some critique, please

[kania.design]

Hello playing cards lovers,
I am a graphic designer from Poland, I decided to use pandemic to cross one item from my bucket list and make playing cards. I am mostly happy for what I did so far, but the box turned out to be my Achilles heel. Therefore, the question is whether what you see in the picture is good enough in your opinion?
Also what do you think about the name "Old Romance"? I don't speak English very well, I took the name from old stories about knights, which were just called romances at the time. Also I saw one book tittled “Old Romances” about knights etc.
Also also if this is my first campaign ever and I do not have any social media background, does it make sense to play with additional items? T-shirt, coins? Is the poster a good idea, does someone care about it? I really like to that, but are people really buing anything other than just cards?

[BaconWise]

I was catching up to the custom deck thread and came across this project. I think the artwork is superb. It certainly has the feel of Art Playing Cards who did Merlin Illuminations and Leonardo. I would love to see the card backs straight-on and just the little glimpse of the Ace of Diamonds looks really promising. I think with the custom features we see here, it would be quite successful.

Can you share a bit more about the tuck box? There isn't enough to really critique except to say the moth may create a certain expectation of what is inside and many will be surprised to find it's a deck about knights. Also, the name may not convey what you hope, at least in the states. Old Romance doesn't connect to knights or medieval themes at all, so it might be a good idea to do some research on knight-related names that haven't been used yet.

One more suggestion would be to create an online presence, at least on Instagram. It would be a good place to share updates and the card collecting community could follow your profile for launch info. Best of luck with this project!

[kania.design]

Thanks for the solid advices and I'm glad you like it initially.

I can see that I haven't written much about my cards. First of all I just wanted to make nice looking, classic cards, but over time I came up with a concept for them. There will be a dark theme of love and betrayal in my cards.
Every queen has some symbol of her love to a Jack or hatred towards King.
The best example would be the Queen of spades holding a cup in her hand and poison in the other one. The Spades King is holding the same cup.
Therefore, the moth on the tuck box was meant to allude to this blind feeling of love. But I think you may be right that it can suggest something else. I have already started work on another concept, showing two trees connected by roots. I saw something like that on an old cover of some book, there is a nice place for a tittle in the middle and for a castle in background, so it may work much better.
I'm sending a wip version.

I understand that even with this "love" background the name "Old Romance" is still too week? Maybe you have any other suggestions?
When I finally finish the tuck box, I'll create some social media profiles, thanks for the advices!

[Squiddle_Ink]

I absolutely love this.

[Harvonsgard]

Black cards are not my cup of tea - in general. Medieval is not my cup of tea - in general...
That said, those are very good. So good that it would chime me in. I love the branch back design for sure.

You might wanna start your social media presence sooner than later. It takes a while to gather followers and they might become crucial for success or the lack thereoff. Exposure is an important part not to underestimate.

[kania.design]

I absolutely love this.

Thank you!

Black cards are not my cup of tea - in general. Medieval is not my cup of tea - in general...
That said, those are very good. So good that it would chime me in. I love the branch back design for sure.

You might wanna start your social media presence sooner than later. It takes a while to gather followers and they might become crucial for success or the lack thereoff. Exposure is an important part not to underestimate.

I should put this quote on my campaign, thanks for compliment, and thanks for the advice, I just started instagram profile: https://www.instagram.com/kania.design/

[kania.design]

Hey, I came up with a new name - Nocturna. It goes well with black cards and my theme.
The problem is that there are cards with that name, except that they are Tarot cards. Can I use this name in your opinion?

https://kismetberlin.com/product/noctur ... 7d173b068d

[justplaycards]

These look fantastic. I think you would do well with them.

Nocturna is just Spanish for Nocturnal, so I can't really see a problem. I would think though it would be nicer to separate yourself from someone else's project.

Why not Nocny? or the Latin Nocturnus?

[kania.design]

These look fantastic. I think you would do well with them.

Nocturna is just Spanish for Nocturnal, so I can't really see a problem. I would think though it would be nicer to separate yourself from someone else's project.

Why not Nocny? or the Latin Nocturnus?

Thank you!

I was thinking a lot about your suggestion. "Nocny" doesn't sound bad, but it would have to be "Nocne" - plural, feminine, and that doesn't sound to me that well.
"Nocturnus" is really interesting. As you wrote, it is more unique than "Nocturna" and also more powerfull. But from the other side I like the feminine, delicate beauty which I associate with "Nocturna"...
I have to think about it some more. If someone prefer one or another, let me know.

[kania.design]

eh, I'm completely lost with this name. I found out that "nocturnus" has the same problem as "nocny". Latin also has variations and as cards are plural feminine, I should use "Nocturnae" but it would look like someone wanted to write "Nocturna" but accidentally added "e" at the end... Also Google translator translate "Nocturnus" as a Vampire. Google also shows some vampires from some game in the search of "Nocturnus". Which is cool, but my cards have nothing to do with vampires.

[Harvonsgard]

Me dunno about others but the name of the deck - if not printed bold across the whole cards - is the least of a concern for me as a customer. I get it that you as the creator are grinding your mind to find a perfect match but I'd say go with what resonates the best/most with you and care less about what would others think.

[kania.design]

Me dunno about others but the name of the deck - if not printed bold across the whole cards - is the least of a concern for me as a customer. I get it that you as the creator are grinding your mind to find a perfect match but I'd say go with what resonates the best/most with you and care less about what would others think.

Thank you, I think I will just flip a coin and the problem will be over

[kania.design]

Hey, Thank you everyone for your help and support. The campaign is live on kickstarter. Please check if you are interested, and also to see cool intro 8)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ka ... ying-cards