A previous post talked about the difference between mass market Tarot decks vs indie Tarot decks. This post answers the question, “How is a Tarot creator the creator if they didn’t do the art themselves?”
First, a refresher
As a refresher, an indie Tarot deck means that an individual person dreams up and does all the work to bring an idea into a physical, manufactured, and shipped reality. Indie Tarot creators are doing everything themselves and need to raise the upfront capital to pay for the manufacturing before they can send the deck to be manufactured.
So what did I do as the creator (but not the artist)?
Deck idea, research and development
As a Tarot lover, I started by doing some brainstorming on what I wished for in a Tarot deck. And then I did all the research to combine Eastern and Western spiritual wisdom for this deck. After that, I created the concept for the deck and the universe of the deck. I then created a card description for every single card as well as key instructions (e.g. diversity of characters, fantasy feel of each world in the deck’s universe, etc.)
Sourcing and working with an artist
Once I had my deck universe and descriptions complete, I sourced artists. This also took extensive research and outreach. I shortlisted a few artists before retaining the very talented E.C. Mazur to create the art for this deck.
Throughout the art creation process, I have worked with E.C. Mazur in a way that provides the creative space for the expertise of this talented artist, as it also ensures that the cards reflect my intent and vision for the deck.
Getting the word out
It’s not helpful to have a deck that no one knows about! So it’s also been my sole responsibility to do all the social media outreach, blogging, marketing, sharing, and promotion for this deck. This is work I have been doing increasingly for almost a year leading up to the launch of this Kickstarter!
Sourcing and procurement
Having art is an important step, but then it needs to be manufactured into a physical product! So I have also done all the sourcing for printers, shipping, and all the extensive logistics that are required for any crowdfunding campaign.
I have researched, made decisions, and sourced procurement for every single detail, from the printer, to shipping options, shipping materials, stretch goals, additional rewards, and crowdfunding platforms.
Crunching the numbers
All the financial analysis and modelling was also on me to do, to ensure that the crowdfunding goal hasn’t missed anything, and reflects all the costs involved in making the dream of this deck into a reality.
Plus, I have paid out of pocket for all the art and other initial costs, so all that upfront financial risk has been mine.
Fulfillment and customer service
Once the crowdfunding is reached, it’ll be on me to do all the fulfillment myself (in my very small home, at that!). This means packaging the rewards to ship, completing the shipping and customs labels (which is very time consuming), and transporting the parcels to be shipped.
It also means I’m responsible for all the customer service to ensure that all you folks have the information you need as a backer.
It’s all worth it!
And to me, all this effort over the past nearly two years has been worth it! Tarot is a long-term, committed relationship to me, and I’m just so excited to be bringing this gentle and beautiful deck into the world for you!
Remember to sign up for the newsletter and so you never miss out on a single sneak peek! Did you know? Newsletter subscribers get to see the latest beautiful images every week before the images hit Instagram!
And be sure to follow the deck on Instagram at @chakra.healing.tarot and the deck artist @ecmazurart!
You can find more great Tarot-related content on the blog here!