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I agree that the AoD looks a little forced, but I rather like the other aces. Maybe on AoD have the holding their swords to form the top of the diamond shape. Hopefully that suggestion makes sense.

these are still 1st sketches. My next post will show the kings, then queens.

That will be followed by the joker, back and tuck.

Then, finally, any revisions. Will be tweaking the AoD, it is on the list

It is coming together very well! Really liking it! Congrats.

Only thing I would point out is to keep some traditional features, like one eyed jack, suicide king, one eyed king....

sms69x wrote:It is coming together very well! Really liking it! Congrats.

Only thing I would point out is to keep some traditional features, like one eyed jack, suicide king, one eyed king....

Thank you, your support is generous

In regards to the traditional features, we have kept to a couple here and there but it's more notable on the Kings and Queens. As for the one eyed jack, I will certainly take the feedback on bored, the only thing I'm concerned about is he would have to be facing sideways, which would be out of context with the rest of them. I suppose we could do it as a gouged eye though. I'll discuss it with my cousin and see what we can do

Please check out the Kings and our Pip design below. Again, feedback is very much welcome particularly on the pips.

Coming up, the Queens.

Custom Pips

Here are 1st sketches of the Queens. Geisha in their most vulnerable form.

Unfortunately, there were no women of any outright significance during the Edo era, however, Geisha girls were the answer to every man's sexual needs. There was nothing in place to state Japanese men had to be faithful to their wives. It was never considered taboo by their Shinto religion.

Nowadays, Geisha are known for much more, some may call it a type of art form. As well as being a companion, they're also associated with music, dance and acting -they perform for both male and female.

However, during the Edo period, Ieyasu and the Tokugawa clan, built "pleasure quarters". What we refer to, now, as a red light district. Any prostitution outside these quarters would be deemed illegal. They were known as yūjo (play women) and would have to be licensed. There were different status of yūjo, the highest status being Tayuu (combo of actress and prostitute).
If anyone has ever heard or come across a Kabuki Theatre, it was because of this. They dubbed the art form as Kabuku and the name of the dance Kabuki.

Hope you like the drawings, my cousin really put a lot of time and effort into all these drawings (while juggling his job and family too) and would apreciate any kind of feedback regarding these.

Nice work. Can you put pupils in the cards without them, they look odd.

Pips don't seem to have connection. I like the Spade but the Club looks like it's got fuzz on it when you shrunk it down. Hearts and Diamonds aren't doing it for me either. Maybe have design inside all non Spade pips vs "cutting" the other 3 edges off.

These pictures look amazing, I can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the deck

RichK wrote:Nice work. Can you put pupils in the cards without them, they look odd.

Pips don't seem to have connection. I like the Spade but the Club looks like it's got fuzz on it when you shrunk it down. Hearts and Diamonds aren't doing it for me either. Maybe have design inside all non Spade pips vs "cutting" the other 3 edges off.

Apologies for the lack of communication, with our day job and doing this it consumes alot of time. I've certainly taken everything on board, will be looking to add pupils and have redesigned the pips too. I agree, in my head they looked amazing, on paper, they looked good too. Once coloured, it kind of lost its edge lol

I shall update very soon. Working on the back design, slight struggle with it, but we will preservere and bring you something, hopefully, aesthetically pleasing. Thank you again for all the support guys.

The aces already look awesome! can't wait to see more!

cartamundicards wrote:The aces already look awesome! can't wait to see more!

Thank you bud
Are you the official Cartamundi guys? If so, I got in contact with your UK branch about this printing as I love the Elites.

Guys, would love feedback on these. We are stuck for a colour scheme for the face of the cards. Standard white was very bleh and didn't really feel happy with it. We've come up with 2 different ones, would love your feedback on it or any other recommendations you have?! Ignore the pips as they won't be the ones we are using. We are redesigning the pips to make them more playable.

Also, the back design has been drafted. It's not complete yet, but it will be similar to the final design. Border or no border? Again, any feedback the community has is always taken on board and helps a long way

Definitely the brown-ish color scheme, I've never thought dark grey works very well on cards. The courts are quite small though, leaving a lot of empty space. Maybe scale them up a bit?

The back design is very... non-traditional. I can't say I'm really feeling it, although the colors are nice.

MagikFingerz wrote:Definitely the brown-ish color scheme, I've never thought dark grey works very well on cards. The courts are quite small though, leaving a lot of empty space. Maybe scale them up a bit?

The back design is very... non-traditional. I can't say I'm really feeling it, although the colors are nice.

Agree on all. If you can make the 'J' and bit under the 'J' red to go with inner diamond/heart that would be easier to see.

RichK wrote:Nice work. Can you put pupils in the cards without them, they look odd.

Pips don't seem to have connection. I like the Spade but the Club looks like it's got fuzz on it when you shrunk it down. Hearts and Diamonds aren't doing it for me either. Maybe have design inside all non Spade pips vs "cutting" the other 3 edges off.

I agree with the comment about the clubs. Definitely want to make sure you check how they turn out after printing, and the details aren't lost on what ever find decision you make on them.

The backs, agree that they are not traditional, but I think they look great as long as it comes out perfectly 2-way (sometimes there a small difference). It also helps to make sure registration is on point with the printer. Love the colors as well

This deck has AMAZING potential! Such great work!

I have a few questions :

1. On the court cards, specifically the JoC, JoH, KoC, KoH, KoD, is there are reason they are slightly "tilted" or "rotated" to the left? The others are more 90 degree symmetrical. It was throwing my eye for a loop when comparing to the others.
2. The Aces are wonderful. Only question I had was the AoC. I am not seeing the Koi as pertaining to Shoguns. I know they are "traditional" but I wasn't getting that instant connection.
3. Ninjas. Samurai. They were also apart of feudal Japan. Maybe include them as Jokers?

Then come the geishas, wow! The QoH is absolutely stunning; that back tattoo! The QoS is a close second for me.

Keep up the great work! Can't wait to purchase these.

With respect to my previous comment about the AoC and the Koi fish, what if you did one of the symbols that represents the Shogun.

For instance :



You could remove the circle border and then create a stem. It would be the perfect AoC. Just a thought!

This deck has some beautiful artwork and it was really interesting to read your stories behind the different characters. I agree with MagikFingers: your cousin's drawings are wonderful and also quite sensitively detailed, I think making them larger would allow them to fill the card in a better way (and help them shine a lot more). On the background colour/layout, I too prefer the brown / neutral version (with bigger courts). Great work - and looking forward to seeing more

Dragosven wrote:With respect to my previous comment about the AoC and the Koi fish, what if you did one of the symbols that represents the Shogun.

For instance :



You could remove the circle border and then create a stem. It would be the perfect AoC. Just a thought!

I love what you've put together so far, and I really like this new concept for the AoC. However; it could be just me, but I feel like the AoC would be the odd one out. All the other aces have people on them, but this one would have just a symbol. Do you think there could be any way you could come up with a concept that would include a person on the AoC?

HI Guys,

The feedback for all of this has been really overwhelming, I am so happy with all the positivity and feedback we are receiving.

We are redesigning the back to make it a little more traditional, the original back design I posted, we do still have some plans for that for within the project, don't want to say too much, just in case we hit any bumps in the road. don't want to set an expectation only for it not to go through.

In regards to the suits you mentioned that are a little bit off centre, is anyone else having this issue seeing it tilted? I think I can make out on one of them, my eyes are playing games though lol anyone who sits in front of a computer for a living knows what I am on about lol

Yes, the AoC is something that seems out of place at first. The idea is that, during the Edo period, when Tokugawa Ieyasu officially took over, he restored order within Edo, tranquility set in. The Koi are meant to represent that.

Throughout the deck, we are aiming to represent over 250 years, from the battle of Sekigahara to just before the Meiji Restoration.

We are using the crest for other part of the deck and tuck, and also using the crest as part of add ons that we have in mind. We didn't really want to over do it with the crest too much.

We are experimenting with the background of the court cards, looking to incorporate a background design to fill the negative space. We did enlarge the image, but with some of them, when enlarged, the weapons are cut off.

It's definitely something we are working on and trying to perfect as much as we can

I'll pop in and out with updates, on tuesday I will be posting more images.

Thank you again guys, for all the support

Here is our alternative version for the back design. This isn't the final piece, there's still some work to be done such as choosing the right background colour and minor design details that we are experimenting with.

A bit of background regarding the sketch in the centre. The war torn flags you see depict the flags that we're used during The Battle of Sekigahara.
The castle is that of the Edo Castle, where Ieyasu put together the Shogunate. It has been replaced by the Tokyo Imperial Palace, although some parts of the old Edo Castle still remains to this day.
The spiral like design of the Komainu is also included, the Komainu being the protector of the Castle to ward off evil spirits.

Please let us know your thoughts on the revised background.

Thank you again

The new back is tons better in my opinion as it fits the theme much more than the previously proposed back. My only criticisms of the new back is that there is a little too much empty space and it seems that the banners are more the focus than Edo Castle...was this intentional? I would like to see Edo Castle more centered and fill out more of the back. Either way, love the way this deck is shaping up...keep up the great work!

nur1988 wrote: Please let us know your thoughts on the revised background.

It looks 65% done. I like the idea and looks promising, but there's too much empty space. The linework at the corners is nice, but the fans/onions/blobs aren't. I think some more detailed line work and other things to fill the negative/empty space would help a lot. Or even loads of kanji might work, depending on what is written.

Agree with both above comments.

TGunitedcardists wrote:

nur1988 wrote: Please let us know your thoughts on the revised background.

It looks 65% done. I like the idea and looks promising, but there's too much empty space. The linework at the corners is nice, but the fans/onions/blobs aren't. I think some more detailed line work and other things to fill the negative/empty space would help a lot. Or even loads of kanji might work, depending on what is written.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated as always.

The fans/onions/blobs you're referring to isn't any of those things, it's a part of the Tokugawa crest. We'll have a look into this if this is what people are thinking they are.

Anyone else have this perception of the crest?

We're experimenting with kanji work for the negative space, amongst other design details

I have nothing to add except encouragement - your deck is beautiful. I'm loving it so far!

The new back design is looking more connected with the artwork on the faces, which is great to see ...
I know the design isn't finished, but just wanted to throw in one comment: how would it look if the castles were placed top bottom (of the circle) - with banners and clouds on the sides ? It would give you more room to extend upwards (and downwards) - and like shermjack said, make the castle(s) the focal point of the design... Also, a centred top/bottom placement, would prevent them from sliding/toppling.

Hey guys. So we've taken the feedback on board and we agree that the castle needs to be a focal part of the back design.
In regards to ninelives' comment, having to rotate it so the castle is at the top of the circle would mean we would have to redraw the entire back which would take hours. We've come up with a solution so the castle pop out more on the back than the war torn flags and the Komainu curls. Also, made slight adjustments, please let us know your thoughts.

Also attached are 2 of the face cards. We've made them larger so they fit the deck and drew some japanese mandala design to help fill it out more. The Jack of Spades we are working on to include the larger pip, still adjusting. Would love to know if you prefer courts to have an inside border or no inside border?!

thank you again

I like the border. It matches well with the border you have on the back.

The front background color looks awful to me, grayish and murky. Unfortunately it helps the art pop more making it stand out better.

I would suggest a different color for the Spade/Club indexes. They are too similar to the Diamond/Heart in my opinion. If you do go that route try making the large suit the same color so you don't have a yellow JoD index with a big red diamond next to it.

Can't wait for this to launch. It looks great. And seriously loving the JoS pose. I'll be interested to see the KoH too.