Hello everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. 

 

The Vibrating Tarot project is moving ever forward, but I regret to inform everyone of a further delay in the fulfillment timeline due to unforeseen production challenges with our printer. 

 

While we had sincerely hoped to have the deck in your hands much sooner, circumstances have forced us to extend our original timeline further than anticipated. 

 

Thanks for your understanding, as I feel a great responsibility to advocate to the best of my ability for each brand who has allowed their products to be featured in this body of work, even if it tacks on several weeks to the production timeline. 

 

March: Continue discussions with printer. Approve the new offset proof.

 

April: Awaiting our shipment.

 

May: Fulfillment of units to all Backers. 

 

 

 

 

After having seen the deck printed several times during the past two years by several different North American printers, we finally committed to seeing our first offset proof, which was produced by the company that was to manufacture our full run of 1000 units, who is based in China. 

 

Generating an offset proof of a bulk print job is very expensive but crucial as a final test because it shows exactly how each one of the 1000 copies printed after it will look. 

 
It is at this final stage that we ran into our issue, as the printer we had been working with did not deliver a satisfactory proof of the project. In our offset proof, we noticed that all the colours are much too dark, leading to the loss of important details, and the overall colour palette tends towards red/beige, with many cards having a very noticeable reddish/beige hue washing over them.

 

Although I could share a variety of different examples, I don't want these inadequate images living on the internet in perpetuity and potentially overshadowing the amazing final product that will soon be coming to store shelves.

I’m trying to ensure that each product looks the way it should look and that no brand who has put their trust in me has any reason to feel that their product didn’t turn out properly in the final print. 

I have an obligation to make sure that all the images are accurate representations of the products they depict. We simply cannot accept this printing result and rush the final product into the hands of our backers. 

 

Our printer told us that we were being too picky and that we should just accept a certain level of variation. 

They ignored our attempts to discuss the colour calibration on their equipment or the colour profiles and export settings of my files. I was eventually told to find a different printer who had better printing capabilities. 

Advancing an ongoing dialogue I had previously initiated with a different printing company, one that has come highly recommended to us, has already been a major improvement. 

 

When I proceeded with the new company and asked to see a full offset proof, they told me exactly which colour profile to apply to my images that aligns with their specific printing machinery. 

 

Now that all of my files have been exported with settings that are optimal to the equipment being used to print the job, I am certain that our new offset proof will look amazing. 

 

Please know that without addressing the issues we’ve encountered, Vibrating Tarot would have been printed incorrectly. It would have been delivered to you below acceptable standards, and it would have been my own fault for not advocating on our behalf. 

 

I believe we're in good hands now and that all of this will have been worth the extra wait. My only regret is that I need to be telling all of you that you will need to wait a little longer to see your deck of cards.

If anyone has any questions, please ask in the comments below. I'd love to provide more details, but I didn't want to bog down this update with too much info. 

If you have any specific questions, or if you want to continue this discussion in the comment section, I'd be more than happy to provide more info and answer all of your questions. I want to encourage a substantive discussion with those who want to have one, so please don't hesitate to voice your opinions below. 

Thank you all for your patience and for your belief in this project. We want to make a deck we can be proud of and that reflects all the hard work from so many people in this industry by accurately and beautifully presenting the product imagery on each card. 

Thanks to those who have already told me quality is more important than the original timeline. 

 

We know that once the cards are in your hands, you will see how our careful attention to detail has paid off, and that the delays encountered to get to this point were more than worth the tradeoff. 

 

So we move forward, ever optimistic. Someday very soon, this project will make it into the world and all the struggles will have been worthwhile. 

All the best,

 

Frank Lawrence

Vibrating Tarot

by Pallor Publishing

 

@vibratingtarot

@pallorpublishing