Design Brief: Thoughts

I'm not so sure how I feel about all the black and white decks that have been coming out since the Black Tiger got released by Ellusionist a few years back. I'm all up for creativity and trying something different, but I have to call it like I see it, a lot of black and white decks look like they're lacking an essential ingredient, and as those of us who have worked in the print industry will know, printing black is so much cheaper than printing colour I can't help but feel slightly cheated at the prospect of paying more for a pack of cards that evidently costs less to print than their conventional cousins.

Gripe aside though, I genuinely like a lot of these decks, and they are brimming with creative and technical merit, I just can't see why they can't be printed in traditional blue and red as well as the black that has become so popular, that's all.

With my deck I want to strike a balance between the timeless design and aesthetics of the Bicycle and Tally Ho decks, the gold standard of card enthusiasts, and the newer and intentionally edgier and evidently more modern designs of the custom artwork decks released by Ellusionist, Theory 11 etc. which often have collectability in abundance but just don't quite look the same, to me, in the hands of a performer as tallys or bikes do.

I want to create something that will look at home in the hands of a magician, but still be noteworthy and collectable: something modern and relevant, but with more of a nod to the classics than the current crop of designer decks seem to be offering. This is the balance I am trying to achieve, and will influence the design process at every stage.