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How This Deck Was Made: The Real Process Behind a Nacre-Like Digital Deck
Let's be clear from the start: the cards on this site are not made from real shell inlays. The artwork was generated by an image model, and we composited the card borders to standardize all 78 cards to the same dimensions. This article is an honest record of that process and its limitations.
What This Deck Is
It's a set of 78 digital cards. Each file is an 832×1248 JPEG, used for on-screen display and print previews. We've never printed and sold a physical card deck.
It's not a nacre lacquerware craft. No shells were ground or cut, no lacquer was applied, and no drying was managed. There's no workshop, no production notes, no humidity logs. In this deck, 'nacre' refers not to a material but to the visual texture of the artwork.
The nacre-like sheen inside the cards is painted into the images, and the shimmer you see when tilting the cards on screen is a CSS effect. It's not the material reflecting light; it's the screen rendering that appearance.
How the Artwork Was Made
For each card, we wrote a scene description in sentences and used an image generation model to create the artwork. We specified the figure's pose, gaze, clothing, background terrain, and light direction in the text, then selected the result that best matched the card's meaning.
The generated images were composited into a card frame. We measured the frame's inner window coordinates and cropped all 78 images to the same position and size, so even if the artwork varies per card, the border and margins remain consistent.
When recreating a card, we keep track of what changed from the previous scene description. The prompt is the production record, and the resulting image is the output of that record.
What We Took from Nacre and Dancheong
We referenced the patterns and light textures used in nacre lacquerware, especially from Tongyeong and Wonju. We didn't replicate the craft process; instead, we translated the color flow and pattern density of a finished nacre surface under light into the artwork.
The five colors of dancheong (traditional Korean decorative painting) served as a basis for dividing the card palette. We didn't apply blue, red, yellow, white, and black directly; we adjusted them to avoid oversaturation or dullness on screen.
We also drew on symbols from minhwa (folk painting) and the Ten Symbols of Longevity. Motifs like cranes, deer, turtles, pine trees, and plum blossoms—long-used emblems—were incorporated as background elements in the cards.
Clothing and Iconography
The figures' clothing is based on late Joseon dynasty attire. We specified chaqueta corta (jacket), gabán largo (overcoat), gat (hat), satgat (bamboo hat), braided hair, and shoes according to each card's status and situation. Since silhouettes vary by class and occupation even within the same era, we noted the outfit separately for each card.
Some cards reference Rider-Waite-Smith iconography, while others keep the iconography but change only the background and clothing. The criterion was simple: does the image convey the card's meaning more accurately?
We don't claim definitive historical accuracy in clothing. We consult uigwe (royal protocols), paintings, and extant artifact photos, but when sources differ, we don't force one as correct; we note which we used and why. Unverified elements remain as estimates.
Rules We Actually Followed
Only one symbol takes center stage per card. The nacre-like sheen is the background; the figure and symbol are the protagonists. For each card, the scene description specifies clothing, background, and light source, and if the generated result deviates from that description, we regenerate it.
Before publication, code checks the content. It verifies text length, paragraph count, prohibited words, internal links, structured data, and the sentence count and length of translations. This check is a safeguard against sentences becoming irrelevant to the card, not a guarantee of factual accuracy.
The card interpretations and this page's text are drafted by AI, then fact-checked and edited by the operator before publication. Card names, meanings, and translations are managed in locale-specific data files.
Limitations and Corrections
The limitations of the image generation model remain. Regenerating with the same description yields different results, and details like fingers, fabric patterns, or background elements can be distorted. So we generated each card multiple times and selected the best.
Since there's no physical material, the colors don't actually shift with light angle. The on-screen shimmer is a visual effect; it disappears when printed.
The initial version of this page included statements about recording humidity and drying times in a workshop. That was false, and we replaced the entire page on November 14, 2026. If you find any incorrect statements, please email info@aikorea24.kr, and we'll verify and correct them.
Saca una tú mismo
La ilustración que leíste en el artículo, esta vez ponla en tu pregunta. La misma carta, si la pregunta es distinta, vuelve con otra frase.