Designer Series Battle 3: Alex Chin's Seasons vs Ellusionists Arcanes

[john]

Back Story by Alex Chin

Inspiration:
Everyone of us plays favorites. As card collectors it’s only natural. Our collections have stories, memories behind each deck. These decks are the ones that we can put on our shelves or behind glass for months. They won’t be forgotten or sold off like some of the other decks in your collection.. No matter how long it’s been, every time you pick up that deck again you suspend reality for that serendipitous moment of nostalgia. The beauty of it is that for each person, that moment is different – a timeless memory that curiously changes as you grow.

I type this right now thrown back to when I first decided to make Seasons one year ago, holding the very same deck that I did then thinking – this is what I want people to feel. It’s my very first Bicycle deck and across the dimples of the card and the smell of the paper, the biggest thing I remember when making this decision was “I wish I could create a deck as timeless as this one”.

Deck:
For me, creating a timeless deck wasn’t about replicating the old Bicycle style, but rather innovating design through a modern day lens. For the Seasons Set it meant to create the first playing card set that worked as a whole all while avoiding any fad based designs. To do this I needed to control all aspects, designing 100% of the artwork. That meant creating our now iconic asymmetric boxes, custom court faces, and differing individual back designs in an era which really just featured the same back designs in black or white.
It’s more common to see paired decks with different back designs now since our launch and I’d like to think we had a helping hand in this shift in culture. The ultimate goal for Seasons is to be timeless and help collector’s create a collection that will last through their lives.

Process:
The process starts with the initial drawing. Once the composition is refined and satisfactory, the image is inked. Then the illustration is digitalized for review. Feedback is applied to the design as many times as necessary resulting in a final polished design.
http://pictures.picasion.com/pic44/da798ba2d7ac842c284b9b66a1a5721a.gif

Partner:
It was a bit harder than expected to find a set that was a bit more comparable to Seasons which I like to think as a good thing. After talking with John a bit we decided that the Arcane deck would probably be the fairest to face-off against because they both have differing back designs. I enjoy Lee’s work quite a bit and it’s an honor to be in a face-off with such a respected veteran.
News:

- I’ll be speaking in Vegas at 52+ Convention this October exactly on the topics of Timeless Design and Collection Curation. I hope to see some of you there.

- We are EXTREMELY low on store stock. The Platinum series was a one-time print run only and will not be printed again. If you ever wanted some or would like to stock up now would be the time.

www.SeasonsPlayingCards.com

The Battle

Seasons by Alex Chin or Arcanes by Ellusionist

[Fred]

You forgot to put the poll John :p not that it would matter as Seasons are clearly the more superior cards in my opinion. Great use of metallic ink (2nd edition), courts are second to none, peacock ace of spades, what more could one want? The only minor drawback in my opinion is its back design, which is pretty bland and lacks that 'flare'. My personal dislike towards the theme and overall design of arcanes doesnt make its opponent more appealing. Seasons are simply the superior of the two.

[Don Boyer]

You forgot to put the poll John :p

He does that.    I'll fix it.

BTW: Seasons FTW.  'Nuff said.

[john]

You forgot to put the poll John :p

And that's why it's nice to have an amazing Admin such as Don to add the poll when I forgot .

I went with Seasons! Sorry Lee !

[crazyfandecks]

not fair with Arcane Alex Chin surely win

[Maskedfreakinabox]

+1 the Seasons decks are just the better designs, much more refined in their approach. As much as I like the Arcanes, these are just the classier cards.

[Rob Wright]

Seasons for me- I thought it was close. Kind of surprised is a shut out so far.

[john]

Seasons win by 8!