The 'Prism' deck (previously 'highlights')

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The 'Prism' deck (previously 'highlights')

Unread post by Fud »

Hi All,

I have been roaming around on these forums for a while without posting, and have been developing some decks recently which I would like to put forward for comment to see if they are worth pursuing. One in particular I want to get going is one I call the 'highlights deck'. (*I don't really like that name, and am very open to any suggestions for another one*).

This deck got its start when I was doing some design for a combined card game (non playing card) project with some friends, and while messing around with some effects stumbled upon a combination of light and colour which I thought was pretty cool. After developing it for a while, I am pleased with the final effect. I'm a big fan of colour contrast with subtle touches, which I think comes through in these designs.

There are 2 facets to the cards. First, the bold coloured faces:
2S (Small).jpg
2S (Small).jpg (9.75 KiB) Viewed 1606 times
KH (Small).jpg
KH (Small).jpg (28.08 KiB) Viewed 1606 times
AC (Small).jpg
AC (Small).jpg (16.27 KiB) Viewed 1606 times
I can only upload 4 images, so these will have to do as an indication of my intent.

The second facet of the cards is the subtle radial fan. To do this I am planning on utilising MPC's 'high gloss' finish for the cards, which essentially creates a clear, glossy and slightly raised effect on the card where it is applied to. My aim is to have all the colour detail in this high gloss for futher contrast, but to also continue the radial lines to a gloss border. In the image below the purple indicates what will be see-through high gloss area:
2S (Small).jpg
2S (Small).jpg (9.75 KiB) Viewed 1606 times
2S-g (Small).jpg
2S-g (Small).jpg (36.64 KiB) Viewed 1606 times
(Note that there will be a boxed out area around the corner numbers/symbols where the radial lines will not be able to go to ensure a clear corner identification. I missed it on this particular picture)

So what the finished card will be is a mixture of bold colour and subtle texture.

I would love to hear some of your thoughts as to if this idea has merit, and how I could improve it. Also if someone has a better name than 'highlights', I'm all ears!

Thanks,
Fud
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Yashi »

Very interesting. Those two-colored indices might be a problem for some people though since it may affect the deck's ability to be played with.

The design reminds me of being in a club though. Maybe you could call it laser, strobe, or strobe lights (haha I suck at this).
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Eoghann »

Laser Show!


OOH OOH! Crayon Scratch! I used to do these ALL the time as a kid! :lol:
Image

I like your idea. But could you change the representation a little bit? Maybe make the background a very dark grey and the lines that'll be gloss black, represent them in black? To get an actual idea of what it will look like. Obviously it'll be black and blacker but just for us visual learners. :)
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Fud »

Thanks for those comments. I'm aware that having different coloured corners might be a bit confusing to play with; if I was to make them a uniform colour, what should they be? The red suits could be red, but the black ones would be relatively hard to see as straight black. Possibly blue? I'll try that and see how it looks.

And good idea to show the finished picture. Below are a 2 and a king for reference; just imagine the background is black matt, and the grey areas are black gloss, slightly raised for texture.
2S (Small).jpg
2S (Small).jpg (9.75 KiB) Viewed 1574 times
2S-g-g (Small).jpg
2S-g-g (Small).jpg (19.36 KiB) Viewed 1574 times
KS (Small).jpg
KS (Small).jpg (27.89 KiB) Viewed 1574 times
KH-g-g (Small).jpg
KH-g-g (Small).jpg (34.69 KiB) Viewed 1574 times
Thanks!
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Cellar Window »

Hello, I think a way to still keep the highlight you want and not make it too problematic to play with is to start the highlight design on the middle spreading out. Or it could be from the edges spreading in the middle. That way the pips wouldn't be too confusing to play with.
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Fud »

I've reworked the gloss lines around the cards, and re coloured the corner indices to be red and blue. What do you think about the new face below? It solves the problem of ugly non-radials around the corner pips.
2S-grey (rev 2) (Small).jpg
2S-grey (rev 2) (Small).jpg (28.41 KiB) Viewed 1526 times
As for those corners - if I go red and blue, should I use a hollow pip or solid coloured pip? The 2 options are in the 2 corners of the card...

The light grey represents the area which will be in solid black raised gloss, while the rest is in black matt. And the rest of the face cards should be more colourful - just with a 2 there are only 2 windows to the colour.

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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Yashi »

I'd go with solid. Alternatively, you could have a each suit have it's own color. Not much people might like the idea but I do. :)
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Fud »

Thanks for your comment Yashi. I have re-done the colours for the corner indices to make them a little bit more interesting and more in line with the colourful 'prism' effects. And I have reworked the royals to be 12 unique pictures, and changed the way they are processed so the colour works better through them.

Below is an indicative king of spades - the first image is the colourful face, and second is with the gloss. Again, the grey represents the black raised gloss section. The whole king image will be gloss too; not just the lines through him.
KS (2) (Small).jpg
KS (2) (Small).jpg (27.89 KiB) Viewed 1503 times
KS (2)-g (Small).jpg
KS (2)-g (Small).jpg (39.7 KiB) Viewed 1503 times
Please let me know what you think, I'm hoping this is the last step in the development process, so I can get onto prototyping!

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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Yashi »

I like what you've done with the pips. I also like how the King isn't made up of thick lines anymore as compared to your previous post. It makes it seem more like a "highlight" deck now.
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Fud »

Last revision (I hope).

Flipped the colour sequence of the royals to make it more of a 'positive' image rather than a 'negative' (like film negative). Also fixed up the gloss radial indicator lines to make it more clear where they will be. If anyone has any further suggestions as to how to make these better, please let me know, else I'll move into protoypes :)
KS (3) (Small).jpg
KS (3) (Small).jpg (28.2 KiB) Viewed 1473 times
KS (3)-g (Small).jpg
KS (3)-g (Small).jpg (39.41 KiB) Viewed 1473 times
Also calling this deck 'Prism - night' now as the number symbols look like light refracted from prisms. If this deck goes well, I'll see what I can do with reworked images on prism foil stock card (like from EPCC) with a 'day' version.

Fud
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Cellar Window »

that's better man! I was thinking the same thing for you to do a positive version of it. Yeah prism sounds better too
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by montecarlojoe »

I'm curious to see what the underlying colour image is - is it a thing? Or is it a collection of random colours
Have you tried a version with continuous colour (gradual colour change rather than block colours)? Or other effects like watercolour, tie-die etc?

Your ad card could be the fully exposed image (if the same one is used for every card)!

My first thought was the same as Dan - I actually think i would be cool to try to make it look like it had been done as a crayon scratch - or even DO oversised crayon scratch and scan the results. Labour intensive but could be an interesting experiment :)
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Fud »

Hi Montecarlojo, thanks for your comments. I actually changed the background image a few days ago to be a radial colour gradient, rather than a dripping-effect type block colour. It looks much better, and will be sticking with it unless something better comes up. It's the same image for each suit, but I rotate it 90 degrees to give a different colour gradient. As to changing the style; I want to stick to a straight colour for this version as the black really makes it stand out, but if this is a success I am planning a white version on prismatic stock which will utilise a different colour effect.

As to the ad being the exposed image – it’s a pretty boring picture, I think I’ll go more for the finished product 

Attached are some of the most recent (final?) images from the diamonds run, with the new colour gradient and without the gloss layer shown.
7 Diamonds.jpg
5 Diamonds.jpg
4 Diamonds.jpg
3 Diamonds.jpg
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Fud »

Hi All,

I’ve finished all the card faces for this deck (called ‘Prism’), and would like to get some thoughts on some issues I think I have. I’m worried about 2 main things:

- The background radial colour on the courts is quite strong and very non symmetrical. Will this be a problem? I think it enhances the number cards as there is not much colour shown, but for the courts where it is quite solid colour this might be too much. Thoughts?
K Clubs.jpg
K Hearts.jpg
K Spades.jpg
- The card back is non symmetrical as well. I’m designing a second, reversible one, but I think this one fits well with the overall theme. Should I change at all? Am I overthinking it?
Card Back.jpg
Thanks
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Re: Highlights deck

Unread post by Fud »

I've redone the courts to be more in theme with the rest of the deck. I'd like an opinion though - should I extend the colour radials to the borders or fade them just at the centers? The shiny ink layer will continue to the borders marking the extent of the radials, but I'm not sure I want the colour to.

Almost done!
K Diamonds 1 - 2.png
K Diamonds 2 - 2.png
K Spades 2 - 2.png
K Spades 1 - 2.png
I'm leaning towards stopping the colour short
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Re: The 'Prism' deck (previously 'highlights')

Unread post by Fud »

The protoypes have come (finally!), and they look awesome! I have a few tweaks to make, and I'm still getting product shots together to make the kickstarter page, but here is a taster of the Prism: Night deck which will be coming soon!
bP5090263 (Large).jpg
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