Cards. Work in progress

Working, or better said, having fun with the design of the new cards. Still a few main ideas to develop and endless details to polish.

Little new project

I found a deck of cards as a great support to create a new universe. It allows the representation of a fantasy world with just a pieces of cardboard. For example, the creatures come to life from nothing and they have their own ID which is the card. Think about it, magical.

After discarding the possibility of a board game I'm developing a kind of "collection of aesthetic cards". The area for an illustration or photo is huge. On top of that the combination with a little text adds a new dimension.

I'm enjoying a lot designing a big number of cards. It's fun and relaxing activity. I don't want to set any barrier. Creativity should flow with freedom. No commission, no deadlines, no limitations. After that I will (hopefully) find the way to organice everything.

Taking care of the colors, frame, typography (I use my dear Olympia typewriter font), composition and every detail part of the enjoyable process. Now I can have this first test in my hands. The cards are REAL. Still a lot to do. This is just a draft. I even made the box. I will create many more cards and improve everything.

And what is this about? Well, at the moment I will say it's a story-prediction based in a near future, year 2050. And those are the years, months or maybe just hours before the singularity. The last days of mankind.

Imagination + Photoshop is good combination

I'm really excited these days since I'm creating a new kind of board game. Actually I have many ideas in mind, too many sometimes, which go and back, bring another ideas, merge to the old ones, etc. They are only in my brain at the moment but I know this is the first step to do things real. It's important. It's the KEY.

Fascinating process with no clear way. I just leave my imagination decides the path. I will choose later which one is the best idea and what can I do with it. But now it's time for fun.

As I've always said Photoshop is one of the most powerful tool for creativity and I enjoy testing some tones and general aesthetic. Here just some design examples I love for a future cards.

About Stratego and strategic board games

Do you like Stratego? I'm quite obsessed with it lately.

I rediscovered Stratego since many years completely forgotten. Great game, one of the best ever. I used to play when I was a kid, just for fun. Now I appreciate its complexity and enjoy much more going deeper in the details. I could describe it like a mix of chess and poker.

I consider really important to play these kind of games, same as chess or similar board games. In the same way people can be split between who read and who don't or other many criteria, I realized it's same for games. Those who use to play complex games develop a higher sense of administration of resources, balance risks, manage time and chances, etc. So useful in real life: Economics, negotiations, decisions, etc. That's why I suggest playing games, specially in early ages. Funny and improve some superpowers.

I played with friend and neighbor using the version made in the 80s. Actually the game was his property and time later I did my own version, home made and super low cost. Those days when TV or toys magazines added the note:

 "Alert: More than 5000 pesetas (30€)!"

For a kid's mind that meant forget about getting it.

Unfortunately the current version is a shame. Stickers on cheap plastic pieces and horrible characters design. Immediately I thought about creating a new version. And that was the seed for bigger idea: Creating a whole new game based in the same mechanism but adding new key points. Whether it goes well or not the creative process is fully fascinating and it opens the door to new ideas coming in the way. But that's another story.

Btw, Stratego is an evolution from old Chinese game Dou Shou Qi, which also hocked me in the last weeks.  I'm making an aesthetic version, but again that's part of another post coming.

New released based in version from 80s. Photo from Amazon.

What? Dark character man playing the role of spy disappeared and it's is a woman instead in the version based in the 80s version (not the one with stickers).

Donau's Journey explanations. The traveler

I'd like to explain some details about the project Donau's Journey. It's not an easy task since it hides many messages in several levels and also contains personal information. I will elaborate separated posts with explanations.

Let's start by the beginning.

The traveller starts his journey in box #1. Apparently he has a physical body but he doesn't know his origin or any meaning related to his existence. He is just and AUTOMATON (I love this word).

This corner is dedicated to biological beings. We all are created and ruled by DNA. Incredible vegetal life, fascinating animals and more creatures will follow the evolution according to the code.

He uses the same body position than Le Mat in Tarot cards, with same red shoes and a stick pointing to Le monde (card XXI, The World). 

        

Nowadays the world is bigger and bigger so his stick points to the known universe shown in #21.

He walks forward knowing nothing but with great intuition. Red shoes will guide him along the river in this magical an unique journey, which is the journey of life, the journey of all of us.

Donau's Journey print for sale

ABOUT
Donau's Journey (El viaje de Donau) is not only a journey along the wise river but also a journey through all of our lives, from biological birth all the way to the sea, with many surprises along the way. Donau's Journey takes the form of the classic game "El juego de la oca" and it's more than a just board game. I used the goose game structure as a geometrical base for numerology, links between squares and relationships everywhere. And it can be used for play as well!

Myriad details wait to be discovered, some more hidden than others. Maybe you can feel for yourself the meaning of each square. This has been quite a personal project and at the same time an explanation of my vision of the Cosmos.

"The highest artistic aspiration is the creation of a one's own universe with one's own aesthetic, symbology and ideas."


THE PROCESS
I saw and admired a version by Rafael Alberti in Reina Sofía museum many years ago. I've always wanted to do something similar and finally started to put ideas together in April 2016. This new creation was growing quite fast and a huge quantity of inspiration came to me both day and night. I was fully focused on this project in April and May 2017 in order to complete it. I was too immersed in this fascinating and crazy river. Now, June 2017, the project is completed!


I mostly used Rotring Isograph with Rotring ink and watercolors for the drawings, pencils for some details and fountain pen for the text. Of course all hand done. No tech applied.

Update January 2018: 

I'm happy to introduce Donau's Journey version in English.

The difference with the original print is not only the language but also the enriched frame.
It's printed in high quality vergé paper 160g/m2. Here some photos of the final print:

Every print is signed by hand.

Paper: Vergé 160g/m2

High quality print.

Print size: 63 x 63 cm

SHIPPING:
Worldwide shipping
Delivered in tubes 67 cm long

PRICE:

Spanish version: Not available
English version: 85 EUR.  

AVAILABLE

HOW TO ORDER:

Please email me to naranjacorreo@gmail.com to place an order. Worldwide shipping from Spain.

Additionally USA customers can also buy directly in Amarillo Stationery shop. Link here:

https://amarillostationery.com/collections/jose-naranja

Amarillo Stationery is an online shop based in USA. You can pay directly in USD. Domestic shipping from Chicago.

Email me for any question: naranjacorreo@gmail.com

Fully digitalized

I can't believe I can say it! Two days ago I completed this project. It was starting to go too crazy because during several hours every day I was full focused on it. It invaded my mind so deeply it visited me during nights and dreams too.

More details soon.

Game of the goose shop in Paris

I found this shop a couple of years ago in Paris but I was not too involved in that game during that time. I came back to Paris now and I looked for this shop specifically and I found it thanks to GPS position in the photo I took the other time. Well, more or less, but I finally found it.

Nowadays I'm full dedicated to my personal project about Game of the goose, which I should choose a name for. The shop is full of old versions, all of them handmade by the owner based on the original games. Fascinating. This level of quality provides a great feeling. The book attached is a great plus Inspiration.

Here I show how is going with my own work. Draft to be finished soon: