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[See latest refinement at bottom of thread...]

Hi All, I am new to these forums, and looking for feedback and advice. This is the first card back I've made that I'm willing to show, and I wondered what people thought.
I also had a question or two.

1 - As this back is more of an abstract design rather than a theme, do you think it requires custom faces, or would standard faces be okay. I was contemplating standard faces but with modified colors, but wanted to fish for opinions before I made a decision.

2 - Has anybody worked with the MPC people? I was wondering what people thought of their quality and service, and if they are not well thought of, if there were any others that were better. I understand that Bicycle is the best, but from reading on the forums I also get the idea that they take a long time to get things done.

Anyway, thanks, and it's good to be here. I'm looking forward to hanging out.

I actually really love this. Very simple yet looks like its almost shattering towards the edges

Thanks, Sean. I'm noticing now that my borders are wider on the sides than the top and bottom, but I'll fix that.

1. I always prefer custom everything but it's not a must.

2. I haven't played with MPC decks much so I can't say how their cards are. The main alternatives to USPCC right now are EPCC then LPCC. I really like the new EPCC stock and finish. With all the decks coming out though and all 3 of those printers being used, decks are beginning to take longer and longer to get delivered.

If you do decided to print this deck, will you be using a crowndfunding platform such as KS?

Thanks for getting back to me, CB. And thanks for the information. I will look up EPCC and LPCC.

I would eventually like to Kickstart, but as I am just starting out, and I'm an unknown, I think I'll just hang around for a bit and see what I can learn from more experienced artists.

Regarding the custom faces. Do you know if any of the printing companies provide customizable standard faces? By which I mean do they have Illustrator files of the court cards that I could tweak the colors and fonts on?

I think these look wayyy too similar to the bee stingers.

One question, are you looking to to print these decks for your own use or to have these on KS?
Pardon me if im a little harsh, the only option you have is the former. These have an extremely long way to go if you were to go for the latter.

Hi Volantangle, you're absolutely right! This back was inspired by that deck. I just hated that they did an airbrush fade to white and thought this was a more elegant solution.

And right now I'm just an amateur messing around with designs. I might want to KS something at some point, but whether it's this design or something else is a decision I am months or possibly years away from. At the moment, I'm just looking for feedback, and I appreciate your honesty and knowledge.

Thanks!

I like this much more than the fade on the stingers. As Sean said, the shattering edges are appealing.
If you do use standard faces try to make a couple of interesting jokers to distinguish the deck. Since you are using diamonds on the back you could also trick out the Ace of Diamonds rather than the Ace of Spades.

Nathan wrote:
I would eventually like to Kickstart, but as I am just starting out, and I'm an unknown, I think I'll just hang around for a bit and see what I can learn from more experienced artists.

Wish we had more people like you. Usually, they blindly start a Kickstarter and we TRY to help them fix it. Most of the time without success...

@dazzleguts, thanks! Those are great ideas.

@sprouts1115, if I was younger, I'd probably jump out of the gate like that, but my impulsive days are behind me... mostly.

Okay, I've made some refinements. The design is now 14x14 rows instead of 14x13. Now I have a question. I've made two versions, one with larger gaps in the diamond pattern. Which do you prefer?

Thanks!

I really like the one on the right; it seems to pop much better. Glad to have you here

I agree with wahl - the one with larger gaps lends itself more to the breaking up feeling at the edges, and has more vibrancy.

Thanks, guys! I'm tending toward the right one myself.