If you’re are dipping’ your toe into a deck creation, then make it count. Make a signature one!
It’s a long journey. Anyway you look at it, it’s a lot of work. You may create only one, or more. Make this part of your body of work. Make money out of it. And leap so you can see where it will land you..
I started on my own deck in 2001. It took me years to finish, and I am still not done. I’m done with the deck, alright, but I’m not done to where it wants to take me… and well… maybe I’m not done with the deck itself either.
So, when I say “Signature Deck”, this is what I mean:
Your Signature Deck is a deck created by you, in your special way.
It’s easily recognized and it spells your name. It’s beyond trends, cultural or historical influences. It’s what will declare the characteristics of your “body of work”. And it was written in you.
A “Signature Deck” can bring you the benefits of commercial success, reasonable “fame”, a sold out product, new possibilities springing from it, or simply someone cherish it lovingly and passionately (and that includes the creator, of course!)
Is there a formula to this?
Is there a formula to create a good child? A happy and successful child?
If there is one, then this must be the same formula…
You can’t force something to turn in to a significant contribution, but you can add your best ingredients!
Here we go:
Quality
The best or bust. High quality production: Everything from cardstock to printing, thoughtful packaging and in general attention to detail. You can’t fake quality, but bad quality makes a product look like a copycat fake. Ouuuuuuu!
Specific Taste
While something doesn’t have to meet your personal preferences to be good, it’s very good if what you create is of a specific taste. Particularity has the power to attract or repel. Plain vanilla is only good as an ice-cream flavor (and some will argue that too…because really, if there is grapefruit campari or dark chocolate with brandy cherries, why should anyone go for vanilla??? )
So, you want to be personal with your taste. Veeeery personal. (And I would totally salute you myself if you stand in the middle of a room in a white bikini, with a single scoop of vanilla ice-cream and tell me that this is the best flavor in the whole wide world!)
Depth
Depth means that a deck will read well, and it will read well again and again. A new insight every time the cards lay down? Yes! New connections between the elements, new metaphors brewing, more details to be discovered? Yes and Yes!
Does it mean you have to get to the bottom of every meaning yourself first? No and no!
Phew!
Message
There needs to be a message, a specific inspiration or point of view. Something with a shared value. Something to remember…
In fact, a good deck serves as a brand. It is made for a specific target market, has a distinct look and feel, and stands for something.
(I put this one here as a little hint: but it’s not. It’s mega info!)
So, you’re sayin’ wha???
Inner code
A good deck (or any product, really), has an inner code in it. A language of its own with a creative twist, but the kind that an outsider can immediately identify, relate with and participate. Think of this as a very intuitive user interface. (I cracked a bag of Quality Street sweets recently… so beautiful.. Each flavor has a different shape and color… Coconut lover? Soon enough you’ll know you need digging for the blue! This is Code.)
Keeper Packaging
The most cherished things, come packed. A packaging defines and protects. It’s not a must, but when it is such, it adds so much! It can be detailed and extravagant, or simple and distinct like Tiffany’s. Rings a bell? That’s a signature…
New Something
Teach something and not the samey samey same. Bring on a new point of view. A new realization. A new theme! Insider details. The story of something. The culture of something else. Open our eyes! Even gossip goes… An enriched experience is… well.. enriching!
How to tell if you did your part?
In any Signature Anything, I usually see two things:
Unmistakability
This is exactly wheat “signature” means… distinct style . You can tell this product from afar, even if you look at a blurry photograph of it. You recognize it. You tie it with other work by the same creator. If you saw it once, you will not confuse it with anything else. It’s an original, and not work that imitates someone else’s. Unmistakable is also beyond taste or trends… just like someone’s signature!
Dream Making
I remember my visit at The Tarot Garden by Niki De Saint Phalle. Respect. Respect woman! I felt like I was walking in scared ground. I saw her vision, her obsession and I knew her sacrifice. I was uplifted by her excitement and sense of accomplishment. I appreciated her work and saw how she transformed through it. I saw her Artist. And by seeing that, a transformation happened n me: “It’s possible. The power of creation is real”.
Does the effect have to be SO grand? No. This was my most grand example! But when I see a pair of shoes made with mastery and distinct design, my heart skips a beat. “It’s possible”.
So, yea. Creating your Signature, IS possible.
Would you spend your time on anything else???
Need a lil’ extra tips? Grab this free guide: 7 Huge Mistakes to Avoid when Creating Your Signature deck.
Last thing:
I read the above, and it sounds A LOT. It sounds intimidating. It sounds demanding. Because it is. This work is real work. BUT, you can do it playfully. You can laugh at it, with it, at yourself. Get off the serious wagon… and remember these are things observed “after”. What do you need during? An urge. A curiosity. A mission you don’t know its came abouts. Got these? You are off to go. Close the browser. Or better, Share and then close the browser…;-)
