Over the past 2 years I worked on the illustrations for the second edition of Little Lulu’s Lucky Lenormand. The last image I had to make was the card back. There’s a lot of pressure on that image… it gets repeated 36 times. It’s the image you see when the deck is just sitting on the table. The card back sets the tone for the whole deck.
I worked up a couple drafts of my first idea for the card back… and I liked the image. But not as the back design. What I ended up with was a bonus card for the deck! (More on that image/card later.)
The final illustration is done! Because Lenormand decks originated in the Victorian era, I turned to inspiration from playing cards of the time. I looked at playing-card-back designs from the De La Rue company of the early 1800’s and in particular the works by Owen Jones which featured floral and ornamental designs.
The “L” of Lulu’s Lucky Lenormand leant itself nicely to ornamentation. Since Lenormand cards are not read differently when reversed (upside down) it was not necessary to have a mirror-image for the design. However, the cursive L can be read in either direction. This gives the card a more fluid look which is not jarring when viewed “upside down.” When the cards are shuffled and spread out on a table the card backs will not compete with each other for attention between the upright or inverted images.
The proof deck has been ordered! And the next steps will be finalizing box and guide book designs. I’m so happy to be able to begin sharing this project that has been two years in the making so far!