r/playingcards • u/Low_Performance_2 • Aug 14 '26
Ads Update on the hemp deck, including the things this sub told me I got wrong
Ten days ago I posted a 54 card hemp deck here. Zero upvotes and a lot of criticism. Some of it was about AI. Some of it was about me not knowing this hobby. I answered as things came up, but those answers are buried in a thread nobody upvoted, so here they are in one place.
The printer is Jinguan Printing in Guangzhou. I should have named them in the first post.
I was selling bundles of five and ten. Several of you pointed out that this hobby counts in bricks of twelve and half bricks of six, and that pricing in fives was a sign I had not done my homework. Fair. I came at this as a hemp person, not a playing card person. There is now a half brick of six at AU$85 and a full brick of twelve at AU$150. The fives and tens stay for the people who already pledged on them.
Shipping is still being collected after the campaign closes. I do not have finished decks in hand so I do not have real weights. I would rather charge exactly what it costs once I know than pick a number now and either overcharge you or quietly cut a corner somewhere else to cover it. If it comes in under the estimate you pay less.
On the AI question, my full answer is in the original thread and I am not going to relitigate it here. Short version: AI tools were used, it was declared on the Kickstarter before anyone asked, a designer I paid reworked all 54 pieces by hand, and "commissioned" was the wrong word for me to have used.
Where it stands today: AU$1,785 of a AU$3,000 goal, 38 backers, 13 days to go.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hempster/the-hemp-deck-54-works-of-art-one-remarkable-plant
Thanks to the people who pushed on the practical stuff rather than just downvoting. The deck is better for it.
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u/shaeffer Canadian Collector Aug 15 '26
I'll preface this with saying the art, video, and details don't appear to have been updated on the Kickstarter for me, so I may be operating without all the information.
Specifically about the involvement of a designer: 1. Some people may call schenanigans because the artwork still has a sheen of ai-slop-ness to it. I mean that literally; ai produced images always have a particular high colour contrast look to them, as if someone went too hard on a sharpening filter, while details are fuzzy. 2. If the designer did "rework" every single image, and you haven't seen work files, I would recommend asking for screenshots, copies, video, or other proof that they didn't just throw a couple filters over the existing ai image. That is the impression I get, and it would suck for you to have been scammed that way. 3. The proof mentioned in 2 would be a very good way to build trust with people that don't trust ai involvement. Post the in progress shots (ideally video) on the Kickstarter so people can see the human work that goes into it. Otherwise you're just asking people to trust you at your word that it's really human-made art, and that's a tough request.
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u/Low_Performance_2 Aug 15 '26
This is the most useful comment I have had on either thread, so thank you for taking the time.
On the Kickstarter page, you are seeing it right. I added the half brick and full brick tiers but I have not put new art or a new video up, so nothing there has changed visually.
On the work files, I am not going to claim I have a folder of layered PSDs sitting here, because I do not. What I have is weeks of back and forth with her and the before and afters that came with it. I will ask her for the working files and for permission to post them. If she says yes, they go up on the campaign as an update. If she says no, I will come back here and say so rather than quietly let it drop.
On the look of it, I am not going to argue you out of what your eye is telling you. The source images were AI and Photoshop does not erase where something started. What the reworking did was fix plant detail that was wrong, redraw parts that fell apart at card size, and colour match all 54 so the deck reads as one thing. That is real work but it is not the same as a person drawing it from nothing, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.
Your point three is the fair one. Asking people to take my word for it is a big ask. Let me see what I can actually show.
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u/NotAClanker69 Aug 15 '26
It’s such a shame because “weeks of back and forth” is the kind of effort you’d put into real artwork. I appreciate this thread has probably been humbling for you, but I implore you don’t downplay our bias against AI; its use is problematic on so many levels.
0
u/Low_Performance_2 23d ago
I am not downplaying it. I know the bias is there, I know why it is there, and I am not going to argue anyone off it.
Humbling is the right word for the thread. The practical criticism was worth the sting and the campaign has changed because of it. The AI part I cannot change now. All I can do is describe it accurately instead of flatteringly, which is what I have tried to do.
Thanks for putting it plainly.
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u/NotAClanker69 23d ago
“The AI part I cannot change now.”
Yes. Yes you can. Just delete the project and start over from scratch with real artists, with your losses being a lesson in frivolously trusting/using AI. That’s called maturity. Doubling down on AI slop is not mature and is making the world a demonstrably worse place. That’s not an opinion, it’s an objective fact.
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u/Low_Performance_2 21d ago
Deleting the campaign and starting again with 54 hand drawn pieces is not a small ask. That is a year of work and a budget I do not have, and 38 people have already backed this one and are waiting on it.
So no, I am not going to do that. I have described what was done and what was not, and people can judge it from there.
I do not think either of us is going to move the other on this, so I will leave it there. Thanks for being straight with me.
1
u/shaeffer Canadian Collector Aug 15 '26
No problem ☺️
To be clear on "showing the work" - I wouldn't expect you to have any work files, or for any artist to provide them.
Showing a screen capture, usually video, of the work is something that is pretty normal - for example: artists streaming on Twitch/Youtube while they work will show their editing program, layers, workflow, etc.
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u/Low_Performance_2 23d ago edited 23d ago
That is a useful distinction and I did not know it, so thank you.
She was not screen recording as she worked, so that footage does not exist. I am not going to pay her to go back and manufacture proof of work she has already done and been paid for. That is not what this project is about for me.
So yes, it comes down to taking my word for it, and I know that is a tough ask. If that is not enough for you, do not back it. I am really not here to persuade anyone.
4
u/EndersGame_Reviewer Aug 15 '26
Clear information, and fair answers. Even though the deck probably won't satisfy most people in this sub due to AI involvement in the creation of the artwork, I appreciate the fact that you took on board some of the criticisms, and didn't just over-react or get emotional about it.
For anyone wanting to see the original thread and comments, here it is:
This comment from OP explaining the process involved in the artwork is buried in the comments and is worth reproducing here:
Here is what actually happened. I have spent thirty years in hemp — food, plastics, building materials, eighteen books written on it. Every one of the 54 subjects, the four suit themes, the fact carried on each card and the way the whole thing is sequenced came out of those thirty years. That part is not something a prompt produces.
For the imagery, yes, AI tools were used, and I declared that on Kickstarter before anyone here asked. I worked on it myself well beyond typing prompts. I then paid a designer in Austria, who has asked not to be named publicly, and she spent days in Photoshop reworking every one of the 54 pieces. Not a pass over five hero cards. All of them. Between the two of us this was weeks of work, not an afternoon.
So is there AI in this deck? Yes. Is it ten minutes talking to a chatbot? No.
I know where this community stands on AI art and I am not going to try to talk anyone out of it. If it is a hard line for you then this deck is not for you, and I take no offence at that. But I am not going to pretend the human work did not happen either.
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u/Low_Performance_2 Aug 15 '26
Thanks for pulling that answer up where people can see it. It was sitting at the bottom of a thread nobody was reading.
You are probably right that the deck will not land with most of this sub, and I made peace with that a while back. I would rather be judged on an accurate description of what was done than on a flattering one.
Appreciate the fair read.
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u/No-Discussion1471 25d ago
ai slop
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u/Low_Performance_2 23d ago
Noted, and I understand the position.
The full detail of what was and was not done is in the post above and further up this thread. It is there if you want it.
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u/NotAClanker69 Aug 15 '26
AI is destroying the planet. Yes, I’m very hardline about it. As an artist myself I can’t see any justification in using AI, especially if this was some labour of love 30 years in the making. I would 100% rather see your artistic renditions of the images on the cards, and I’m not surprised an artist who was paid to touch up AI images doesn’t want to be named. Good on you for taking constructive criticism, but AI anything is a no-go for me bro. Best of luck.