TAROT STAMPS

This has been taken from my blog on DeviantArt here. I had some issues with my tarot deck which will be explained at the bottom, possibly copied & pasted verbatim, but the general gist is that they were too large to shuffle for the space I'm in, it was a bit difficult to understand as someone who is learning to read tarot cards, and the designs weren't clear. So I wanted to minimise it design and scale-wise. I should warn that some images may be difficult to see.

I used the size and design/art style of stamps as inspiration. To save on resources and minimise waste, I made a reversible design and was left with two sets (':

MAJOR ARCANA

 MINOR ARCANA

  

I recognise that I've spelled 'sword; wrong but I'm not going to bother changing it; I'm the only one using this deck (:

PROCESS

 

I got these crafting blades from Kawaii Pen Shop! You can hold them like a normal pen! I peeled off the negative space for one set, then used transfer tape for the other. Also, I laminated the card before I applied the vinyl stickers because I just wanted to preserve the quality a bit more since card can be folded and fray easily. It looks nicer, don't you think? In hindsight, I should have rounded the corners, but this took a while to make. I think with all combined hours, I'd probably say it took less than a day to print and stick.

ISSUES

 

These two cards were difficult to distinguish without their ace; just didn't seem clear to me which one was a wand or sword card (unless I had learned/studied my tarot deck, which to be honest, I just wanted to read tarot for myself)

There are these indicators to show which way is the right way up, but some of the designs do not have that, and can be a bit difficult to determine which way is reversed. Also, felt like they should not tell you which way is up and that element should be on the other side, because you may or may not be inclined to pick a card just because it is upright once shuffled. It's OK if the design on the other side is clearly upright.

These are the Kings, Queens, Pages and Knights of each minor arcana. For me, it was difficult to see which one is which because they all look the same, except for their shapes, hats, what they're holding, and if I can read French. Just looks too similar to me, I think.

This is an example where the cards look the same at first glance. For my design, I wanted my deck to be legible straight away since my only concern was just understanding how to read tarot cards; not what each illustration means, just what each card represents and how I tie their meaning into my life.

This is nit-picky on my end; the cards are in French, as that's how tarot cards originally were. For my learning purpose, I changed everything to English without illustration so I can just focus on what they are instead.

Another nit-pick of mine; the illustrations aren't uniform. In art style, yes. In elements, shapes, all that floral language? The cups have a round shape, but it looks like a crown/cathedral on an ace--I don't really get it, but that's just my personal opinion. To me, not really. As you've seen, my new tarot deck is straight to the point and minimal, which is best for worker on a smaller size anyway.

When I picked this card, I genuinely couldn't tell what it was supposed to be. I noticed that a lot of cards are numbered, which I don't really understand its purpose? I personally prefer if I had some kind of information I can read, rather than illustration to interpret. With the big red scythe, I naturally thought of Death. One could say I am impatient, but my new tarot deck works for me now, because I know what card I've picked immediately after picking it up.

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