Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Nat Iwata of Steampunk Cthulhu Resurrection Playing Cards

The Steampunk Cthulhu Resurrection Playing Cards is a revised version of the popular original Steampunk Cthulhu deck released last year. Produced by Nat Iwata, this Steampunk Cthulhu themed deck has been revamped, retouched, and resurrected!

This revised deck features artwork based on a Steampunk rendition of The Call of Cthulhu. The backs are beautifully designed and the unique court cards are illustrated with scenes and characters from the story. Also, fans of the original will be happy to know that many improvements have been made: thin borders on card back, new background art on card fronts, new tuck box and new custom seal.

Nat was nice enough to have a chat with us about his design background, inspiration behind the Steampunk Cthulhu Resurrection deck, his thoughts on the growth of crowd-funded playing card projects and lessons from his previous successful Kickstarter projects.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
My background is in the video game industry, which I still work in as a freelance artist and art director. I went to school for film, and then later got a degree from Animation Mentor for character animation, but ultimately decided I wanted to make art as more of a jack of all trades. I've worked on teams and also as the sole artist on mobile games where I'm doing everything from concept art to rigging and animation to UI design.

About 2 years ago the studio I was working for was having some issues so I decided to set out as a full time freelancers, which was when I launched my first Kickstarter for The Steampunk Alphabet, a children's book I wrote and illustrated. The result was an overfunded project and a publishing deal from a small book publisher in California, so more than I bargained for!

After seeing a few card projects on Kickstarter I came to the realization that playing cards offered the perfect vehicle for me to put my illustration skills to work and make a cool product that, luckily, people seem to really like.

What is your inspiration behind the Steampunk Cthulhu Resurrection Playing Cards? Why another Cthulhu themed deck?
A year ago this month, I launched a campaign for my first card deck, the original Steampunk Cthulhu Bicycle deck. I'd already established a steampunk audience with my book, and Cthulhu seemed to be a great tie in. The alphabet book was a kind of mashup, so this just so Steampunk Cthulhu just seemed like a great pairing.

Since then, I've totally sold out. I've done 2 more decks between then and now and have learned a lot, and often thought of some changes I'd make to that first deck. The Steampunk Cthulhu Resurrection campaign is about getting revamping the design, and reintroducing the deck in a new light, hopefully to some new folks as well. I've also decided to go with Expert Playing Card Company, maker of the Exquisite deck, which will allow me more flexibility with the size of my print runs without sacrificing quality.

How much time did you spend working on the deck?
It's hard to say, as I work on a deck for several months, but not full-time. The design work, running the campaign, and fulfilment easily adds up to a couple hundred hours of work.

Can you briefly go through the design evolution of one of your unique card design?
Well it does depend on the card really. Some of the court cards are actually portraits of backers. With those, I get several photos of the person and chose the one I think will best suit the card. I then look at a lot of reference for clothing and sketch out a preliminary outfit for them. Next I do a line drawing of the card and get their approval, as I want them to be happy with their immortalized card self. Next is adding color and shading and putting on finishing touches.

If it's not a portrait card, I generally get an idea of what I want in mind, and just go through the same process of sketching, line drawing, then rendering it out.

What are your thoughts about the continuous strong growth of playing card projects on Kickstarter? 
I think it's good and bad. In some ways I wonder if it's not a bubble waiting to burst, or if people are going to get burned out and broke on card decks. On the other hand, just as the card creator community is growing so is the number of card enthusiasts. There seems to be no shortage of demand for more decks, which is good news for me and other creators.

You've got a few creators that make insane amounts of money, not necessarily insane amount of profits mind you, and the more moderately successful guys like me, and then of course the ones that barely scrape by or are unsuccessful altogether. I think it's becoming harder for creators coming in late to the game that haven't established a place in the community to stand out in the mix.

You have previously launched 5 projects (5 successful) on Kickstarter. Are there any takeaway lessons from your previous projects you would like to share?
There have a been a ton of lessons along the way, many of which I've tried to pass on to other Kickstarter creators this past year. Here are a few that come to mind:

- Kickstarter is a community, be an active part of it. Talk to other creators, collaborate, offer help, and get involved with backers. If you're simply asking others to support you without doing the same in return, you won't do as well as you could.

- Be honest, be fair and communicate. Though I've had a few unpleasant conversations with backers, I've always found the best results by just being upfront with people, kind and respectful.

- I'll move on after this one, but there are so many variables to account for, planning makes all the difference. Make a budget, map out your campaign, know what you need to compensate for your materials and time and don't be so desperate to succeed that you end up in the red.

That is some really good advice! Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks? 
That's too hard of a question to answer, there are so many amazing decks out there!

Thank you for your time, Nat and good to see you back on Kickstarter! :)


The Steampunk Cthulhu Resurrection deck will be printed by the Expert Playing Card Company, the printer of The Exquisite Deck. Pledge starts from $10 and there are multiple add-ons available such as custom coin and uncut sheets.

Kickstarter: Bicycle Steampunk Pirates Launches with Mass Appeal

Launched on Kickstarter.com just a few days after International Talk Like A Pirate Day on September 22, Bicycle Steampunk Pirates is nearing its funding goal in less than 48 hours. Bicycle Steampunk Pirates is the 3rd playing card project from creator Nat Iwata, who also launched Bicycle Steampunk Cthulhu and Bicycle Elves and Orcs on Kickstarter as well. Nat has had success with both earlier projects, which launched and funded this year in 2013.

Click here to visit the project.

Bicycle Steampunk Pirates takes us on a  swashbuckling and high sea adventure into a make believe time when steam powered pirate ships and pirates were armed with high-powered hooks and weaponry. According to the project page, Bicycle Steampunk Pirates Playing Cards is a companion to the original and first project by Nat, Steampunk Cthulhu which funded over $25K.

Nat's playing cards are fully illustrated and custom drawn and designed playing cards. The artwork, which has a comic book feel, uses a mix of antique colors with heavy emphasis on red, off-white, bronze, brown and yellow. The deck puts you right in the steampunk world but the swashbuckling and plank walking never gets lost.

The project has also made available a Limited Edition Black Flag deck that is a darker version of the  original Steampunk Pirate. The project will be in funding period for another 29 days when it ceases funding on October 23, 2013. When funded the project is expected to ship in February of 2014.

Here is a look at Bicycle Steampunk Pirates courtesy of the project page:

Review: Max Playing Cards and Kardify on 2013 Crowd-Funding Part I

Max Playing Cards and Kardify is proud to present part one (of three) in our first annual insight into crowd-funding as a platform for funding playing card projects. We hope this will enlighten designers, creators, backers and collectors on crowd-funding projects in general.

In part one, we will go through our choice for the best and the worst Kickstarter campaigns in 2013 and in part two we will cover some details on how crowdfunding, particularly what works and what doesn't on Kickstarter.

There’s no doubt that crowdfunding has had an impact on the playing cards industry. As of December 2013, 257 projects were created and a total of $4.0m were pledged. For those unfamailiar with crowdfunding, in a nutshell, is the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money (backers) to support projects initiated by other people or companies. The pool is used as capital for products and/or services offered as rewards to backers- only if the funding goal is achieved. Each projects have a variety of different pledge options (reward tiers) where larger pledge are rewarded with increasing incentives. 

KickStarter has been the most popular platform for crowdfunding a variety playing card projects. With Kickstarter, designers and artist can use this crowd-funding platform as a means of by-passing the typical distribution process of a major company. This is especially rewarding for talented creators with good ideas and design giving them control of their creation. For collectors and card enthusiast,  this platform enables them to interact with designers directly and playing card decks can be purchased at a reasonable price. Also, backers get more choices such as limited edition add-ons for early backers. Having said that, here are some of our thoughts on 2013 playing card campaigns on Kickstarter:

Best Kickstarter Campaign 

Max: I would say one of my favorite campaign is the Venexiana deck by Lotrek. I have chosen this campaign not only because the deck is cool. I have to admit there have been fantastic decks in KS. The reason for this opinion is due to the way the artist, Lotrek, has handled the campaign and the honesty he has demonstrated with his backers. 

Let me give you just an example of this honesty. He had the chance to take advantage of the campaign's success and get more money offering stretch goals but he preferred not to do it just because he wasn't sure if he would get the goal or not and he didn't want people go further their economical possibilities and not to be able to cope with their expectations due to insufficient funding; so he decided not to do it. Furthermore, the artist showed all the time a complete availability to answer every question and to clarify anything regarding the project. He also showed a deep respect for people like me or other bloggers that work to spread the voice about the art and the artist. 

Ivan: I agree, Lotrek's Venexiana project along with Lee McKenzie's Empire and Joanne Lin's Emperor project are amongst my 2013 favourites: excellent design, good communication during and after the project and smooth delivery. For me, Jackson Robinson's Federal 52 Part 2 campaign gets my vote for 2013. I absolutely love the original Federal 52! It is by far the most elegant deck of playing cards I've ever seen BUT trying to get my pledge amount right was confusing! Too many choice...! Branded, unbranded, gold cert, unbranded gold cert, shipping cost for multiple decks, international shipping... oh.. and new add-ons keep coming up! It was quite daunting! Imagine being a first-time backer.

Then came Federal 52 Part 2 where Jackson introduced the alphanumeric system for different reward tiers. With this system, backers can easily identify the various combinations for different reward tiers and calculate any add-ons they want from the provided pricing matrix. Clean and simple. 

The other thing I liked about the campaign was how Jackson brought backers on a journey with the project updates- giving insights to the design process, design inspiration, production process and even a vote for sicker design. This gave a sense of involvement and also a piece of mind to backers that things are actually moving along in the background.

Finally, I like how Jackson utilises crews in the comment section to answer any backer queries. This kept backers up-to-date with the project on a daily basis. Excellent strategy. I reckon Federal 52 Part 2 is the first, if not one of the first to utilise crew as spokesperson for the creator. Today, there are many playing card projects that emulate the crew strategy to stay on top of communications.

Having said that, what do you think are some of things a successful creator can improve on in 2014?

Max: I think the ambition is one of the worst things a talented creator can fall into and unfortunately some creators with a huge success have changed the spirit of the crowdfunding, developing fantastic and successful campaigns but with indecent prices creating not only unbalanced products but also an unscrupulous secondary market that has made many modest collectors cannot access them. I think that wouldn't have to be the spirit of a playing cards creator. Sometimes, this ambition makes the artist unavailable and even amnesic about his/her beginnings and origin. That's terrible.

I cannot consent to talk only about one creator and one project because I have been really lucky to build fantastic relationships with many of them and many have demonstrated that respect for backers and supporters I was talking before. Some of them (please, don't get mad at me if I forget someone.. I am too old to have a good memory) are Alex Willis, Bill Colins, Brian Denham, Caleb Gates, Chris Ovdiyenko, Dann Kriss, Elite PC staff, Jean Labelle, Juan Solorzano, Nat Iwata, Sean Whelan, Uusi and, as said before, many other firends and talented creators that make my writer life slightly easier and happier...

Worst Kickstarter Campaign 

Ivan: Let's move on to the other side of the coin. The worst Kickstart campaign for 2013 would be the Founders Playing Cards. The whole campaign was so well executed: sleek video, beautiful design, finished design prototypes and periodic progress updates. Even after the campaign ended, the creator was still giving 'progress' update. Little did backers know... It was an outright scam!  

Three months after reaching it's funding goal, communication just stopped! No one saw it coming. Disappointing! The creator actually launched the campaign with intention to scam as much money as he can. This was the first Kickstarter deck that I featured on Kardify. I am embarrassed by it. 

What's your's Max?

Max: Unfortunately, I cannot choose just one for the worst one. There are many campaigns that have been a disaster, badly handled and terribly delayed. In fact I am still waiting for decks that would have had to be delivered more than six months ago, and I have seen those decks available in online shops while many backers have not even received their rewards. But the very worst are those that are never fulfilled.

I have to say some of these projects have lead me to a kind of bankruptcy that has not allowed me to make bigger pledges in later projects. I have lost a lot of money in projects such as Asylum, Bicycle Core, Founders or Ultraviolet although this list is not at all the only projects I have not received anything yet... I think Kickstarter doesn't show any sensibility about this situation and they even get money from those projects that are never fulfilled, something I cannot understand from an ethical point of view as they become, in some way, accessory to scam backers. 

Ivan: Yes unfortunately this scenario is not uncommon on Kickstarter and there is nothing much any backer can do about it. I guess as backers, we can do our own due diligence by asking questions and doing some research. Sites like the Discourse, UnitedCardist and even Max Playing Cards and Kardify would be a good resource as well. ;)

It's your money. If you are not satisfied or not comfortable, cancel your pledge.

Most Engaging Kickstarter Campaign 

Max: I won't talk about a campaign, but about two themes: Lovecraft and Steampunk. I am not a fan of any of both, but I have been really surprised about the huge community around Lovecraft and all his work and also around the cultural movement of Steampunk. There have been this year more than a dozen decks dedicated to both themes, some of them even to both at the same time, and although not all have been finally funded most of them have been great successful projects. 

I think the most recent Steampunk Pirates by Nat Iwata, and both Cthulhu projects by Dan Criss and Shane Tyree are the ones I would say more engaging.

Ivan: Too many Cthulhu and Steampunk projects in 2013 I reckon!! Haha.. I almost expected to see purple Cthulhu or a white limited edition steampunk Cthulhu deck. Having said that, I have to say Call of Cthulhu: The Writhing Dark takes the cake. 

I love how Shane interacts with backers both on the campaign website and social media. Also a first on Kickstarter, the campaign has an Alternate Reality game that was run in parallel. Backers can unlock extra reward 'freebies' by completing investigations on a weekly basis. Very creative! It kept fans and backers involved while having fun at the same time. Finally, Shane organised several Google hangout sessions to answer questions, do some anthology reading and demonstrated how card design works. Brilliant!

Join us next month for Part II of our 2013 crowd-funding review.

Top 12: Playing Card Decks for Halloween 2015

With Halloween just a few days away, we've compiled the best playing cards for All Hallows' Eve just for you. Behold! The Kardify Top 12: Halloween 2015 Edition, with enough ghosts, pirates, killer jokers, villians and skulls to keep your spine tingling through the night.

Difficulty scale from easy (1) to difficult (5). If you have one that we haven't discovered. Do feel free to share.

12. Sleepy Hollow

Over a year in the making, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow Playing Cards were conceived by playing card designer Derek McKee and masterfully illustrated in France by J.C. Desevre. This incredibly intricate and detailed deck of playing cards depicts artwork and characters from the popular Sleepy Hollow legend including Ichabod Crane & the Headless Horseman.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

11. The Evil Deck

Captivated by villains and his love for drawing creatures, Giovanni Meroni decided to embark on a playing card project to create a fun, colorful and dynamic theme for a deck. After illustrating all 54 creatures by hand, the Evil deck is born. The deck features fully custom face cards, embossed tuck coated with UV supergloss, interior printed and neatly packaged with a custom seal. Definitely a fun deck for All Hallows' Eve.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $14.95

10. October Second Edition

Fulton's October Playing Cards is a frightfully fun and whimsically deck featuring the illustrated artwork of Steven Noble. Packaged inside the box you will find one tricked out deck of playing cards. Everything from the back design, ace of spades, jokers, and court cards were customized. The deck features a superior dark-charcoal and black box, while also incorporating an asymmetric design that proudly features the back illustration of the cards within.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

 9. Revelation

Revelation is an extraordinary deck of playing cards inspired by medieval cathedrals and their gothic style. This meticulously hand-illustrated deck features gothic details, symbolic carvings and stained glass ornamentations from the stunning Nidaros cathedral in Norway. Fully custom, the Revelation tuck box, jokers, Ace of Spades and the eye-catching backs features artwork inspired by the beautiful stained glass of the cathedral while the illustrated skeleton courts pays homage to the silent skeletons of Norwegian royalty still resting in Nidaros’ catacombs. A strangely beautiful, simple and visually stunning theme.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

8. Requiem

Requiem Playing Cards is a stunning deck masterfully crafted by Lorenzo Gaggiotti of Stockholm17. This unique deck is 100% custom and features darkness & pain as a theme. The illustrations for the Courts, Jokers and Aces are very dark. The suits are made out of broken Hearts, Clubs with thorns, cracked Diamonds and dry leaves as Spades. Pips are unique and the gold metallic ink on this blood red deck gives it a touch of elegance.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $20

7. Neverland

Here's a delightful deck! Designed by Nat Iwata, Neverland is a beautifully illustrated deck of playing cards based on J. M. Barrie's timeless classic Peter and Wendy. The deck is Bicycle branded and features fully custom courts, aces, pips jokers and rich full card backs.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

6. Steampunk Bandits

From the guys at Gambler's Warehouse, Steampunk Bandits is a beautiful designed deck based on contemporary artists’ depictions of the bandits themselves, oft portrayed as skeletons. Not just for fans of Steampunk, this exquisite deck features unique art for all four suits of court cards, incredible colours and beautifully embossed tuck.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $15

5. Venexiana Dark

Dark Venexiana Playing Cards is the follow-up to the original Venexiana deck. Designed by Lotrek of Half Moon Playing Cards, the story continues the journey to the dark heart of 18th century Venice. Venexiana Dark features a series of obscure and marginal characters who complete the picture of this haunting city from thieves, assassins, prostitutes to wicked noblemen and masters of deception.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $15

4. No. 17 (Bicycle Branded) Playing Card 

No.17 is a stylish deck of playing cards designed by Lorenzo Gaggiotti. This will be his second deck on our Halloween list. There is no specific theme in this deck, it´s quite eclectic. The deck is 100% custom and features a Bicycle branded tuck with subtle embossing,  the now familiar Jester on the front and a stunning back that carries a beautiful line work!

Difficulty: 1
Price: $20

3. Midnight Calaveras

Designed by Chris Ovdiyenko of Dead On Paper, the Midnight Calaveras playing cards are inspired by and pays homage to Jose Posada, a famous Mexican printmaker who worked at the time of the Mexican Revolution. All artwork is hand drawn and features metallic printing on the cards, foils and embossing on the tuck.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $16

2. Dia de los Muertos

Dia de Los Muertos Playing Cards is a Bicycle-branded deck inspired by the art and traditions of the Day of the Dead; it honors both death and the cycle of life. Created by the team at Edgy Brothers, this beautifully illustrated deck pays homage to the spiritual and cultural event: full of color, detail and character.

Difficulty: 2
Price: $28

1. Joker and the Thief Playing Cards

A truly impressive deck! The design invites attention while striking a balance between style and functionality. The back design is not only intricately beautiful but aesthetically and sentimentally appealing. The themes and connotation from back design continue throughout, you may even start to see a story forming as you look through them!

Difficulty: 1
Price: $15

The selection expressed in this top12 are solely those of the author. Images for Sleepy Hollow from whisperingimps.com, October Second Edition from dananddave.com, Steampunk Bandits from gamblerswarehouse.com, Midnight Calaveras from deadonpaper.com, Revelation, No17 and Joker & the Thief by Anthony Ingrassia. Evil deck, Requiem, Venexiana Dark and Dia de los Muertos by Ivan Choe.

Deck View: Neverland (Unlimited) Playing Cards

Adventure. Classic. Fun.

Designed by Nat Iwata, Neverland Playing Cards is a beautifully illustrated deck of playing cards based on J. M. Barrie's timeless classic Peter and Wendy.

The deck is Bicycle branded and features fully custom courts, aces, pips jokers and rich full card backs, rekindling our memories of the stories we cherish.

For more cool playing cards, check out JP Games.

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Galen Ihlenfeldt of DEEP Playing Cards

Created by Galen Ihlenfeldt, DEEP is a beautifully illustrated deck of playing cards inspired by the beauty of underwater mythology. The artwork and style is both beautiful and dark, combining the classic portrayal of the mermaid and merman with some new ideas about what lurks below.

A lot of thought have gone into the design and illustration of this eye-catching deck. For example, each suit represent its own water style, as well as its own sub-species of menfolk: Spades - Eels, Hearts - Cephalopods, Clubs - Crustaceans, and Diamonds - Traditional Merfolk. Also each court cards are unique and feature detailed depictions of menfolk, exemplify the uniqueness of this deck.

We caught up with Galen for a quick chat about his design background, the inspiration & design process behind DEEP and Kickstarter in general.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
I am a happily married father of three. I've been a freelance illustrator for the past few years, and have been an oil painter for around 7 years. I have been down a lot of different avenues of being an artist, ranging from 13 years as a professional custom tattoo artist, roughly 2 years doing art and etchings on tombstones, and some time doing the occasional mural and airbrush work. Basically, if it's a creative project that I feel is within my means to complete, I'll probably take it on.

DEEP Playing Cards is you first Kickstarter Project. Why Kickstarter?
DEEP is also my first attempt at anything mass produced. I am part of a few very supportive communities that are enthusiasts of Kickstarter projects, custom playing cards, tabletop gaming and other fun things. It was within these groups that I first ever mentioned the concept that would become DEEP. It was through their support that DEEP became a possibility. Kickstarter seemed the obvious choice for me, not only because it has an established audience of enthused card collectors, plus an instant doorway into the global market, but because I had so many great sources of information and experience right there with me within those groups.

What is your inspiration behind DEEP? How did you come up with the idea?
Honestly, most of this year up until around May I had been planning to do a rather large oil painting of a few mermaids, simply because of my own fascination with them. I was talking with Shane Tyree (artist behind a lot of beautiful decks, most recently Call of Cthulhu) about art in general, and he asked me what kind of deck I would make if I could make one. That was when I first started to think on the idea of basing a playing card deck around merfolk. So, over the next several weeks, I toyed with some sketches and read a bunch of old stories of merfolk lore and other aquatic creatures of myth. There is something that is simply mesmerizing about mermaids in general, something that appeals to us just by viewing them. That is why I think the myths and legends of merfolk have stuck around for so many centuries. Even with the original stories being very dark, and often dealing with the demise of a human target, it's still something we are hypnotized by. DEEP is my attempt at sharing my own visions of those legends with people in a way that is affordable and practical. It's hard for a lot of people to justify paying hundreds of dollars for a painting to hang on the wall in their home. But with a deck of playing cards, everyone can afford one, it's something they can actively use and share with friends and family, while still receiving the visual stimulation that we get from viewing a framed piece of art.

How much time did you spend working on the deck and can you briefly go through the design evolution of one of your unique card design?
I couldn't count the exact number of hours I've put into the project, but I first began the actual card artwork early June this year. I have been working steadily on them since then. I wanted each suit in the deck to have a different feel to it. Each one has a different type of water style behind it, as well as its own species of merfolk represented. The dark clubs and spades show deeper waters, and the merfolk on them are much more ominous feeling. The diamonds and hearts show lighter waters and a less creepy feeling overall, save for the suicide king.

The Queen of Diamonds represents the epitome of the traditional mermaid. She has the human torso, the fishy tail in place of her legs, the crimson hair, and she loves her trinkets from above. She was originally going to be the Queen of Hearts, but I chose Diamonds for two reasons; the merfolk in history's myths are rarely depicted as having any compassion for humankind (more often the opposite) which equates to a lack of heart, and they love collecting their shiny trinkets. Diamonds seemed to be the more appropriate choice to me. Many older stories depict mermaids as having very vibrant hair, most often crimson, purple, blue or green. I chose the crimson hair simply for visual aesthetic. The red and crimson in her hair contrasts greatly with the other colors on the card, pulling your eyes in and directing your attention to her face.

Another thing I wanted to do with the court cards is to have them mirrored. However, I wanted to do so in a way that was more fluid and didn't involve angular cuts between the sides. So with that, for each court card I sketch out a rough skeleton of the figure in the pose I want, and then I copy it and turn it upside down to make sure that the way the sides interact with each other is organic and believable. I do this several times through the creation of the card, from the initial skeleton all the way to the final details.

We initially noticed DEEP on the forums. What do you think of the playing card community in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting?
My experience with the forums has been great. I think it's important for a new deck artist to be prepared for criticism, and to have at least somewhat thick skin, before throwing themselves into the public eye of the collectors and other creators. But the important thing that we've got to keep in mind is that these are the exact people who collect cards, make cards, and use them. They've seen mistakes made before and know how to avoid them. They know what they want, and why they want it that way. I made the decision to share my deck with the forums as soon as I had enough to show, because I wanted to start getting their thoughts and critiques right off the bat, long before the Kickstarter project went live.

What are your thoughts about the continuous strong growth of playing card projects on Kickstarter?
To be honest, it had almost convinced me to find another project to work on. I was afraid of entering an already busy market, for fear of getting lost amid dozens of other custom decks out there. Ultimately I think it's a good thing. It will push creators to stay on their toes and always be improving upon what they are making. Anything that keeps creators looking for new ways of making quality and original content is good for both the creator and the collector.

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
That's a tough one! I'm still kind of a noob as a collector, but being a fantasy artist myself, I tend to prefer the more painterly or illustrative styled decks above the traditional styles. Right now, the artists I have the most decks from are Shane Tyree and Nat Iwata. Although I don't own it yet, I also really like the World of Cassyno deck from Nuerobellum Productions.

Thank you for your time Galen and all the best! If you like what you’ve read here and want to support DEEP, you can find it on Kickstarter here. 

DEEP will be printed USPCC. Pledge starts from $11 and there are multiple add-ons available such as dice, dealer coins and uncut sheets.

Kickstarter: Max of the Metal Deck

This week, we have a guest post from Max of maxplayingcards.com in conjunction with the launch of the Metal Rider Back Playing Cards earlier this week. This deck has been well received and the project hit its funding goal within the first 48 hours! Amazing!

Hi, my name is Max and I am basically a collector. I began collecting playing cards many years ago, mainly Spanish decks (there is an old playing cards tradition here). I was then attracted by the card magic so I began practicing. After some magic courses I demonstrated to be incompetent as a magician, but I felt in love with that rider back design. My fingers are short and clumsy and I had many difficulties to practice every day, so, as I couldn’t properly advance in my magical skill, I decided to go beyond with the Bicycle playing cards collecting.

The Story

The story about the Metal deck is a bit long but juicy. Are you ready to hear it?

Some years ago I began making some dummy designs of different playing cards on napkins and used papers. I am not a great designer, I mean, a talented draftsman, so I just experimented with basic shapes, but in my dreams I used to think of creating my own Bicycle deck. I made a couple of designs I finally printed in a China based company dedicated to print anything on anywhere. The quality (specially the centering) was awful but I enjoyed a lot seeing those decks. But I needed to make a Bicycle deck.

I was always playing with textures in my Photoshop experiments and suddenly I had the idea of the Texture series. I was able to mix my retouching techniques with the rider back deck. So, I spent almost one year (mainly at nights) designing two different decks: Steel and Wood. Fortunately, I found Randy Butterfield. In that moment, he begun to create playing cards and I always thought he would arrive really far with that, and I was right. Randy saw the potential of my design and gave me fantastic tips to improve it. He is a master in the digital design and his style is something I have always envied, because he is not only technically impeccable but also hugely talented guy (and a fantastic person, by the way). When the Steel deck was almost completed, I needed to know if it could be a real deck and contacted to USPCC in order to check if they would approve my design, specially the metal rider back (they had, and have, a strict policy about any change of the original Rider back). I was exultant when Anamika, from USPCC, told me my design was approved. I wasn’t able to afford the production but I knew I was in the right direction.

Then, I decided to send it to some companies (relevant in that moment) such as Circle City Card or Encarded, in order to catch their interest in my job to be published, but the feedback wasn’t too enthusiastic as both Paul Carpenter and Russel Kercheval stated my work was too immature. I even sent it to HOPC but I never got their answer. I got depressed about that and stored the designs in the deepest place of my computer. I filled my frustration creating and feeding Max Playing Cards website. I needed to learn and to spread about design and cards and I tried to be everywhere a new designer or a new deck appeared.

The Blog

Working on Max Playing Cards has been fantastic. It is not easy to handle a website trying to make happy everyone, including myself. I am quite perfectionist in everything I do and I wanted Max Playing Cards to be something different, not only cards, but also heart and soul. I put my heart in every word I write and unfortunately I don’t have anyone to help me on this so writing in two languages and trying to be in the loop regarding playing cards is not easy, specially combined with a full time job and two nice girls at home (my wife and daughter) that want to be with me. The night is my partner and the lack of sleep my daily companion. But the best reward I have got during all this time has been to know such a great group of people with dreams like mine that see them become true. I am proud to keep a fantastic relationship with (almost) all and I can call many of them as “my friend”. One of them, Lotrek, has also been really helpful in all this process. Even being terrible busy he has found time for me and he even designed for me the new Max Playing Cards logo.

The Metal Deck

One day, Cardicians launched the Bicycle Steel deck, and I felt terribly bad. Someone had decided to make a deck made of steel and give it the same name I had used. I thought everything was lost about my idea but fortunately, the design had nothing to do with mine and at the same time encouraged me to retake my deck and improve it.

I changed the name into Metal deck, something more general that in my opinion fits better in the Texture series idea. One day, I showed the designs to Mike Guistolise, from Collectable Playing Cards, and he showed so enthusiastic about it that I simply agreed with him to be produced by CPC. It was a real gentlemen’s agreement. I have been really comfortable working with Mike till now because even having so many companies, websites and things to control, he is always online to solve things.

From that moment, and during last 6 months, I have just worked on every little detail. I have had to redesign several parts of the cards and I have to admit that working with the USPCC is sometimes quite frustrating. It was especially hard the embossing/debossing design of the deck. I made it more than five times and I have to say that I still have no a real impression of how it will look at the end.

Kickstarter

Almost three years after, the deck is already available through Kickstarter and I am really excited about it.

I am not quite sure about Kickstarter future. It is true the interest on playing cards has grown exponentially along last years and backers have become much more demanding and selective. That’s the reason for that many projects that would have been widely funded in the past, are even unable to get the basic funding goal. The is some kind of cycle on this (I imagine it happens in all the collecting world) but it is true that crowdfunding has given backers a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the creation process and they (we) have learnt a lot about it just following the projects along last years.

Nevertheless, being a collector outside the USA has become an impossible mission. The growing rates of the postal service, the prices of decks and the customs taxes difficult a lot being a serious collector. Furthermore, this last fashion of making ultra-limited decks based on a seal or on a slight change with a terrible rise of the price is also damaging the serious collector that is not able to be updated about everything. When I see a project with just one deck or at most two different colors, I feel happy because I think about all the money I am saving… but suddenly, a new update reveals a new version, variation or edition… And that kills me :)

Collection

For some reasons, and perhaps you will consider it stupid, I like people and not decks. Think that I belong to that group of masochists that collect sealed decks, so I don’t have always a real opportunity to enjoy my cards. I am not sure which is the passion that comes before, but when I feel something special about a creator, I simply love his, her or their designs. That happens to me with several of them like Lotrek, Randy Butterfield, Linnea and Peter from Uusi, Nat Iwata, Lee McKenzie, and many others (sorry, I can’t write them all but I have already tell them this in person)… I feel a special attraction to their work because they transmit me good vibes… There are other works that are widely considered as fantastic, that even get thousands of dollars in their projects, but don’t make me feel anything special (although I desire to have them as I am a serious collector).


This exclusive guest post is written by Max of maxplayingcards.com for Kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can support the Metal Rider Back Playing Cards here on Kickstarter!