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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The workers » » Handmade Custom Cards (2 Likes) Printer Friendly Version

magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

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Earlier this year, Alex Haines' thread regarding his custom Raptor card deck project caught my attention here in this forum of the Café. I found the idea inspiring, and considered making one of my own. I own a couple of Heritage playing card decks, in which the entire deck is customized with a different animal for every card. I am currently working on a similar type deck of my own: Magicalaurie's Custom Cow Cards (of course! Smile ) Alex mentioned to me in his thread that he had considered customizing each card, but felt that magicians wouldn't use that type of deck, that the regular pip cards would be preferred. So, I realize the cards I'm working on might not be favoured by magicians, especially since I intend to produce them on watercolour paper and handpaint them. I'm in the sketching phase, and have plans for the cardbacks, as well. Not sure what I'll do about the box yet. I've just completed my first sketch- I started with the Two of Hearts, Ginny. All sketches will be freehand, using as reference photos of 50+ of my cow friends & family. Though you all may prefer to use another deck for your card work, magicians are serious card experts and thus I'm posting here because I know you can provide valuable feedback and design tips. One concern I have will be the finish. I would like to make these as user friendly as possible, so any tips the card experts here might have would certainly be appreciated. Thankyou for your interest. Here's Ginny:

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Laurie
magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

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Well, she's so far gotten 5 favorites out of not many more views (considering my own Smile ) on DeviantART since last night, so I think artistically inclined laymen might appreciate her... Smile
KyleMacNeill
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I don't know how effective they will be as cards, but may I say - that drawing of the cow is awesome!
Good luck with the project!

Best,

Kyle
magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

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Thankyou very much, Kyle! Smile
magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

Profile of magicalaurie
I was working on these today, and the thought occurred to me that a custom deck like this might indicate to spectators that the magician could use any deck.

That rather than raise suspicions of a "trick deck", maybe it could alleviate them, by nature of it being so different.

I suspect that magicians may be averse to them because the deck would challenge them to adopt alternate methods if the pip format is changed.

But in terms of the audience being suspicious of the deck- considering just how many brands and styles are out there, isn't it the magician they suspect? Does that go without saying?

If spectators are thinking along those lines, would it matter which deck is used? Is it a moot point? Can any deck that's not borrowed be above suspicion?

Just curious what you all think. I'd appreciate your thoughts.

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Magicalaurie's Custom Cow Cards Jack of Spades in progress
Jonathan Townsend
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Eternal Order
Ossining, NY
27393 Posts

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You're doing fine art there Laurie.
Would you consider cards that are more like postcards? That way your artwork is featured on one side and the other side can be blank? Artists have trading cards which look like that - art on one side and contact information on the other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5gg6rar5ZQ
:)

Jon
...to all the coins I've dropped here
magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

Profile of magicalaurie
Thank you, Jon. Appreciated. I have made a postcard to promote the deck. I have considered allied opportunities such as selling prints of the artworks. I have seen artist trading cards- a local art publication here prints little ones here for folks to cut out- coupon style- and collect. For this project, I do want to make a deck of playing cards, because the number of animals in the herd I'm drawing is appropriate, and there's a tie-in as well with their background- we always played cards at the farm, while my Dad still had his vision. And when he no longer could see, I customized a deck with a system of beads on each card, so that he could again play euchre (his memory was fantastic!) for the first time in years.

So, while I am interested in allied possibilities, I would like to discuss my work in the context of a custom playing card deck, and how spectators and magicians may or may not relate to this kind of deck. Smile

Here's a couple quick sample snaps of the promo post card front and back. Not as clear as the actual card- these are just sample snaps for your reference:

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In terms of contact info, a google search of magicalaurie will find me in various locations.
magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

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I want to make clear that I will be getting the deck printed. I'm apprehensive about crowdfunding- mainly because, where I'm from, I'm really not very used to other people actually supporting my artistic work Smile , so I'm not sure about going that route. I do busk, however, and have found the public to be wonderfully supportive, in that regard, at markets and festivals, so... What do you think? I find kickstarter a little daunting in terms of setting up reward categories, etc.

I have been looking at numerous printers, and while I see USPCC may be top of the list, I think it may be possible to go with another printer. Which finish is preferred for handling lately?

I'm studying pips and indexes, borders or no, etc and will be deciding on those details soon.

I'll post more artwork when I'm able.

I would like the deck to be somewhat traditionally functional, though I think card magic could use a little shake up or shall I say shuffle? Smile Again, I'm interested in your thoughts, please don't hesitate to share them with me. TIA. ~ magicalaurie
magicalaurie
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Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

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4 corner indexes

no borders

one way back- Hawthorn branches and berries- more about those here: https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view......forum=32

no pips, except those in the indexes, which will be pale-ish red hearts and red mineral salt block diamonds Smile along with short spade shovels and clovers (clubs), which will be dark green tinted black. Organic.

I considered going with 4 colour suits, and thought about red hearts, blue salt block diamonds Smile , black spade shovels, and green clovers, but I know there are a lot of red-black tricks out there, so decided to go more subtle and keep it simpler with red-ish and black-ish. Smile I think a four colour suits deck would likely confuse spectators, and practical magicians, including me. Smile

Font will also be organic- I'm currently hunting for letters and numbers in the haircoat whorls and feathers of the herd. This extremely organic feature will allow for actual spelling tricks with actual letters provided by the cattle, themselves. Smile

I have a plan for the box, too, but I'll talk about that later.

I repeat, I'm interested in your thoughts, please don't hesitate to share them with me. Thank you In Advance. ~ magicalaurie
magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

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magicalaurie
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Inner circle
Ontario, Canada
2991 Posts

Profile of magicalaurie
Progress on the Jack of Spades: https://magicalaurieblog.wordpress.com/2......sparrow/

I've found nearly all of my letters and numbers, too, I believe. Smile My Instagram has a little sneak peek of that: https://www.instagram.com/magicalaurie/?hl=en
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