761 lines
17 KiB
Markdown
761 lines
17 KiB
Markdown
# Sanctification TCG - Art Direction
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## Goal
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I want the cards and the product as a whole to have a very distinct visual identity.
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The current direction I like most is:
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> **Stained-glass-inspired as the main style, with tapestry and illuminated manuscript influence as supporting texture and ornament.**
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The overall goal should be:
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> **Sacred, beautiful, and stylized. Not a dense museum reconstruction.**
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I do not want the cards to feel like a generic fantasy TCG, casino game, anime card game, or hyper-realistic historical reenactment.
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The art should feel reverent and Christian first, while still being visually strong enough that collecting the cards feels exciting.
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---
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## Core Visual Principles
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Across the whole product, the artwork should generally follow these ideas:
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- Sacred and reverent tone.
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- Stained-glass-inspired composition.
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- Jewel-tone palette where appropriate.
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- Gold can be used as an accent, but should become more prominent as rarity increases.
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- Tapestry, linen, parchment, and illuminated-manuscript textures can support the overall look.
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- Clear subject silhouettes.
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- Cards should remain readable at thumbnail size.
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- Avoid hyper-photorealism.
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- Avoid anime or comic-book energy.
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- Avoid a dark fantasy aesthetic.
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- Avoid visual language that feels like gambling, loot boxes, or a casino.
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- Avoid overly dense historical reconstruction.
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- Prefer symbolic clarity over excessive detail.
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- Every card should feel like it belongs to the same product, even when different sets or traditions have their own visual flavor.
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A good way to think about the stained-glass direction is that the cards should feel inspired by sacred windows and devotional art without needing to literally reproduce any specific historical style.
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---
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## Product-Wide Visual Language
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The card art should influence the rest of the app.
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Possible shared UI motifs:
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- Cathedral-window or arched shapes.
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- Restrained ornamental dividers.
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- Deep blue, burgundy, cream, green, and gold accents.
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- Parchment, stone, linen, or subtle glass-inspired surfaces.
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- Illuminated-manuscript-style decorative elements used sparingly.
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- Soft lighting rather than neon effects.
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- Ornament should support hierarchy rather than fill every empty space.
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The application UI should still feel modern and usable.
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The goal is not to make the entire interface look medieval.
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The historical / sacred art direction should mostly come through:
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- Cards.
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- Pack openings.
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- Binder / collection presentation.
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- Headers and section treatments.
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- Decorative accents.
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- Important moments and milestones.
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Normal application controls should remain clear and familiar.
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---
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# Card Art
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## General Composition
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Cards should generally prioritize:
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1. Subject.
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2. Identity.
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3. Short supporting content.
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4. Ornamentation.
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The art should be readable even when the card is relatively small.
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The card should not require the user to zoom in just to understand who or what it represents.
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For character cards, prefer:
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- One clear subject.
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- Strong silhouette.
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- Limited background complexity.
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- Symbolic items associated with the subject.
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- Calm, iconic poses over excessive action scenes unless the card itself represents an event.
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For event cards, larger compositions and multiple figures can be used when necessary.
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For locations, items, doctrines, councils, and other categories, the framing can change while still staying within the same overall stained-glass visual language.
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---
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## Text on the Card
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The physical card should stay concise.
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The app itself can provide the deeper educational content when the card is inspected.
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A normal card can contain:
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- Name.
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- Short subtitle or descriptor.
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- Short verse, quote, or historical line.
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- Reference.
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Example:
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> **David**
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> Shepherd King
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>
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> “The LORD is my shepherd...”
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> Psalm 23:1
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The front content priority should generally be:
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1. Scripture directly related to the card.
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2. Historically significant Christian quotation.
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3. Concise historical or theological statement.
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We should not force a full verse onto the card when it harms the visual design.
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A short excerpt with an ellipsis is fine when it is clearly intentional.
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The full content can appear in the inspection panel.
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---
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## Card Back
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The card back should generally be standardized so it does not reveal the identity of a card during pack opening.
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The back should not leak:
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- Card identity.
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- Exact rarity.
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- Printing.
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- Finish.
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- Material.
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- Other traits that would spoil the reveal.
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It can use the Sanctification branding and common visual language.
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Different sets could potentially have different backs in the future, but only if this does not meaningfully spoil the card reveal.
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---
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# Card Inspection
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The card itself should remain relatively clean.
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More detailed information belongs in the inspection experience.
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When inspecting a card, the user should be able to:
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- Rotate the card freely.
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- Flip between front and back.
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- Zoom in to inspect artwork and physical characteristics.
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- Observe material properties responding dynamically to lighting.
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- Observe wear and imperfections where applicable.
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- Return quickly to the originating collection / binder context.
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The inspection UI should also expose the educational and collectible information that does not need to live directly on the physical card.
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Possible sections:
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## About
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- Full verse or quote.
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- Description.
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- Historical context.
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- Theological context.
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- Related Scripture.
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- Related events / people / cards.
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- Learn-more sources.
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## Card
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- Rarity.
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- Set.
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- Printing.
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- Finish.
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- Material.
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- Wear classification.
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- Exact wear percentage.
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## Provenance
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- Original owner.
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- Date opened.
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- Population.
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- Serial / instance information.
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---
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# Rarity Art Direction
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Rarity should have a major impact on the visual grammar of the card.
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A common card should not look almost as impressive as a legendary card.
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Rarity should primarily affect:
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- Frame complexity.
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- Number of ornamental elements.
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- Visual storytelling.
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- Palette richness.
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- Composition complexity.
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- Symbolic detail.
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- Amount of gold.
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- Background complexity.
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Rarity should **not** simply mean adding more glow or visual effects.
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A useful principle:
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> **Higher rarity should add storytelling and ornamentation, not merely more effects.**
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Another way to think about it:
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> **Common cards should feel like a simple parish stained-glass window. Legendary cards should feel closer to the centerpiece window behind the altar.**
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## Common
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Common cards should be intentionally restrained.
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### Border
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- Thin and simple.
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- Geometric.
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- Very little decorative ornament.
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- No elaborate corner medallions.
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- No complex illuminated-manuscript scrollwork.
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- No gold.
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### Color
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- Limited palette.
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- Roughly 2-3 dominant colors plus cream / parchment.
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- More muted or restrained jewel tones.
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- Gold used mostly for separation or small accents.
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### Artwork
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- It doesn't need to be just the subject but rather them in the background doing something
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- Simple background.
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- Larger stained-glass panes.
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- Fewer small glass segments.
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- Minimal symbolic elements.
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- Calm composition.
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- No unnecessary visual drama.
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- Minimal micro-detail.
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### Overall Feel
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- Humble.
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- Clean.
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- Grounded.
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- Accessible.
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- Still beautiful, but obviously not premium.
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Example:
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**Timothy**
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- Timothy holding a scroll.
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- Simple ancient street or landscape.
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- Simple arch.
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- Blue / green / cream palette.
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- Thin brass or gold divider.
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- No ornate botanical frame.
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- No special corner symbols.
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- No heavily gilded title plaque.
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---
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## Uncommon
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Uncommon cards can begin introducing more refinement.
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### Border
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- Slightly thicker frame.
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- Small decorative accents.
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- Limited corner ornament.
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- Some leaf or manuscript-inspired motifs.
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### Color
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- Slightly broader palette.
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- More saturated jewel tones.
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- Small use of gold.
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### Artwork
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- More detailed backgrounds.
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- Additional symbolic element.
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- Slightly more complex stained-glass segmentation.
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- More deliberate framing around the subject.
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### Overall Feel
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- Refined.
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- Noticeably more interesting than Common.
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- Still not highly ornate.
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---
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## Rare
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Rare cards should feel distinctive.
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### Border
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- Decorative frame.
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- More custom ornament.
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- Symbolic motifs related to the subject.
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### Color
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- Richer jewel-tone palette.
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- More contrast.
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- More use of gold.
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### Artwork
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- Stronger visual storytelling.
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- More complex stained-glass structures.
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- Multiple meaningful background elements.
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- More deliberate lighting composition.
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### Overall Feel
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- Distinctive.
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- Collectible.
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- Clearly above the normal card experience.
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---
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## Extraordinary
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Extraordinary cards should feel prestigious.
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### Border
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- Elaborate framing.
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- Strong illuminated-manuscript influence.
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- More bespoke ornamentation.
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- Larger use of gold.
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### Color
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- Deep and saturated jewel tones.
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- Broad palette while remaining cohesive.
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- Strong visual contrast.
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### Artwork
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- Complex composition.
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- Multiple symbolic elements.
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- Richer environments.
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- More detailed stained-glass segmentation.
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- Greater sense of scale or drama.
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### Overall Feel
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- Prestigious.
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- Elaborate.
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- Immediately special.
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---
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## Legendary
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Legendary cards should be visually unmistakable.
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They can break some of the normal card-layout rules while still clearly belonging to the same product.
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### Border
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- Highly bespoke.
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- Custom symbolic elements related specifically to the card.
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- Extensive but tasteful ornamentation.
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- Rich gilding.
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### Color
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- Full jewel-tone palette where appropriate.
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- Strong gold accents.
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- Deep color contrast.
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### Artwork
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- Strong visual storytelling.
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- Multiple symbols connected directly to the subject.
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- Complex stained-glass composition.
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- More dramatic light.
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- More detailed environments.
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- Unique framing or iconography.
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### Overall Feel
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- Immediately special.
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- Reverent.
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- Iconic.
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- Worth stopping to inspect.
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Example:
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**David**
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Possible visual elements:
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- Crown.
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- Harp.
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- Shepherd staff.
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- Sheep.
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- Jerusalem.
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- Star / celestial imagery.
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- Bespoke gold framing.
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- Rich red and blue garments.
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- Complex stained-glass composition.
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These elements help tell David's story rather than simply adding decoration for decoration's sake.
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#### Alt Style - Tapestry
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---
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# Rarity vs. Finish
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Rarity and finish are separate systems.
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This is important.
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A Common holographic card should still visually read as a Common card.
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A Legendary plain-paper card should still visually read as Legendary.
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## Rarity controls
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- Graphic design.
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- Frame.
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- Composition.
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- Symbolic storytelling.
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- Base art complexity.
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- Ornamentation.
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## Finish controls
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- Physical rendering behavior.
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- Reflectivity.
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- Foil effects.
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- Holographic behavior.
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- Surface texture.
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- Material response to lighting.
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For example:
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- Common Paper Timothy.
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- Common Foil Timothy.
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- Common Holographic Timothy.
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- Common Metal Timothy.
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All of them should still use the same underlying Common Timothy card design.
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---
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# Material and Finish Direction
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If a collectible property exists, the player should ideally be able to perceive it visually or interactively.
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Examples:
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- Finish -> visible.
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- Material -> visible.
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- Wear -> visible.
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- Imperfections -> visible.
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- Printing -> visible.
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- Weight -> indirectly observable.
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- Provenance -> inspectable metadata.
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- Population -> inspectable metadata.
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---
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## Paper
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- Matte or slightly textured.
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- Soft reflection.
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- Visible paper grain if inspected closely.
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## Plastic
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- Smoother surface.
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- Slightly stronger specular response.
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- Cleaner edges.
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## Linen
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- Fine woven normal map.
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- Soft diffuse reflection.
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- Particularly compatible with tapestry-inspired artwork.
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## Metal
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- Strong metallic response.
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- Sharper reflections.
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- Visually heavier.
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- Should still preserve artwork readability.
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## Foil
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- Angle-dependent reflection.
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- Light sweeps visibly across the card.
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## Holographic
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- View-dependent spectral response.
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- Holographic effect should ideally use masks so only specific portions of the artwork react.
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- Should remain tasteful and avoid a neon / fantasy appearance.
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---
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# Wear
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Wear should not make cards ugly to the point that the artwork becomes undesirable.
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Even the lowest wear levels should remain visually readable and collectible.
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A 0.00 wear card can be noticeably scratched, worn, or damaged while still looking like a cared-for physical collectible rather than a destroyed object.
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Possible classifications are still subject to change, but could look something like:
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- Mint.
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- Near Mint.
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- Minimal Wear.
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- Moderately Played.
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- Worn.
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Wear can affect:
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- Edge whitening.
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- Surface scratches.
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- Small scuffs.
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- Minor print abrasion.
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- Subtle corner wear.
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It should not normally obscure:
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- Subject identity.
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- Important text.
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- Major portions of the artwork.
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Wear patterns should ideally be seeded per card instance so two cards with the same wear value do not necessarily have identical damage.
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---
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# Printing Variants
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Printing should affect the graphic presentation of the same card identity.
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## Normal
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- Standard frame.
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- Name.
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- Subtitle.
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- Short verse / quote / fact.
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- Normal artwork area.
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## Borderless
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- Artwork extends farther toward the card edges.
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- Reduced frame.
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- Minimal text treatment.
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## Textless
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- Artwork-focused.
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- Little or no text.
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- Educational information remains available in the inspection panel.
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## Boundless
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- Full-bleed or near-full-bleed artwork.
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- Minimal or absent conventional frame.
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- Intended to feel like a special printing rather than a higher rarity.
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Printing type should not change the underlying rarity of the card.
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---
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# Thumbnail Readability
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All normal card designs should remain recognizable in a binder or collection grid.
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At thumbnail size, the user should ideally still be able to identify:
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- The subject or general composition.
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- The card rarity through its frame language.
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- Major color identity.
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- Whether the card has an unusual printing or finish when practical.
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Fine text does not need to remain readable at thumbnail size.
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The card name should become readable as the card grows larger or when selected.
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---
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# Pack Opening Art Direction
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Pack opening should create anticipation without feeling like a casino.
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Rarity can affect reveal pacing and presentation.
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Possible progression:
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## Common
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- Simple lift.
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- Quick flip.
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- Minimal lighting change.
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## Uncommon
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- Slight pause.
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- Mild environmental emphasis.
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## Rare
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- More deliberate reveal.
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- Stronger lighting transition.
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- Small audio / visual flourish.
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## Extraordinary
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- More dramatic reveal timing.
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- Larger environmental shift.
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- More pronounced presentation.
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## Legendary
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- Unique or near-unique reveal treatment.
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- Strong visual emphasis.
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- Longer anticipation, but still skippable.
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The goal is:
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> **Rarity can affect anticipation without going full casino.**
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All reveal animations should remain skippable.
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---
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# Things to Avoid
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Across all rarities:
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- Hyper-photorealistic character portraits.
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- Anime styling.
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- Comic-book styling.
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- Neon fantasy effects.
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- Generic fantasy RPG framing.
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- Excessive glowing particles.
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- Overly busy ornament.
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- Illegible typography.
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- Decorative detail that makes the subject harder to identify.
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- Making every card look premium.
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- Using rarity only as a glow / particle intensity slider.
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- Turning historical Christian art into parody.
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- Making Common cards deliberately ugly.
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The distinction should be:
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> **Common is simple. Legendary is elaborate.**
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Not:
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> **Common is bad. Legendary is good.**
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---
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# MVP Art Goals
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For the MVP, I do not need every card to be a full-scale art project.
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The interesting part is proving that the entire visual system works.
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The MVP should establish:
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- A consistent stained-glass-inspired card style.
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- A clearly readable rarity system.
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- A reusable card layout system.
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- At least one working example of each rarity.
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- Multiple materials.
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- Multiple finishes.
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- Multiple printing types.
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- Wear.
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- 3D card inspection.
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- Light-reactive materials.
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- Pack-opening presentation.
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- Thumbnail / binder representations.
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I think it makes more sense to create a smaller number of highly intentional art examples and then build the other cards from the same visual system rather than independently designing all 50 cards.
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---
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# Open Art Questions
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Things that still need to be explored:
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- Exact card dimensions / aspect ratio.
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- Final typography.
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- Exact color palette.
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- Whether each rarity has a fixed base frame or a family of frames.
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- Whether card categories have their own secondary visual motifs.
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- Whether tradition-specific cards alter UI or border accents.
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- Exact visual treatment for controversies.
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- Whether halos should be used based on historical iconography, card category, tradition, or purely artistic composition.
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- How much motion should exist inside holographic cards.
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- Exact distinction between Extraordinary and Legendary.
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- Whether higher-rarity cards are always visually more complex or occasionally gain prestige through extreme simplicity.
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- How much the card artwork itself changes across printing variants.
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- Final card back design.
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---
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# Current Direction Summary
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The current visual north star is:
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> **Stained glass first. Tapestry and illuminated manuscript second. Sacred and stylized throughout.**
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Rarity should be obvious through design language before the user reads a label.
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Common cards should be restrained and humble.
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Legendary cards should feel bespoke and narratively rich.
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Finishes and materials should enhance the physical card without replacing rarity as the primary graphic hierarchy.
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The cards should be beautiful enough to want to collect, but the overall product should always remain reverent rather than flashy.
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