sketchpad ebook

8/11/2019 Sketchpad eBook

1/17

In recent years the world of playing cards have been expanding rapidly

due in part to crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

This guide will help you navigate through the process of developing a

successful crowdfunding project and what steps are needed to produce

playing cards.

Using Kickstarter to launch your playing card project lets you reach a

large audience but its not going to be as easy as you might think. You

need to plan before you get started, craft your project and put the

effort into it. Just dont put together a few card designs and call it good.

Months of planning is needed to run a successful project. Always

remember that this will be a challenging and time-consuming time in

your life. So, before you get started, make sure you are ready mentally

and physically.

What is Kickstarter and How Does It Work?

With Kickstarter, projects must reach their goal or they get nothing.

This isnt always true with other crowdfunding sites. For example,

Indiegogo will allow you to keep any money raised even if its only $50

of a $10,000 goal. So, keep this in mind when you set your goal. You


2/17

want to make sure you set a goal high enough to achieve what you

need to do, but not set it so high that it become a challenge to reach.

When you set up your project you need to:

Set the duration of the project (typically 30 to 60 days)

Set the financial goal you need to make your project happen

Put together a project page that includes photos and text

explaining your project (videos are highly recommended)

Once you have your project complete, youll need to submit for

approval with Kickstarter. Sometimes Kickstarter will give you the

option to launch immediately, but we still recommend that you have

Kickstarter review your project for any violations. Kickstarter wont

tolerate rule breakers!

Typically youll receive approval from Kickstarter within 24 to 48 hours

from the time you submit your project. If theres any issues you need to

change youll normally get the go ahead within the same day that you

make any necessary changes.

Now that you have approval, its time to launch? Not so fast hot shot.

The first 48 hours of your project are the most critical. You need to

make sure you get momentum and keep it for as long as possible. You


3/17

do this by making sure your family and friends know about your project

and make sure they know when you plan on hitting that green launch

button. Its also very important when and what day you launch your

project. Everyone will have their own advice on this topic but we

typically get best results launching in the early evening hours (6pm)

near the end of the work week (when people typically have extra

spending cash from payday).

In addition to getting your family and friends on board, you should alsoutilize the forums that specialize in cards such as

www.unitedcardists.com and www.playingcardforum.com. Both of

these forums have design and development threads that you can post

your work in progress. Keep in mind, these places may be critical of

your work but they will give good advice. Listen to them because many

will become your customers. It also helps to start making friends on

facebook. For example, we do a lot of decks based on history so we find

people with similar interests to be friends with. Typically speaking

magicians love playing cards so they also provide a huge audience to

show off your work to.

Now that people know about you and your project youre ready to

launch. Go ahead and press that green launch button. Use

www.kicktraq.com to track the progress daily. Theres no better (free)


4/17

way of tracking your project than this website. Like I said before, your

first 48 hours will make or break you. This isnt always the case but

typically youll know if your project will make it or not by the end of the

first two days. For our, Global Unrest playing cards, this wasnt the

case. The whole duration of the project was too close to tell. In fact, we

only got funded in the last few hours of the project in that case. But

weve had projects that you can tell right away wont make it. With

these projects you question whether you should cancel and re-launch

or let the project fail before re-launching. We typically let the project

run the full course so we can gather as much feedback as possible.

More About Social Media!

I cant stress enough how important facebook is when launching your

project. If you dont have facebook or if your friend list is small enough

you can count on two hands, you may want to consider fixing this

before launching your project. Make friends with anyone who will

expect your friend request. Each person is one more person that will

see your work. If they like your work they may check it out on

Kickstarter. Who knows, maybe they will even become a backer?


5/17

Here are five must-have networking tools to sharpen before you start

your playing card project on Kickstarter:

Your personal Website: Start your own site to share photos or

maybe even start a blog.

Twitter: Connect with writers, readers and experts in your

industry niche. Create friendships and establish a rapport with

followers.

Facebook: Friends, family and acquaintances can easily be turned

into supporters for your project.

Google+: Another popular and useful social networking site for

spreading the word.

LinkedIn: Great for making professional connections.

Growing your follower base across multiple social networking sites will

greatly increase your chances of success. Another great tool to use with

social media is doing contests. Keep in mind each site will have its own

rules and regulations about contests. So, make sure you research

contests before doing one.


6/17

Research Before You Start

Theres a lot to know about playing cards. You need to know about the

different manufactures, paper types, terminology, niche markets, etc.

We typically do historical based playing cards. So for us, we do a lot of

research about the historical topic were doing at the time. In addition,

we look into the design styles of the time period were studying. Also,

check to make sure nobody else hasnt already done what you plan on

doing. Get to know your fellow artists, their styles and the niche

markets they target. Also get to know the key players within the playing

card market (the buyers, the sellers, the manufactures, etc.)

The Manufacturers (not a complete list):

United States Playing Card Co. (USPC) Expert Playing Card Co. (EPCC)

Liberty Playing Cards

Quality Playing Cards

MPC

Apollo Playing Cards


7/17

Crowdfunding Sites (not a complete list):

Kickstarter

Indiegogo

CardLauncher

Deckstarter

Playing Card Retailers (not a complete list):

Murphys Magic

Gamblers Warehouse

Ellusionist

Dan & Dave

Theory 11

Art of Play

JP Playing Cards

The Flush


8/17

Issues Youll Run Into

Weve ran into several issues during the course of several successful

projects. Well give a rundown of a few of the problems here:

Make sure you estimate a high enough goal: With Civil Unrest we

had the goal set a little too low to properly cover all the

unexpected costs. Almost everything we budgeted for was higher

than we expected. Not to mention we didnt realize postal prices

were increasing at the first of the year. So, in the end we had to

dip into our own pockets to fulfill this project. If we didnt have

the funds personally to do this we would find ourselves in a lot of

hot water. On top of the postal rates being higher than we

expected, USPC has a clause in their contract that allows them to

produce 10% above and beyond the agreed upon amount. After

doing three projects with them, I can testify that they WILL go

over 10% all the time. So, plan on paying an extra 10% after

printing is complete.

Freebies, freebies and more freebies: When doing a project youll

have many people asking for free stuff. Most of the time theyll do

a service for you and in return you give them some free decks.

While this is a good way to help spread the word via articles,

contests and reviews you should be careful not to get involved


9/17

with too many deals like this. Your main goal is to start a business

not a charity.

Have A Plan 2 Available: With Global Unrest, we had approval to

use the Bicycle brand but during the Kickstarter project they

(USPC) had a change of heart about letting us use the Bicycle logo.

So, half way during the project we had to change course. We lost

some backers but in the end we still were able to get funded

because we had a few alternative plans for our backers to choice

from.

Always Round UP When It Comes to the Post Office: In school I

was taught to round down if the number is .5 and below. Well,

this rule isnt true at the Post Office. After dropping off hundreds

of packages we got an angry call from the Post Office demanding

we come in to add postage to many of these packages. For them,

anything .1 and higher needs to be rounded up to the NEXT

ounce. If your package weighs 2.1 ounces. Guess what? It doesnt,

it weighs 3 ounces in the eyes of the Post Office.

Your Funded Amount Isnt Accurate: For Colonial Unrest we raised

$18,018 which was $18 past one of our stretch goals. The problem

is, when your project ends youll have many backers who will have

errors happen with their finical info they provided. While many of

these errors will be fixed before theyre dropped, many dont get


10/17

fixed within the week deadline. After a week these pledges (and

backers) are dropped. In the case of Colonial Unrest, it amounted

to $300 less than the actual amount it shows.

Watch International Backers: With every project theres a large

amount of international backers that fail to add the needed

postage. While these may be honest mistakes you need to make

sure this postage is paid before items ship. If the project has

already ended, contact the backer via e-mail and send them an

invoice for the amount they still owe.

You Got to Know When to Hold-em, Know When to Fold-em: For a

few our projects we had to re-launch. We did this with both Civil

Unrest and Global Unrest. We knew we came close to our goal so

we listened to feedback, made a few improvements than got

those projects funded. With other projects you can tell that theyll

never get funded no matter what. With these projects, just put

them aside. Maybe a year down the road tastes will change with

the general public. Dont keep beating a dead horse.

The Real Work Has Only Just Begun: Getting your project funded

is only half the job. Now that you have a successful project, get

ready to start really working. As soon as your project ends you

want to get your files to USPC as soon as possible!!! Theyre so

backlogged it will take at least two months before you see your


11/17

cards. Once you get your files sent to USPC you can move

attention to your add-ons (poker chips, coins, shirts, etc.) All your

add-ons will be complete long before your cards. So, make sure

you focus on finishing your cards before moving your attention to

the add-ons. When all items are in, devote at least a whole

weekend in doing nothing but mailing. When I say, the whole

weekend I mean 48 hours of nothing but packaging and labeling.

Even then, youll spend weeks finishing everything up. Then youll

have to spend more time resending items that get damaged. With

playing card collectors, they expect their cards to be perfect. So,

do yourself a favor and make sure you package very well.

Always Plan Ahead: The next project should always be at the back

of your head. Take your sketch pad to work or soccer games. That

way when an idea hits you, youll be ready to draw it. While we

run a Kickstarter project we have another project or two in the

pipeline. Like we said before, it takes months of planning to get a

project ready.


12/17

To Add-On or To Not Add-On

Many playing card projects have add-ons while some dont. Its really

up to you the creator of the project if you want to deal with add-ons.

Yes, they are a HUGE hassle but at the same time they do generate

needed funds. We tend to offer poker chips, coins, shirts, dice, uncut

sheets and art prints. The purpose of add-ons is to entice more backers

to back your project not necessarily make extra profit. Some add-ons

you can order in low quantities (art prints, shirts, dice) while the more

popular add-ons you have a higher minimum quantities. With coins,

poker chips and uncut sheets you need to hope you have enough

backers of these items to break the threshold of profit. In many cases,

you take a loss on these items because its hard to gauge how to

properly get to that threshold. For example, with most coins you need

to order 100so theres a certain amount you need to sell to pay for

those 100. More often than not, youre spending more than what you

made on items like this. But at the same time you get a lot of requests

for these items. Weve found its best to commit to an item like this and

include reward levels that include these items already built in.


13/17

About Playing Cards

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin

cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic,

marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing

card games.Playing cards are typically palm-sized for convenient

handling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_gamehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_game


14/17

A complete set of cards is called a pack (UK English), deck (US English),

or set (Universal), and the subset of cards held at one time by a player

during a game is commonly called a hand. A pack of cards may be used

for playing a variety of card games, with varying elements of skill and

chance, some of which are played for money. Playing cards are also

used forillusions,cardistry,buildingcard structures,cartomancy and

memory sport.

The front (or "face") of each card carries markings that distinguish itfrom the other cards in the pack and determine its use under the rules

of the game being played. The back of each card is identical for all cards

in any particular pack, and usually of a single colour or formalized

design. Usually every card will be smooth; however, some packs have

braille to allow blind people to read the card number andsuit.The

backs of playing cards are sometimes used for advertising. For most

games, the cards are assembled into a pack, and their order is

randomized byshuffling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28illusion%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardistryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_cardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartomancyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_sporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suit_%28cards%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randomizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shufflehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shufflehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randomizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suit_%28cards%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_sporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartomancyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_cardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardistryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28illusion%29


15/17

Design of Playing Cards

Playing cards can be found with two-way designs (symmetrical) and

one-way designs (asymmetrical). Your sketch pad is help you to design

symmetrical designs (which is typical for playing cards).

Asymmetryis the absence of, or a violation of,symmetry.

Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetry


16/17

systems and it may be displayed in precise terms or in more

aesthetic terms. The absence of violation of symmetry that are

either expected or desired can have important consequences for a

system.

Symmetryis agreement in dimensions, due proportion,

arrangement in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious

and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry"

has a more precise definition, that an object is invariant to a

transformation, such as reflection but including other transforms

too. Although these two meanings of "symmetry" can sometimes

be told apart, they are related, so they are here discussed together.


17/17

Pulling Blue Out

When you scan your image into Photoshop theres several ways to pull

the blue out, leaving your base drawing. You can either go into

Adjustments > Selective Colors or you can to Adjustments > Replace

Color. The idea is to reduce the blue as much as possible leaving your

sketch that you can now draw into Photoshop and/or Illustrator.

Back Design

For you back design you typically want something very intricate and

engaging. With our upcoming Titanic deck we used elements from the

actual ship with the back design. We also gave the colors the feeling of

dark and cold (which is was the night the Titanic sank).

sketchpad ebook

Documents