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Topics - Don Boyer

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This topic has been moved to The Conversation Parlor

Please reserve the Playing Card Plethora board for topics about International Standard playing cards.  All others go to the Conversation Parlor.

https://www.playingcardforum.com/index.php?topic=13938.0

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2023 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR VOTERS
« on: August 03, 2023, 09:32:42 PM »
2023 DIAMOND AWARDS - SEVENTH ANNUAL

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU JUDGE A NOMINEE

ARTIST OF THE YEAR (AOTY)
AOTY is judged on the entire portfolio of International Standard decks released by the artist within the eligibility period, and only within that period, not before or after.  Tarot decks, divination decks and other decks not conforming to the International Standard for playing cards (52-card deck plus optional jokers/gaffs/ad cards/other extras) are not eligible for consideration in the artist's portfolio.  A list of eligible releases for each AOTY candidate is listed in their PCF topic in the link on their ballot entry - if you happen to spot an error or an omission, please leave a comment in the forum topic.  For this category, you are judging the artist's works during the release window using the same criteria as in the DOTY judging.

DECK OR THE YEAR (DOTY)
DOTY nominees are judged solely on a single International Standard deck release/project, though a single release/project may comprise more than one variant, edition, back coloration, etc., such as two of the same deck design with differently-colored backs and/or two differently-sized decks and/or standard/deluxe/limited edition(s), etc.  DOTY nominees should be judged based on "the full package" - the design, artistry, manufacturing quality, features, packaging, etc., as seen in all of the decks in that release.

MORE INFORMATION ON NOMINEES - THE FORUM TOPICS
To find more information on a nominee, click on the TinyURL link at the end of the nominee's ballot entry.  That link will take you to a topic on PlayingCardForum.com (PCF), the official online forum of 52 Plus Joker, with info about the nominee, including photos and links to other pages online.  In any cases where an Artist of the Year nominee also created a Deck of the Year nominee, there is a single, combined topic to cover both nominations.  Nominated artists and creators of nominated decks have been invited to comment on their topics, so please feel free to present any questions about their work you may have to them if they make their presence on the forum known!

By the way, I suggest that you try clicking on the images in the topic posts.  In most cases, you'll see an enlarged version of the images, and in some cases, you may even see a GIF animation!

WRITE-IN VOTING ELIGIBILITY
For each category, you may opt to create a write-in vote for the candidate of your choice, subject to eligibility.  To be eligible for consideration for either/both award(s) in the current award cycle, an artist must have released at least one International Standard playing card deck/project during the eligibility window of July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 inclusive.

DEFINITION OF "RELEASED" FOR ALL NOMINEES AND WRITE-IN CANDIDATES
"Released" is defined as made available for retail sale, offered as part of a subscription (if the subscription service is open to all members of the public), given away to the public for free, distributed to crowdfunding backers or made available as a free, limited promotional item, with the final determination of eligibility to be made by the Diamond Awards Committee and the Board of Directors of 52 Plus Joker.  Private releases not made publicly available are not eligible.  Prototype decks, even if they are publicly released, sold, given away, etc., are considered an unfinished version of a work and are not eligible for award consideration, regardless of the number of prototype decks created and distributed.  The defining parameters of a prototype are 1) any deck labeled by the artist as a prototype, and/or 2) any deck judged by the DAC and/or the 52+J Board to be a prototype - key criteria for the DAC/Board to consider would be how finished the project appears, whether a later or future release of the same deck in larger distribution was/is planned, and how many copies of the deck were released (with lower amounts being more suspect than larger ones).

THE AWARDS CEREMONY
Winners of the Diamond Awards will be announced at the Seventh Annual Diamond Awards Ceremony, scheduled to be held during the Gala Dinner ending the Annual 52 Plus Joker Convention, on the evening of Saturday, October 14, 2023 at the Best Western Plus Hotel at 15471 Royalton Road, Strongsville (Cleveland), Ohio, United States - details will be provided to all 52+J members when the full schedule becomes available.  In the event of a health-related, climate/weather or other emergency, the ceremony schedule and/or venue may be subject to change or may be presented via videoconference.

FINALLY...
If you have questions, if you suspect some of the information we have is incorrect, please - contact me, Don Boyer, by emailing me at donboyermagic@gmail.com.

5
Greetings and welcome to the voting period for the Seventh Annual Diamond Awards, hosted by 52 Plus Joker.

I'm Don Boyer, the chair of the Diamond Awards Committee.The artists and decks shown in the topics on this board are the balloted nominees for Artist of the Year and Deck of the Year for the period from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.  Voting is open to all members of 52 Plus Joker as of Wednesday morning, August 9th, and will close on Wednesday night, August 16th at 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time (that's UTC 2023 Aug 17 03:59 for people from other time zones around the world).  Not a member yet?  Check out the link below and sign up!

https://live-52plusjoker.pantheonsite.io/membership-account/membership-checkout/

In addition, there's a sticky topic containing additional information on the voting process.Please let me know if you have any questions.

6
OK, OK, I know - it says "Meadowlark Playing Cards" on their Kickstarter project.  But imagine my surprise when I clicked through to see the project creator's profile and I saw the website was "www.meadowlarkpharmacy.com" - and even more surprised to see that the site was an actual pharmacy located in Hickman, Nebraska!

Considering that they previously released a deck called "Pharmacy on Main," I shouldn't have been all that surprised, but I've been following custom playing card decks since the very early days of Kickstarter decks, and even I have never seen such an unusual origin for a pack of playing cards - and I've seen one made for a store that specialized in bacon!

Elettra Deganello is no stranger to the Diamond Awards, having been nominated before for her Florentia release with PassioneTeam in late 2020.  In this release, she does a wonderful job of decorating courts and some spot cards to look like advertisements of the type seen over a century ago.  Continuing the early 20th-century vibe, her decks have diptych jokers and Volume II comes in a box-in-a-box, the outer box designed to look like an actual almanac.


Click to see the Kickstarter project page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/meadowlark/the-rx-almanac-playing-cards
Click to see Elettra's website: https://shop.elettradeganello.com/
Click to see the Meadowlark Pharmacy homepage: https://www.meadowlarkpharmacy.com/

7
This is One Herman's first nomination for a Diamond Award, but not his first deck project.  This project has a Mayan theme to it, inspired in part by the chaos the world has experienced since early 2020.

Two basic deck versions were created, the Feathered Serpent (colors include white and gold) and the Eye Temple (predominantly in black and gold).  These were made available in a "standard" version with metallic foil and two different colors of gilding, and a holographic foil version.  Many attractive extras were created for the project, including a very unique "Glimpse" collector's box designed to resemble carved stone.

The card artwork looks like a fusion of ancient Aztec and Mayan symbology and modern streamlined styling, with customized pips and long, slim rank markings in the indices.  To get a better look at the cards, click on each of the last two images to see an animation displaying the courts!

Click here to see the Kickstarter project page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/introneers/eye-of-kukulkan-mysterious-mayan-tales-playing-cards/
Click here to see the Instagram story page on this deck: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17954068177947757/

8
Ethereal Dreams was produced by Max Playing Cards.  According to their website, it's a collaboration between two artists: "Digital Desires" and David Bollt.  Please note that the project is divided into two decks - a poker deck and a tarot deck.  For the purposes of voting on this project, please evaluate the poker deck ONLY.

The playing cards come in two models: a Limited Edition and a Luxury Gilded Edition.  The overall artwork is very dream-like and leans into a darker palette, with lovely near-photo realistic imagery.  In a nod to players of trump-suit games, the cards were thoughtfully designed with four-color/no-revoke suits.


Click to see the Ethereal Dreams at Max Playing Cards: https://www.maxplayingcards.com/en/portfolio-item/ethereal-dreams/
Click to see the Kickstarter project page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/minds-eye/ethereal-dreams-tarot-and-poker-decks/
Click to see David Bollt's website: https://www.mindseyeplayingcards.com/

9
Jackson Robinson, designing decks under his brand Kings Wild Project, is a deck designer without equal in terms of his output - it's a rare year that he releases less than a deck every two to three weeks on average!  He is almost an industry unto himself, and this year, he's a nominee for Artist of the Year, while his very popular Lord of the Rings, Vol. 2 deck is up for Deck of the Year.  He is also among the rare few artists who self-produces his entire output and is successful enough to do so without using Kickstarter or other crowd-sourced funding.

Jackson's releases between July 2022 and June 2023, to the best of my knowledge, are (in no particular order):
  • Apple Pi
  • Lord of the Rings, Vol. 2
  • Cherry Pi
  • Legal Tender Sterling
  • The Count of Monte Cristo
  • Noel
  • Flower of Fire
  • Legal Tender Chinese Holo
  • Oakeshott
  • The Bird
  • Crow Brand
  • Marines
  • Atlantis
  • Cibola
  • Crayons/Seven Colors
  • Excelsior V1
  • Truett .45
  • Table Players Vol. 25 - Ironsides
  • Table Players Vol. 26 - Provisorios
  • Table Players Vol. 27 - Ace
  • Table Players Vol. 28 - Schmidts City Club
  • Table Players Vol. 29 - Swisher Sweets
  • Table Players Vol. 30 - Rainier Ale
The Artist's Home Page and Store: https://kingswildproject.com/

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2023 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / ARTIST: Celsius Pictor
« on: August 03, 2023, 08:40:49 PM »
Celsius Pictor is an illustrator based in Madrid, Spain.  For his very first Kickstarter project and first deck design, he teamed up with Max Playing Cards to create Mechanimals, a whimsy-filled deck that draws heavily from 19th-century engraving work.  Printed by Legends Playing Card Co., the deck comes in two editions: a Limited Edition and a Deluxe Gilded Edition that comes with a sleeve protecting the tuck box.  Based on this one deck project, Mr. Pictor is a nominee for the Artist of the Year.

Kickstarter project page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/celsiuspictor/mechanimals-playing-cards/
Artist's home page: https://www.celsiuspictor.net/
Artist's Behance page: https://www.behance.net/celsiuspictor
Artist's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/celsiuspictor/

11
Giovanni Meroni, better known to collectors as Thirdway Industries, might not be the most prolific playing card designer on the planet, but he's certainly a contender for the title.  He released eleven decks across three different releases in the eligibility period for the 2023 Diamond Awards and is a nominee for Artist of the Year.

His releases for July 2022 through June 2023 are:
  • Heartless: Nether, Abyss and Gehenna - themed after the underworld
  • Fantasma: Duplex, Tomb, Spirit and Basic - ghosts printed with UV-visible-only ink
  • Damokles: Adamas, Cuprum, Opulentia and Ruinae - derived from the ancient Greek myth of the Sword of Damocles and themed on the perils faced by all humans.
Artist's Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thirdwayindustries/about
TWI page - Heartless: https://www.thirdwayindustries.com/heartless/
Kickstarter page - Heartless: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdwayind/heartless-playing-cards
TWI page - Fantasma: https://www.thirdwayindustries.com/fantasma/
Kickstarter page - Fantasma: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdwayind/fantasma-playing-cards
TWI page - Damokles: https://www.thirdwayindustries.com/damokles/
Kickstarter page - Damokles: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdwayind/damokles-playing-cards

12
Ms. Kelly is no stranger to design work or playing cards, having work extensively in corporate design as well as being the resident playing card designer for the ancient guild known as "The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards."  You might recognize her from the talk she gave for 52 Plus Joker back in April of '22 (there's a link below if you missed it).

Working as Squiddle Ink, the deck Sardines Playing Cards in Tomato Sauce" is her first playing card project as an independent and her first Kickstarter project.  Printed by Legends Playing Cards, the deck's modern design aesthetic works splendidly with the tongue-in-cheek theme.  The first thousand decks were attractively packaged in a small metal box meant to resemble an actual sardine tin.

Based on the strength of this deck, she was selected as a nominee for Artist of the Year.


Kickstarter project page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/squiddleink/sardines-playing-cards-in-tomato-sauce?ref=discovery&term=sardines%20playing%20cards
Stacy's talk during the April 2022 52+J Virtual Playing Cards Weekend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha82A02jgHM&t=1797s
Squiddle Ink home page: https://squiddleink.com/index.html (note: you may get a security warning for an expired certificate on this page)

13
Jocu Playing Cards are the brainchild team-up of Alessandra Gagliano and Anthony Holt, a very prolific team since their first project, the Green Man, back in 2019.  Ms. Gagliano is nominated this year for Artist of the Year, and the team's "Under the Moon" project is nominated for Deck of the Year.

Under the Moon is themed after the mythology and folklore of the animal kingdom.  Three decks were made as part of the release: Midnight blue, Moorland green and Moonrise pink.  A special triptych edition set of all three decks was also created - the three decks repackaged in boxes that, on the fronts and backs, form a three-panel image.  The artwork is quite attractive, reminding me of the illustrations you'd find in a well-made children's fairy tale with animal characters.

Kickstarter project page for Under the Moon: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dimmideck/under-the-moon-by-jocu-playing-cards/
Jocu Cards page for ordering Under the Moon: https://www.jocu.cards/product-category/under-the-moon
Order page for Gilded Triptych edition: https://www.jocu.cards/shop/under-the-moon/under-the-moon-gilded-triptych-set-limited-edition-250

PLEASE NOTE: I initially misspelled the artist's last name.  There's only a total of two "g's" in Gagliano.  My apologies to the artist and the voters.  I'm working on making corrections where needed.


14
Lorenzo Gaggiotti is no stranger to the Diamond Awards, to be sure!  This year, he produced two decks:
  • Black Requiem | Counterspell, a special edition based on his first release, 2014's "Requiem."
  • 17th Kingdom Experimental, his Deck of the Year nominee, released as a Patreon reward and quickly sold out.
In addition, he's also been selected as a nominee for this year's Artist of the Year award.


For this one, I'll simply let the images and links to the talking for me...


The artist's website: https://www.stockholm17.cards/
A brief Kardify article on the 17th Kingdom Experimental deck: https://kardify.com/2023/02/deck-view-17th-kingdom-experimental-playing-cards.html
Sale page for Black Requiem: https://www.stockholm17.cards/collections/frontpage/products/black-requiem-counterspell-1
A video showcase of 17th Kingdom Experimental made by the artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5MBPA-IENc

18
2022 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / INTRODUCTION
« on: August 04, 2022, 03:56:59 PM »
Greetings and welcome to the voting period for the Sixth Annual Diamond Awards, hosted by 52 Plus Joker.

I'm Don Boyer, the chair of the Diamond Awards Committee.

The artists and decks shown in the topics below are the balloted nominees for Artist of the Year and Deck of the Year.  Voting is open to all members of 52 Plus Joker.  Not a member yet?  Check out the link below and sign up!
https://live-52plusjoker.pantheonsite.io/membership-account/membership-checkout/?level=1

In addition, there's a sticky topic containing additional information on the voting process.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

19
Working under the name Thirdway Industries (TWI, for short), Giovanni Meroni is one of those artists who tries to give Jackson Robinson a run for his money, in terms of the number of decks he releases each year.  In the eligibility period, he released Galaxia, Poison and a reprint of his first ever project, with its reprinted companion deck: Good & Evil.

Galaxia is inspired by the dystopian sci-fi stories of the mid-20th century.  The three editions of the deck (Promessa, Altezza and Domina [the limited edition of the series]) tell the story of human colonists traversing the galaxy to reach Terra-2, their new home.  In addition, he tacked on two more editions through the campaign, Intregra (a design tweak of the Domina deck, intended initially for Kickstarter backers only) and Superba (a limited, gilded version with a black background design).  Meroni considers it to be a direct sequel to the totalitarian government-based series, Order.  The decks were printed by USPC, except Superba, which was printed by Expert PCC. (Images 1 & 2)

Poison has a looser story, based around pharmacists and poisoners in America during the Roaring '20s.  The editions of this project are Aspis (green, unlimited, printed approximately 2,000 copies), Kingslayer (a gilded, Kickstarter-exclusive version of Aspis, limited to 888 copies) and Belladonna (pink background on the faces, holographic foil on the backs, limited to 1,500 decks).  The first two were printed by USPC, while Belladonna was printed by Legends PCC. (Images 3 & 4)

And finally, there's the reprints - The Evil Deck was created in 2014 as a result of Meroni winning a contest on this forum before it was purchased by 52 Plus Joker, the prize of the contest being to have your deck printed by Expert PCC.  The companion deck, the Good Deck, was designed later but not printed after trying unsuccessfully to crowdfund the project on the now-defunct Decklauncher website.  Many TWI fans have asked Meroni in the intervening years about the Good Deck, but he decided that the files for it on his computer were just too old and needed an update - and he didn't want to update the Good Deck design without matching it with the Evil Deck!  The biggest update was on the spot cards - both decks now have artistic images instead of uniform suit pips on them, with standard pips in the indices only.  Both decks this time around were printed by USPC.  (Image 5)

The project pages:
Galaxia, on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdwayind/galaxia-playing-cards/description
Poison, on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thirdwayind/poison-playing-cards/description
Good & Evil, V2, on the Thirdway Industries web store: https://www.thirdwayindustries.com/product/good-evil-v2/

20
2022 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / AOTY: Lotrek/Oath Playing Cards
« on: August 04, 2022, 03:49:44 PM »
Two-time Diamond Award-winner Lotrek is nominated this year for Artist of the Year.  He produced two decks during the award period - Maestro III and Tale of the Tempest.

Maestro III is a subtle design compared to some of Lotrek's more elaborate decks, more targeted towards players than collectors.  There is an elegant to its simplicity - it's a deck you really want to shuffle up and deal at your poker table.  (Images 1 and 2)

Tale of the Tempest is a project that was produced by the prominent and prolific deck reviewer, The Gentleman Wake.  The various editions available are Ocean (blue/gold/navy), Dusk (eggplant/purple/copper), Midnight (black/gold/gunmetal), Treasured (two-tone gold), Dynastinae (green/gold), Prism (pearl/prismatic) and Great Wylenti (black/gold), as well as an all-gaff card deck.  All versions are done with foil stamped backs except Great Wylenti.  Tuck boxes were all made by Lotrek at Oath Playing Cards, cards were all made at Cartamundi on their B9 Slimline stock.  A great deal of attention to detail was given to this design, replete with card reveals and fine details peppered throughout the artwork.

Maestro III at Lotrek's web store: https://www.oathplayingcards.com/product-page/maestro-iii-playing-cards-1
Tale of the Tempest at Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thegentlemanwake/the-tale-of-the-tempest-playing-cards/description

21
2022 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / AOTY: Jack Brutus Penny
« on: August 04, 2022, 03:45:15 PM »
Based in Kanagawa, Japan, Jack Brutus Penny, an artist who works in many media, made a big splash with his first deck release in 2019.  Sensu is his second playing card project to date.  As with his first project, the proceeds were used to help support animal welfare.

The Japanese word sensu means "folding fan" in English.  Beyond its luxurious design and appointments, these two decks contain innovations that I've never seen in any other deck preceding them.  Fuyu-no-Sensu ("Winter?s Fan", in turquoise) and Haru-no-Sensu ("Spring's Fan", in vermillion) have unique faces incorporating seasonal botanicals in their design with angled, art-covered border which create a complete artistic scene when fanned in specific patterns, such as the spot cards or the court cards from a single suit, much like the intricate designs painted on some of the finest Japanese fans.  The Fuyu-no-Sensu deck is closer to the artist's vision in terms of an unblemished canvas for his art - the court cards have no indices and the deck comes with a Japanese folding screen, or byobu, crafted by hand by Kyoto-based byobu artisans.  The Haru-no-Sensu deck is more of a compromise design, with indices for card players.  There is a third deck, limited to only 50 packs - it's the "Golden Winter's Fan": Fuyu-no-Sensu with metallic inks and foils switched to gold.  The fourth and final deck is "The Full-Blossoming Fan": Haru-no-Sensu in a 250-deck limited edition of gilded decks with foiled, cut deck sleeves.

The project was limited to 1,000 decks of each of the two main deck designs, individually serial-numbered.  The entire project's decks were manufactured by the Expert Playing Card Company, using classic stock with metallic inks, packed into tuck boxes with foil details and heavy, textured stock.

Kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jackbrutuspenny/sensu
Artist website page on playing cards, including this and the previous project: https://www.jackbrutuspenny.com/playing-cards

22
2022 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / DOTY: "Hummingbird Feathers"
« on: August 04, 2022, 03:42:54 PM »
Conceived by magician Kellar O'Neil and designed by Chris Tipton, working together as Marvelous Decks, Hummingbird Feathers is an impressive sophomore creation.

The cards and tuck boxes have an iridescent shine to them, meant to emulate the way light is reflected and refracted by actual feathers from a hummingbird.  The effect even carries over from the card's backs to select details in the court cards, through the use of textured paintwork and holographic foil.  Speaking of the courts, they're real throwbacks to the classic deck designs of the first half of the 20th century, done in an elegant style - the holographic details make them pop.

The decks are manufactured in three colors, red, blue and purple, and in two versions of each, regular and gilded.  Printing was performed by Cartamundi, using their popular B9 Slimline stock.

Marvelous Decks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvelousdecks/?hl=en
Kardify interview with Kellar O'Neil: https://kardify.com/2020/10/the-marvelous-hummingbird-feathers.html
Three deck reviews from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE7aqDbMDYQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ho8Rnze544&t=411s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgH8BojywBg

23
These decks came about as the result of a Kickstarter project, full title: The Azure Dragon & Time Machine Playing Card Collector's set.  It's the fourth Kickstarter from Ying Cheung Ng/ARK Playing Cards, based in Hong Kong.  The project raised a rather impressive HK$2,289,845 (just over US$290,000 with current exchange rates) - it was fully funded in the first 60 seconds of launch ad raised 7,632% of its goal.

The Azure Dragon deck is derived from elements of Chinese culture, while the Time Machine deck draws its inspiration from the Herbert George Wells novel.

The intricacy and complexity of the project is incredible, with paper sculptures, paper mechanical display boxes, boxes made from walnut, even a special set of wood-framed decks only made available through the Kickstarter project.  From my count - and I could be wrong here! - there are a total of FOURTEEN decks in this project, and it's a feast for the eyes.

Kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elementplayingcards/the-time-machine-playing-cards-collection-box-sets/description
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arkplayingcard/?hl=en
Unboxing video by Rise Magic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwQsEDhM2w

24
Lorenzo Gaggiotti, better known to most of the card collecting world as Stockholm17, is no stranger to the Diamond Awards, having won both Deck of the Year and Artist of the Year in 2019.

This year, he hasn't exactly been slacking - two major releases bear his name: Eye of the Ocean and Odd Fellows (a collaboration with Portfolio 52, the new parent company of United Cardists, owned by Alexander Chin).  I'll start with the solo project, Eye of the Ocean.

This deck project was a huge, huge undertaking, largely because it's not just a deck.  There's a novel to go with it - and a puzzle connected to the book and the cards.  The novel details a young woman's quest, originating in 1776 Stockholm, to sail the high seas and find the island that her mother was searching for when she disappeared.  The book is presented in a spectacular recreation of a period-accurate book, complete with embossed leather wrapping, a bronze-finish astrolabe attached to the cover, a bookmark, a dip ink pen and a deck-sized hidden compartment.  A second deck is due out later this year, according to the Kickstarter project.

The novel's heroine is not the only one with a quest - there's a puzzle that's connected to the novel and two of the decks created for the project.  The Solis and Lunae decks come with letterpress extra cards printed with information tied to the puzzle.  Backers who solve the puzzle will be included in a raffle for free prizes related to the project, such as Quartermaster Edition decks and polished brass Codex Keys.  To date, no less than nine people have succeeded in solving the puzzle.

All the decks in the project are offered in non-gilded and gilded versions.  The tuck boxes were manufactured by Oath Playing Cards (Lotrek) in Greece.  Card printing was by Cartamundi on their B9 Slimline stock.

When voting, please consider the following information.  Prototype playing card tuck boxes were made and released for this project, which are ineligible when deciding whether to vote for this project.  In addition, the Quartermaster Edition decks were initially issued to a select group of Patreon investors in 2020, thus were not released during the eligibility period, and also should not be considered as part of this project for voting purposes.  The Mini edition of the Quartermaster deck, however, wasn't released until this year - to the best of my knowledge, it is eligible for consideration.

Kickstarter project page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/requiemcards/the-eye-of-the-ocean/description
Intrepid deck variant from Stockholm17's web store: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/requiemcards/the-eye-of-the-ocean/description
Portfolio52 search results for decks from this project: https://www.portfolio52.com/search?search_string=eye+of+the+ocean

25
2022 Diamond Awards - Nominee Topics / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR VOTERS
« on: August 04, 2022, 03:09:12 PM »
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU JUDGE A NOMINEE
DOTY nominees are judged solely on a single International Standard deck release/project, though a single release/project may comprise more than one variant, edition, back coloration, etc., such as two of the same deck design with differently-colored backs and/or two differently-sized decks and/or standard/deluxe/limited edition(s), etc.  DOTY nominees should be judged based on "the full package" - the design, artistry, manufacturing quality, features, packaging, etc., as seen in all of the decks in that release.

AOTY is judged on the entire portfolio of International Standard decks released by the artist within the eligibility period, and only within that period, not before or after.  A list of eligible releases for each AOTY candidate is listed in their PCF topic in the link on their ballot entry - if you happen to spot an error or an omission, please leave a comment in the forum topic.  For this category, you are judging the artist's works during the release window using the same criteria as in the DOTY judging.

MORE INFORMATION ON NOMINEES - THE FORUM TOPICS
To find more information on a nominee, click on the TinyURL link at the end of the nominee's ballot entry.  That link will take you to a topic on PlayingCardForum.com (PCF), the official online forum of 52 Plus Joker, with info about the nominee, including photos and links to other pages online.  In any cases where an Artist of the Year nominee also created a Deck of the Year nominee, there is a single, combined topic to cover both nominations.  Nominated artists and creators of nominated decks have been invited to comment on their topics, so please feel free to present any questions about their work you may have to them if they make their presence on the forum known!

WRITE-IN VOTING ELIGIBILITY
For each category, you may opt to create a write-in vote for the candidate of your choice, subject to eligibility.  To be eligible for consideration for either/both award(s) in the current award cycle, an artist must have released at least one International Standard playing card deck/project during the eligibility window of July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 inclusive.

DEFINITION OF "RELEASED" FOR ALL NOMINEES AND WRITE-IN CANDIDATES
"Released" is defined as made available for retail sale, offered as part of a subscription (if the subscription service is open to all members of the public), given away to the public for free, distributed to crowdfunding backers or made available as a free, limited promotional item, with the final determination of eligibility to be made by the Diamond Awards Committee and the Board of Directors of 52 Plus Joker.  Private releases not made publicly available are not eligible.  Prototype decks, even if they are publicly released, sold, given away, etc., are considered an unfinished version of a work and are not eligible for award consideration, regardless of the number of prototype decks created and distributed.  The defining parameters of a prototype is 1) any deck labeled by the artist as a prototype, and/or 2) any deck judged by the DAC/52+J Board to be a prototype - key criteria for the DAC/Board to consider would be how finished the project appears, whether a later or future release of the same deck in larger distribution was/is planned, and how many copies of the deck were released (with lower amounts being more suspect than larger ones).

THE AWARDS CEREMONY
Winners of the Diamond Awards will be announced at the Sixth Annual Diamond Awards Ceremony, scheduled to be held during the Gala Dinner ending the Annual 52 Plus Joker Convention, on the evening of Saturday, October 8, 2021 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh Green Tree located at 500 Mansfield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States - details will be provided to all 52+J members when the full schedule becomes available.  (Due to the evolving situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and monkeypox health emergency, the ceremony schedule/venue may be subject to change or may be presented via Zoom.)

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