You are Here:

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Topics - RandyButterfield

Pages: [1]
1


Hey Everyone,

I have a new design launching on Kickstarter next week - Tuesday, February 1st at Noon EST.

The officially-licensed Red Rising Decks are designed by me and feature Character Illustrations by Briana Crotinger (pb.doodles). She?s awesome with conceptual art (my weakness)! The Decks are based on the first trilogy of Red Rising books from author Pierce Brown.

Utilizing Briana?s beautiful character drawings as the centerpiece, the design for the Red Rising Decks is meant to let them shine and to complement PB?s drawing style. The 12 Court characters depict the characters of:

HEARTS:
Darrow / The Reaper
Virginia / Mustang
Sevro / Goblin

SPADES:
Ragnar Volarus
Aja / Protean Knight
Cassius / Morning Knight

DIAMONDS:
Nero au Augustus
Octavia / The Sovereign
Roque au Fabii

CLUBS:
Fitchner au Barca
Victa au Julii
Adrius / The Jackal

JOKERS:
Darrow O? Lykos
Eo of Lykos.

No 24 Hour Early Birds for this one. The Red Rising guys wanted to keep the Pledge Tiers to a minimum.

Thanks, Randy


2
Playing Card Plethora / Draconian & KNIGHTS Decks - Launching on KS Thursday
« on: September 24, 2017, 07:23:54 PM »
Hey Everyone,

My newest solo project will be launching on Kickstarter this Thursday at Noon EDT.

The KNIGHTS Decks are a new design that I think of as a spinoff of my Draconians. The Face Cards for the Rage Knight Deck will have a grey / silver background, and the Face Cards for the Fury Knight Deck will have a green background. The Tucks for both KNIGHTS Decks will be printed on the Silver Foil material (similar to Max's Bicycle Metal Deck).

Tagging along with the project will be the Draconian Wildifire Deck! Green Foil on the Tuck, Face Cards of black background and green cracks / fissures.

Their will also be 150 Limited GILDED Trio Sets with the project! Green Gilding for the Fury, Silver Gilding for the Rage, and Black Gilding for the Draconian Wildfire. The special 3-Deck Case that comes with the GILDED Trio Set will also be printed on the Silver Foil material.

Here's a Link to the Kickstarter Preview Page. I'll keep ALL Early Birds open for the first 24 Hours of the campaign!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/randybutterfield/1060807915?ref=1r1snd&token=dedaa42b

Thanks, Randy

3
Playing Card Plethora / Bicycle EMOJI Deck - Walgreens Exclusive
« on: September 11, 2017, 12:21:31 AM »
Hey Everyone,

A new Deck I designed with USPCC and CPC should be in Walgreens stores now, or very soon (probably for $3.99 or $4.99).
The interesting thing is this Deck wouldn't have happened without the 52 Joker Convention! At last year's Convention in Schaumburg, Steve Brooks introduced me to Mike, the owner of Collectable Playing Cards. We hit it off and started talking about possibilities of getting some Decks into big retail stores.

My goal with the Bicycle EMOJI Deck was to create a Deck that kids would love, and one that was tasteful enough for their parents to actually play games with their kids.

When I created the PIP Emojis, I built a starting point that contained 4 different sets of eyebrows, 4 different sets of eyes, 4 different sets of mouthes and a handful of unique features like Heart Eyes, the Halo, Sunglasses, Tear Drops.... Between all of those different options, I think I ended up with only 2-6 different faces that were used more than once.

Below are some photos I took of the Cards and Tuck.

thanks, Randy

4
Playing Card Plethora / Imperial GOLD Deck - Available Tomorrow!
« on: October 31, 2016, 09:48:59 AM »
Available tomorrow night, November 1st at 8:00 pm EDT on MidnightCards.com, is my first self-funded Deck - the Imperial Gold Deck! I printed 1,000 with Expert Playing Cards and they were revealed last week at the 52 Joker Convention. The remaining 850 Decks will be available in three pricing tiers:

$14.95 + Shipping - per single Deck
$49.95 + Shipping - per 4 Decks and 1 FREE COIN
$21.95 + Shipping - per Uncut Sheet (18 remaining)

The Imperial Gold Tuck Box is printed on a Luminescent Gold paper stock and is printed with 4-Color Process + Red Foil + Gold Foil + Embossing + an Individually Numbered Seal Sticker that is printed a Dark Red Pantone on a Gold Foil material. It's gorgeous!!

The Cards are printed with my favorite - Classic Finish. The Back Card features a borderless design with the Two-Headed Eagle on the top and bottom. The Face Cards have had a facelift since the original Imperial Decks. The most notable are the suits have changed to a more playable Red (Diamond, Hearts) and Black (Spades, Clubs) combination, the Index fonts are revised to a more readable selection and the PIPS for the Numbers Cards are larger for easier gameplay.

The Coin that comes complimentary with a 4 Deck order is 2" in Diameter, printed with an Antique Gold Finish and has Red Enamel accents.

thanks, Randy


5
Playing Card Plethora / ROME: Antony & Caesar Playing Cards - KS Thursday
« on: October 11, 2016, 01:04:00 PM »
Hey Everyone,

I'm proud to announce my next Decks will be launching this Thursday at Noon EDT!

I've been working on a pair of Decks with an Ancient Rome theme for the past 10 months.
They are all finished and ready for print. The Limited and non Add-On items of the campaign
will be the cool, and appropriate, TOGA Sleeves (600 TOGA Pairs available).

Below are some images, and here is the KS Preview Link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/randybutterfield/554376960?token=c1ed4bb8

thanks, Randy




6
Design & Development / Fully-Custom ANCIENT ROME Deck
« on: January 06, 2016, 09:40:32 AM »
Hey Everyone,

I haven't done this since working on the Imperial Deck, but I thought it would be fun to start a thread in the Drafting section while I work on my next project. My next fully-custom design will center around a theme I've wanted to tackle for years - Ancient ROME!

Last night I finished the first Character Drawing - Julius Caesar. There are still plenty of other elements I need to create before putting him into an actual Court Card layout, but it's a start!

The Logo is something I whipped up real quick. I'll probably change it as time goes by. I'll post updates every 2-3 weeks as the project progresses. I'm shooting for a May / June / July.... KS launch (or whenever it's ready).

thanks, Randy


7
Playing Card Plethora / MidnightCards.com opening Tuesday at 5:00 pm EDT
« on: December 07, 2015, 11:01:24 PM »
I'm happy to announce that MidnightCards.com will be opening Tuesday at 5:00 pm EDT!

The last of the original Draconians and Bowling Decks will be available, and also 56 Midnight Variety Packs. The storefront's opening design is purposely streamlined and clean. I will add features and pages throughout 2016.

There will be 5 different SKUs available at the launch:

Midnight Variety Pack - 56 available - $59.95 + Shipping
Draconian Pair - 80 available - $23.95 + Shipping
Bowl-A-Rama Pair - 85 available - $23.95 + Shipping
Cosmic Lanes Deck - 60 available - $23.95 + Shipping
Bowling Decks Trio - 100 available - $41.95 + Shipping

Below are some photos, and the copy explaining the Midnight Variety Packs. For anyone interested in some Decks, I'll see you tomorrow at 5:00 pm EDT!

Thanks, Randy



MIDNIGHT VARIETY PACK:
Years in the making! Each Midnight Variety Pack will contain 6 Decks and a custom 6-Pack Box. The 6 Decks will include 1 Draconian Spitfire, 1 Draconian Lighting, 1 Red Bowl-A-Rama, 1 Black Bowl-A-Rama, and 2 Mystery Decks from a pool of 112 Decks. I've been setting aside these Mystery Decks for years, waiting for an item such as this!!

10 of the 56 Variety Packs will contain a Chivas Regal Deck I designed back in 2007 for my day job (years before deciding on designing custom Playing Cards as a "hobby"). The Chivas Regal Deck was part of a holiday Gift Pack that contained a 750ml bottle of Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Scotch Whiskey and a Deck of the Chivas Regal Playing Cards. The Decks were never wrapped in cellophane, and I imagine they would be VERY difficult to find nowadays. Seeing as we're so close to Christmas, each of the 56 Variety Packs will be Gift-Wrapped. The perfect gift for a budding Playing Card aficionado!

Below is a list of the 112 MYSTERY DECKS and their quantities:


(10)  Chivas Regal Deck


(1)  TBC Blue Luxury Deck - HANDMADE Version

(3)  TBC Blue Luxury Deck

(6)  TBC Red Luxury Deck

(2)  TBC White Luxury Deck


(1)  Original ORNATE Sapphire Deck

(1)  Original ORNATE Scarlet Deck

(6)  Original ORNATE Emerald Deck

(6)  Original ORNATE Amethyst Deck


(6)  Honeybee Deck

(6)  Never Forgotten Deck


(4)  LUXX V2 Gold Deck

(4)  LUXX V2 Silver Deck


(6)  Unbranded White ORNATE Sapphire Deck

(6)  Unbranded White ORNATE Scarlet Deck

(6)  Unbranded White ORNATE Emerald Deck

(6)  Unbranded White ORNATE Amethyst Deck


(6)  Unbranded Obsidian ORNATE Deck

(6)  Bicycle Obsidian ORNATE Deck


(6)  Bicycle Black Imperial Deck

(6)  Red Imperial Deck


(4)  Brazil Deck


(6)  United Cardists Deck


(2)  Boardwalk Deck 
(I only did production and color work for the Boardwalk Deck)


8
Grinders Playing Cards
By Randy Butterfield (Midnight Cards)

Hey Everyone,

My latest personal design is almost ready, so I thought it was time to get a thread going for it. The Grinders Deck is my T11-style design. Printing will be through Legends. The Tuck Box will utilize Black matte stock and the Tuck designs will be in Copper AND Silver Foils.

The semi-custom Courts are based from a more old-school set from Legends, with plenty of extra design elements I've added in! One Deck, NO special, limited, rare, seal sticker or handmade variations.

For those that don't know the Poker definition for a Grinder (for those that haven't seen the spectacular Poker movie, Rounders) - A grinder is a poker player who plays tight, low-risk poker with the intention of making a small but steady profit. Simply speaking, they "grind" away until reaching their goal. Grinders tend to shy away from both making aggressive moves and combating aggressive opponents in favor of making the safe play. Unlike most players who look to make as much money from each individual hand as possible, grinders are comfortable with winning small pots and rarely, if ever, play for high stakes.

The Kickstarter will be launching sometime in September!

Thanks, Randy

9
Playing Card Plethora / Midnight BOWL-A-RAMA Decks - (KS)
« on: March 06, 2015, 07:39:48 PM »
BOWL-A-RAMA Playing Cards

Hey everyone,

My next solo project will be launching on Kickstarter this coming Thursday, Noon EDT. After doing a lot of baroque and elegant type of designs, I wanted to change it up and do something FUN! The Midnight Bowl-A-Rama Decks will be printed and fulfilled by Legends. I hope you like the change-of-pace from the norm! Max released an article earlier today that has some more info:

http://www.maxplayingcards.com/en/2015/03/06/midnight-bowl-a-rama-playing-cards-strike/

Thanks! Randy

10
Playing Card Plethora / Brazil 2014 Deck - The Blue Crown
« on: June 11, 2014, 12:50:43 PM »
Hey Everyone,

A fun Brazil/Soccer themed Deck I designed for The Blue Crown is releasing tomorrow night. 5,000 Decks printed. Just 1 version. Very bright, fun and playable.

I'm not sure of the price point.

Thanks, Randy

11
Playing Card Plethora / ORNATE Playing Cards: White Edition (KS)
« on: February 18, 2014, 01:27:03 PM »
ADMIN EDIT: KS launched: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1380523977/ornate-playing-cards-white-edition

Hey Everyone,

We'll be launching the ORNATE Playing Cards: White Edition on Kickstarter at Noon EST (New York time) this Thursday!

Here's some of the project page copy with some details:

BACKSTORY OF THE ORNATES:
The original, Black Edition, of the ORNATE Playing Cards were released in August 2012 (Sapphire & Scarlet) and March 2013 (Amethyst & Emerald) at HOPC. After the first two decks sold out very quickly, we formed an overall plan that would culminate with a well-rounded and versatile series. The first part of the plan was to finish the Black Set with the Amethyst and Emerald Decks. The next steps were to release the two pairs separately in a re-imagined White version. With the help of Kickstarter, we have decided to go big and release all four White Edition Decks simultaneously!

The ORNATES are some of the most unique Decks in the world of modern Playing Cards. They are highlighted by beautiful fans, elaborate details throughout and detailed borders on the Back and Front of every Card. THIS PROJECT WILL BE THE FINALE FOR THE ORNATES.


UNBRANDED SET:
The Unbranded Set integrates the ORNATE Logos from the original Custom Brick Boxes to create a look that ties them to the originals, but gives them a unique vibe of their own. They each have a connective design that is colorful and tasteful.


THE FACE CARDS:
The White ORNATE Face Cards have had a facelift and a lot of subtle redesigns throughout. To keep them consistent with the originals, the Sapphire and Scarlet Decks share Face Card designs (Blue/Gold for the Clubs & Spades - Red/Silver for the Hearts & Diamonds). The Amethyst and Emerald Faces are Green/Gold for the Clubs & Spades and Purple/Silver for the Hearts & Diamonds. All of the Face Cards have new two-tone PIPS and utilize a new PIP layout in the Number Cards.

thanks, Randy Butterfield

12
Playing Card Plethora / IMPERIAL Deck now LIVE on KS - with HOPC
« on: August 09, 2013, 07:07:33 PM »
Hello Everyone,

In a few days the Imperial Deck will be launched as a Kickstarter project with myself and HOPC! I figured some people on the forums might have some questions/concerns with HOPC being involved in a Kickstarter campaign, so I wrote this up in advance to explain our reasoning.

The decision to take the Imperial Deck to Kickstarter was mostly due to the rapidly changing marketplace for custom Playing Cards. Other factors included a behind-the-scenes change I cannot elaborate on further and the idea that a unique and artistic design like the Imperial could do very well on Kickstarter. When the original Ornates were released last August, Kickstarter Decks were popping up at a much slower rate than they are now - just one year later. 2013 has seen an explosion in Kickstarter success stories in the Playing Card world.  I think it has altered the way ALL of the Card and Magic companies handle new Deck releases. Kickstarter Decks that do well have a HUGE advantage with the 30+ days of funding, that is essentially a long Pre-Order period!

I will admit that a small factor for my part in the decision is ego. I've watched closely this past year as beautiful Decks have done extremely well on Kickstarter. It has enabled designers like Encarded, Uusi, Jackson, 4PM and others to assemble a large fan-base and receive critical recognition. Watching the success of the great Kickstarter Decks is almost like sitting the bench, just waiting to get into the game and give it your best shot!

It's my opinion that the success of Kickstarter Decks has made it hard for companies like HOPC to entice some of the talented designers. Designers who choose to take the roll of the Kickstarter dice instead. We're trying out a unique way to release the Imperial Deck by having a Kickstarter Exclusive Black Bicycle version that won't be available after the KS project is over (and won't be offered to resellers at reduced prices - in order to keep the exclusivity viable). The Red "Base" version will be available in the Kickstarter project and will be added to the HOPC catalog after the Pledge Rewards are all mailed out (with a price point of $9.95 + Shipping).

If the Imperial campaign is successful, the Co-HOPC Kickstarter project mold could be a great way for designers to release their dream Deck with the best of both worlds: The unlimited potential and exposure of a Kickstarter project + the stability of partnering with HOPC to handle the shipping and production roles, and later adding the Deck's "Base" design to the HOPC catalog.

The current landscape of Kickstarter Deck fulfillment is either hit-or-miss. HOPC's involvement in the Imperial campaign makes it a sure thing that the Pledge Rewards will go out to Backers as soon as they're ready. Just look at some of the failed or late KS projects and tell me having an established distributor like HOPC doesn't provide an extra peace-of-mind!

During the campaign we plan on having some fun with voting by Backers, similar to what other campaigns have offered. We will also have a couple other cool items available besides the Red and Black Decks, some meaty Stretch Goal items are planned out and we will have some Early Bird reward levels.

Here's a few images from the KS presentation, including a look at the the Black Bicycle Imperial Deck!

Thank You, Randy Butterfield

13
Playing Card Plethora / Imperial Deck coming to.....
« on: June 11, 2013, 09:41:17 AM »
Hey Everyone,

I figure now is a good time to take the Imperial Deck out of the Design & Development thread and into the main one!
The second part of Scott Carey's Tuck Case interview has been posted. It focuses on the Imperial Deck and it's distribubor:

http://tuckcase.com/2013/06/11/exclusive-news-imperial-playing-cards-by-midnight-card-company-coming-to-hopc-in-2013/

For those who don't check the Design & Development thread, here's a look at all of the Court Cards together.
The first part of Scott's interview dealt with my background and how I got into designing Playing Cards:

http://tuckcase.com/2013/06/05/exclusive-interview-with-randy-butterfield-of-midnight-card-company/

thanks, Randy

14
Design & Development / Imperial Deck - IN PROGRESS
« on: December 20, 2012, 04:42:34 PM »
Hey everyone,

I haven't been posting on here very much lately, but I'm always checking here and UC to see what's going on so I don't miss anything. Right now I'm switching back and forth at nights working on the next ORNATE Decks and a new deck I started on - The Fabergé Deck!

The Court Cards will have 12 different Fabergé inspired eggs I'm modeling in 3d. Each Court Card will have 2 copies of it's egg to keep it symmetrical and will have other design elements I haven't started on yet. The first finished Court egg is the Pearl Egg for the Queen of Spades. The Red Egg doesn't have the oval emblem because it will be used on the Back Design. I just started posting updates once a week to my Facebook page and I'll start doing the same in this thread.

Also, I designed a Deck that should be released next week, I believe!! It's not a Midnight Cards Deck, it's a _________ Deck. I'm sure more info will come up soon on that one.

thanks, Randy


15
Playing Card Plethora / MIDNIGHT Custom Brick Boxes Sale - this Friday
« on: November 07, 2012, 01:06:53 PM »

I'll kick it off with a contest tomorrow night at:

http://www.facebook.com/midnightcards

thanks, Randy




16
Design & Development / Carnival Calendar Kickstarter Project
« on: October 15, 2012, 01:11:30 PM »
Hey Everyone,

Inbetween working on Playing Card designs and my day job I collaborated on a 2013 Calendar project with my brother Kevin. The Calendar uses Kevin's night photos from various Carnivals / Fairs and some designs I did for the rest. We submitted the Kickstarter project on Friday. It's still in "Pending" status but should be live in a day or two.

Here's the Preview Link if anyone's interested:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1694982301/1064172663?token=14eb3477

thanks, Randy




17
Hey Everyone,

For today's Reveal I thought it was big enough to start a new thread here in the Playing Card Plethora section.

Here are the final cards in the ORNATE Decks - the Gaff Cards. They include a 2-Sided Ad Card and a Split Backer.
For the Uncuts - the ORNATE Side is with the Back Designs and the HOPC Side is with the Face Cards.

It's been a pleasure working with Kevin and Alex and I look forward to the possibility of working with them in the future.

Also, it looks like an August 14th release is good to go!

thanks, Randy

18
Introduce Yourself / Hi Everyone
« on: February 28, 2012, 12:27:50 AM »

Hi Everybody,

I've been a member for a few months and have been posting sporadically for a couple months now, but never really introduced myself. My name is Randy and I live in the great city of Indianapolis with my wife, Susan, and our two kids - Violet (4) and Aaron (2). I'm originally from Michigan and graduated from Central Michigan University with a BFA in Graphic Design way back in '95. A short while after college I moved out to the San Francisco bay area, worked with an agency for a number of years and met my wife. Later, we decided to move to Indy to raise our kids in the midwest, a place where you actually know and are friends with your neighbors!

I came across The Discourse a few months ago when I was researching playing card designs and thought it was by far the best out of all of the playing card forums. I was inspired by all of the great playing card designs on Kickstarter and thought collecting all of the unique design could be a great way to be inspired. I love how for under $10 you could purchase a deck of cards that could contain 54 unique pieces of art!

thanks, Randy

19
Did anybody see this. They got past $1,000,000 in the first day!!!!
And they still have 32 days to go! The Kickstarter owners must be drooling
over their 3% cut on this one.

I'm not a gamer so I haven't heard of Double Fine Productions or Tim Schafer
but they must have a lot of diehard fans.

here's the link:     http://kck.st/A9k3jH

20
Design & Development / ORNATE Playing Cards Preview
« on: January 01, 2012, 11:05:12 PM »
I was planning on waiting a couple more weeks to introduce myself and my deck design, but after I saw Encarded's Tendril very nice preview I figured I better do it now so no one thought I later "borrowed" the inclusion of a border and background pattern on the face cards.


Hello everyone,

My name is Randy Butterfield. I'm a designer with Motive Marketing and I live in Indianapolis, IN with my wife Susan, our 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son. I have been working on my design for ORNATE Playing Cards for a couple months now. With work and the family I usually only get a couple hours to work on the cards late at night, hence the name Midnight Card Company.

I have lingered around on this great forum for a few months now and have a lot of respect for the regulars and their opinions. I will have a Kickstarter campaign up for the cards probably in February or March. I still have some court cards and the Jokers to finish plus I want to do an animation video / trailer.

I have been a fan of playing cards since I was a kid and have always loved great packaging design, so when I was introduced to Kickstarter and saw the Revision 1 Deck in mid-campaign I was hooked. That and the Americana Deck are two of my favorite custom decks I have seen. Both created by fellow Indianapolis residents even!

I have posted the Tuck Box (haven't touched the legal flap yet), the Back and a few of the Face Cards. The cards have kept me pretty busy so I haven't had much time to lockup any domain names or attempt to get any quotes from the USPCC or any other business-related necessities. I hope everyone likes the look of it!

thanks, Randy

Pages: [1]