A tarot deck mapping Major Arcana archetypes to characters and scenes from the Jewish Tanakh. 8 hero cards designed through an AI-assisted visual identity process.
Art Nouveau stained glass illustrations. Covenant gold palette. Mat frame with ruled title treatment. Playfair Display typography.
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How It Was Made
A 4-phase visual identity exploration built for non-designers, using AI-assisted generation and a live browser viewer.
Before any visual work.
High-control visual choices.
The pivot point.
Informed by everything before.
Every card has two design systems: the Frame (code-controlled, deterministic) and the Illustration (AI-steered, probabilistic). Test the least controllable element first, then design the controllable elements around it.
The Hero Cards
Each card maps a tarot archetype to a Tanakh character and a specific biblical scene, grounded in JPS scripture translation.
New beginnings, innocence, leap of faith into the unknown
Genesis 2:15-19
Adam walking through the Garden of Eden, nearly naked in pre-Fall innocence. He reaches toward a luminous fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, the magnificent tree rising before him. Exotic animals watch nearby.
The Fool is pure potential before consequence. Adam before the Fall is exactly this — innocent, stepping into a world with no concept of danger.
Manifestation, willpower, channeling divine power into the material world
Exodus 3:2-5
Moses alone on Mount Horeb, the bush blazing with fire but not consumed. God's voice calls him by name. The moment Moses becomes a channel for divine power.
The Magician channels power beyond himself. The burning bush is the moment Moses goes from shepherd to prophet — ordinary man becomes conduit of the divine.
Intuition, mystery, hidden knowledge, the veil between worlds
Exodus 2:3-4
Young Miriam hiding among the reeds, watching the basket carrying baby Moses float downstream. She holds the secret of her brother's fate.
The High Priestess holds hidden knowledge and watches from behind the veil. Miriam is the silent keeper of the secret — she sees what others don't.
Abundance, fertility, nurturing creation, mother of nations
Genesis 18:10-13
Sarah inside the tent, overhearing the angels tell Abraham she will bear a son. She laughs — the impossible joy of creation arriving after decades.
The Empress is fertility against all odds. Sarah conceiving at 90 is creation that defies nature through divine blessing.
Solitude, inner wisdom, withdrawal from the world to find truth
1 Kings 19:11-13
Elijah alone in a cave on Mount Horeb. Wind, earthquake, and fire pass — but God is not in them. Then a still, small voice.
The Hermit's lantern IS the still small voice — wisdom found not in spectacle but in silence. Elijah withdrawing to hear God in quiet is the archetype perfected.
Cycles of fate, destiny turning, what goes up comes down, divine timing
Genesis 41:14-16
Joseph brought from the dungeon to stand before Pharaoh. Still in prison clothes, blinking in the light of the throne room. The wheel has turned.
The Wheel of Fortune IS Joseph's story. Beloved son → pit → slave → prisoner → ruler of Egypt. No figure embodies fate's reversals more completely.
Hope, inspiration, divine favor shining in darkness, renewal after devastation
Esther 5:1-2
Esther in royal robes entering the inner court uninvited — a death sentence if the king doesn't extend the golden scepter. She stands alone, radiant, risking everything.
The Star is hope acting in the face of annihilation. Her name means "star" — her hidden identity saves a nation when revealed.
Completion, wholeness, integration, the journey fulfilled, cosmic unity
Ezekiel 47:12
Ezekiel's prophetic vision: water flows from beneath the Temple, growing from a trickle to an uncrossable river. Trees bear fruit on both banks, their leaves bring healing.
The garden lost in Card 0 (Adam in Eden) is restored in Card 21 — but now through the Temple, the meeting point of heaven and earth. The circle closes.
Print Ready
Every card is rendered at print resolution. AI-upscaled illustrations with vector-crisp framing.
The illustration is AI-generated at 896×1200, then upscaled 4× using Real-ESRGAN to 3584×4800. The mat frame, gold lines, and title typography are CSS-rendered at the target resolution — perfectly crisp at any size.
The stained glass style upscales exceptionally well: strong lines, defined color regions, and decorative detail that the neural network enhances rather than blurs.
Poster Size
4480 × 6272
At 24″
261 DPI
Card Size
1120 × 1568
At 2.75″ × 4.75″
407 DPI
Phase A: Foundation
Non-negotiable rules established before any visual work began.
All scripture sources must be from the Tanakh (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim) only. No Christian texts.
Never depict God as a human figure. Divine presence is shown through light, fire, cloud, wind, or radiance.
Design Decisions
Every choice from mood to finish, locked through the Design Explorer process.
Sacred & Ancient
Illuminated manuscripts, gold leaf, cathedral light. Byzantine mosaics meet Renaissance devotion.
Art Nouveau / Stained Glass
Ornate flowing lines, jewel tones, decorative elegance. Like a stained glass window with organic forms.
Sacred Gold
Playfair Display
Headings & card titles
Inter
Body text & descriptions
Mat + Ruled Titles
Deep purple mat surrounding the illustration. Gold frame line around art window. Ruled gold lines with diamond accents flanking the title.
Spot UV on Gold
Matte card stock with selective glossy varnish on gold elements for tactile contrast.