Design a Deck

Matt rahardjo

Elite Member
Jul 18, 2013
4
0
HI

guys. Zach Muellers Fontaine's and other awesome decks. they are truly awesome and amazing. i am just interested on designing a deck of my own. a deck that we design everything faces, ace of spades, jokers, box and the back design. i tried Bicycle .com but you had to purchase a minimum of 2500. i only want around 10 decks. Zazzle, you only get to design the back. any ideas. Thanks for your help
 
Nov 26, 2013
207
2
I've always wanted to design a deck, but we have the same common issue...I don't know where to start? :-(
 
Jul 22, 2013
222
1
California
If you want quality Bicycles, the minimum will be 2,500. If you want to just have custom plastic cards, other manufacturers still have a minimum of about 2,000. It's really not worth it to just have your own cards, unless you're planning on going commercial.
 
You guys are over complicating the process of obtaining your goal of designing your very own deck of playing cards/box/artwork. I can break it down for you in just a few different but equally important phases.

  1. Work for hours on end for years to become proficient in card magic and or cardistry.
  2. Move to a large city like LA or NYC and do walk arounds for free and live off noodles, butter and olive oil while living in a 5th floor walk-up on the lower east-side, well you'll be sleeping on the floor of said apartment of a friend who has a real job, until you build up a reputation and can do busking and parties and build an even bigger name for yourself and start being able to pay some rent ya lazy bums!
  3. Hire an agent.
  4. If you don't look like a scumbag, maybe you'll land a gig at Daniel's in NYC where famous people go to eat and perhaps dazzle them and they'll help you find some business investors, then perhaps you can do a 20 second spot on WTEN, Albany - News and some ABC executives might see you and then pick you up for your very own hour special.

AND THEN you will have earned the right and have the merit for the United States Playing Card Company to give you the opportunity to design your very own playing cards.

See? It's not THAT hard....

Good luck and Regards,

NG.
 
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strudles

Elite Member
Oct 8, 2013
165
0
Oakton, Virginia
If you want quality Bicycles, the minimum will be 2,500. If you want to just have custom plastic cards, other manufacturers still have a minimum of about 2,000. It's really not worth it to just have your own cards, unless you're planning on going commercial.

Bicycle allows you to customize your own cards without ordering in bulk, however less customization can be made (they give you a couple sets of faces to choose from, but you can't modify those). You can, however, design the back.
 

yyyyyyy

Elite Member
Apr 7, 2012
537
12
I haven't gone down the custom deck route myself, but I've got some friends who have. From what I can tell, you can do one of two things.

1) You can hire a designer. The gorgeous decks you see on the shelves of your favorite magic sites are all designed by artists that are perfectly willing to create something for you, for a price. These guys aren't cheap, and for good reason. But if you have no experience in graphics design, hiring an artist can't be beat qualitatively. Otherwise, it'll just look amateur, which doesn't sell. Artists like Simon Frouws, Jeff Lianza, anyone who catches your eye. You can hire them, but don't expect it to be cheap.

2) Design it yourself. Zach's Fontaine deck, from a graphic design standpoint, is incredibly simple. Programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are fantastic tools for design. Bare in mind, these programs are expensive and extremely complicated. Even if you stuck with them for years, you'd still be learning new things about the tools. Chances are, if you have no clue what you're doing and you've got an ambitious image in mind, it won't come out the way you pictured.
 
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ayberk

Elite Member
Jul 29, 2013
5
0
my own design, I have to watch the way how to print up to 2500
interior design is different from the standard just want to get back design (just like fontaine, by zach muller)
 
The last couple of day I've been thinking about designing my own deck of cards. As others have suggested if you want to design the whole bicyle deck you need a minimum order quality. The cost involved with that option is significant especially if you don't use crowdfunding.

I'll likely find a designer on deviantart at a reasonable cost. Then just use the bicycle customization at Zazzle to design the card back. I know it does not have the same impact as a whole custom deck but for the plans i have in-store it will work just fine.

Like someone mentioned previously you don't need to use bicycle cards, but It will improve your chances of them becoming a fast seller - providing your artwork is appealing.
 
Nov 19, 2013
16
0
I contacted Jason Brumbalow on the subject a few months ago, you can go on kardwell, which has a 10 deck minimum. So you'd be out 100 bucks, better than USPC run which I guess is around 5000 dollars, I have a deck I made using the design I put together using makeplayingcards.com it's okay, put a little cheap, if I learned anything from this it's that it's not about the look of the cards, it's the performance that sticks in the audiences mind. I work as a magician at restaurant down here and I remember getting emergency called in during a busy day, and had literally nothing on me but 3 dollars and a thumb tip, luckily there was a dollar general next door, and I was able to get two packs of mavericks. And I completely improvised a routine, and blew everyone away, that night I made a huge client. It just goes to show that it's about more than the look of the cards.
 
I despise the fact that we've taken a precious tool of our trade and reduced it to nothing more than a collectible baseball card.

I despise the fact that we've got magicians practically wetting themselves over the next new deck release from their favorite company when all decks generally function the same way.

We have taken an essential item and reduced it to nothing more than a trendy commodity. We've taken the focus off the magic, off the experience the spectator gets, and instead placed it upon the deck of cards themselves. We've exchanged the value of entertainment for the value of bragging rights.
 
Nov 19, 2013
16
0
I despise the fact that we've taken a precious tool of our trade and reduced it to nothing more than a collectible baseball card.

I despise the fact that we've got magicians practically wetting themselves over the next new deck release from their favorite company when all decks generally function the same way.

We have taken an essential item and reduced it to nothing more than a trendy commodity. We've taken the focus off the magic, off the experience the spectator gets, and instead placed it upon the deck of cards themselves. We've exchanged the value of entertainment for the value of bragging rights.

Exactly! It shouldn't be about the cards, it should be about the performance! Some of the worst magicians I know use beautiful decks.
Personally, I think there's nothing wrong with a pack of bikes from Walmart.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
I despise the fact that we've taken a precious tool of our trade and reduced it to nothing more than a collectible baseball card.

I despise the fact that we've got magicians practically wetting themselves over the next new deck release from their favorite company when all decks generally function the same way.

We have taken an essential item and reduced it to nothing more than a trendy commodity. We've taken the focus off the magic, off the experience the spectator gets, and instead placed it upon the deck of cards themselves. We've exchanged the value of entertainment for the value of bragging rights.

Are they essential? I think 'common' would be the better word here. Playing cards are not essential to a magic performance. You can easily have one without them.

Personally, I look at custom cards the way I look at other accessories. I wear a certain coat, a certain pair of shoes, certain bracelets, etc. Or, for example, a top hat with a skull on it. They are all subtle expressions and convincers of your character. Congruent imagery enforces the character. Let's take a slightly different example - Two types of tarot readers, who do you think would appear more genuine? The one with a wooden 'gypsy caravan', piled with cushions, lanterns, brass tea pots, wearing traditional gypsy clothes, slightly worn from travel, and diving the future with a hand-painted deck of Tarot cards which have clearly been around the world ... or someone with that same deck, but wearing jeans, a blouse and make up, stepping out of a mini-van? Cards are nothing more than an accessory and having a design that fits your character goes that much further to making the whole image work.

Now, some people do seem to believe that all they need is a shiny deck of cards and not the skill to use them. But that's always been the case. "If I buy this Azra, I'll be the best magician ever!" Or how about magicians who have collections of various types of Cups and Balls? Or Hippity Hop Rabbits?

Magicians are prone to obsession. If we weren't, we wouldn't be able to get very good at what we do. With that is the tendency to collect things. Right now the popular thing is cards. I admit, I am a bit of a collector myself though I don't go crazy about it. - Of course, I've been mildly obsessed with cards since I was a kid and figured out how to stack the deck playing Uno against my neighbor's granddaughter.

How is this reducing the value of the cards? If anything, they are given more value. They have been taken from something considered to be a throw-away consumable prop to something to be collected and displayed. The value has gone up.

Also - despise is a really strong word. Do you really despise this? Is it bothering you that much?
 

formula

Elite Member
Jan 8, 2010
968
5
I despise the fact that we've taken a precious tool of our trade and reduced it to nothing more than a collectible baseball card.

I despise the fact that we've got magicians practically wetting themselves over the next new deck release from their favorite company when all decks generally function the same way.

We have taken an essential item and reduced it to nothing more than a trendy commodity. We've taken the focus off the magic, off the experience the spectator gets, and instead placed it upon the deck of cards themselves. We've exchanged the value of entertainment for the value of bragging rights.
Despise is a bit strong. Cards, as with fashion, wine, accessories, cars are all part of someones identity. It's nice to have a lot of variety and that variety has taken no focus away from magic at all. It seems very much like you have a self-inflicted personal hate towards cards just because they're "cool".
 

S.G

Feb 9, 2010
664
1
I despise the fact that we've taken a precious tool of our trade and reduced it to nothing more than a collectible baseball card.

I despise the fact that we've got magicians practically wetting themselves over the next new deck release from their favorite company when all decks generally function the same way.

We have taken an essential item and reduced it to nothing more than a trendy commodity. We've taken the focus off the magic, off the experience the spectator gets, and instead placed it upon the deck of cards themselves. We've exchanged the value of entertainment for the value of bragging rights.

I would also like to mention that these aren't only used for magic. With flourishing, the flashier/more pleasant-looking the cards are, the better. It just enhances performances as the entertainer expresses himself through movement, not speaking.
 
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