting this right so far?

I'll throw a few guesses out there:

Killer Kings
Law of the Jungle
Thessalonians This!
Felidae
Twelve Labours
Hercules
(You Can't Hide Your) Lion Eyes

As for thoughts on your design so far: me likey very much.

Is each suit going to represent a different animal family (or sub-family)? If so, will extinct species get a spot?

If the Spades are felidae, the Queen will have to be a cougar. (Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your wait staff.)

So its a "Nemean lion" says right there on the card, which is from ancient Greek mythology.

So maybe its a deck of mythological creatures. Named creatively, "Mythological Creatures"

Or alternatively its a Heracles Mythos deck. As Hercules is the one who slayed the Nemean Lion (with his bare hands too!). Named equally creatively "Heracles" or "Labours of Heracles" or "Labours"

Given that Heracles did 12 labours and there are twelve face cards in a deck that could be a really cool theme. Ace of spades could depict Heracles himself as well.

Hakuna Matata
In the Jungle
Circle of Life

Its Hercules !!
No one guessed the name 100 % accurate but the first one being the closest to the target is flyers3003.

WooHoo!

Congrats! Im a bit peeved because I did mention "Heracles" as one of my guesses which is just an alternate spelling, but multiple guesses is kinda cheating.

Also your guess was before mine and I agree it is pretty much close enough to win.

Which back design would you guys prefer?
Also any suggestions/feedback would be highly appreciated !!

The art's fine, but I always think figured backs come out looking a little too busy. I'd like to see a workup of the back that looks a little bit less like a face card.

That said, I think the second back is the stronger one. I particularly like the arch depicting the labors in iconographic form. (Though it does raise the question of how you're going to make mucking out the Aegean stables look cool....)

Merlebird wrote:The art's fine, but I always think figured backs come out looking a little too busy. I'd like to see a workup of the back that looks a little bit less like a face card.

That said, I think the second back is the stronger one. I particularly like the arch depicting the labors in iconographic form. (Though it does raise the question of how you're going to make mucking out the Aegean stables look cool....)

I agree with this. Of the two, the second back works much better as a back design. And while having a character on the back isn't ideal, there are much worse faux-pas out there (like putting HERCULES on it). I also realize there's a challenge in how well you can convey the theme of a specific character without depicting them. The second back design depicting him from the front, head on, makes it look less like a court card (which are more often in full or partial profile), which is a good thing.

Trying to see any possible tweaks to improve it, I can't see much. I think it has a good balance of quantity and size of elements, shadowing effects, and colors. The only thing slightly bothering me is the tiny "spikes" at the very top/bottom, it looks too simple compared to the rest, like a slightly lazy way to fill a gap in the design. I'd rather have a stronger element there, that matches the chains on the side in curvature and going slightly "out of bounds" of the frame of the design.

@MagicFingers: We totally agree with your point of changing the spikes at the top/bottom to replace with chains to match the theme.

Pupils on back #2 might work too. Right now he looks too "godly".

Gamblers Warehouse wrote:Which back design would you guys prefer?
Also any suggestions/feedback would be highly appreciated !!

Neither, but the 2nd one is better than the 1st one. If this is the direction of the card back, my strong interest comes to a dead stop. As soon as you start putting people on the backs, it becomes riskier and often doesn't fit. I like card backs that are mainly line work and shapes, basically how Uusi, Encarded and Uusi approach their card backs. The King of Spades shown is great. The card back is not in my opinion.

Gamblers Warehouse wrote:@MagicFingers: We totally agree with your point of changing the spikes at the top/bottom to replace with chains to match the theme.

I'm not sure replacing the spikes with more chains is the right way to go, you might get too much chains. My point was that they just need to be replaced by something stronger, maybe the top of a marble archway or something.

What do you think guys?

I know I'm intrigued.

I like what appears to be the card back (represented on the back of the tuck). If the card backs have metallic inks or foil, I'm loving 'em.

This is the Limited Edition with foiling.

Oooh. Would love to see a more closeup picture of the back of that Tuck. From what I can see, I like it.

I don't like the 4 Spade pips around the center. To me it feels like the easy way to go. Why not put the trials of Hercules on the back and the chains? Looking at this back I have no idea what the deck is.

I went ahead and changed the title of the thread, since the contest was done a long time ago.

More pictures










Jay

Bicycle branded- YES!!

EDIT: So is this going to be a KS?

I personally like the second back design you posted. This deck I think will look great!

I just hope there are no skulls

The foil doesn't look very foily.

That said, it's still a rockin' design.

I don't want to go with the renders when USPCC is the printer. Got burnt twice. Show us the real deal GW.

I almost like these.