You don’t need a publisher or a Kickstarter to design a tarot deck - you just need ideas, symbols, and a spark of curiosity. Your deck can be hand-drawn, digital, collage, or scribbled on index cards with a half-dry marker. The point isn’t perfection. It’s expression.
Building your own deck is one of the best ways to get to know the tarot more deeply. Every choice you make - every symbol, colour, or character - reveals what you believe the cards mean.
🃏 Step 1: Choose Your Vision
What kind of world do you want your deck to live in?
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Something traditional, re-imagined through your lens?
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Something surreal, mythic, or modern?
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A deck that celebrates a theme - nature, cities, emotions, cats?
If you’re unsure, start by noting what you love in existing decks. Do you prefer soft watercolours or sharp geometry? Gentle guidance or brutal honesty? That’s your aesthetic compass.
🧩 Step 2: Start with the Majors
The Major Arcana are your deck’s backbone.
Sketch or list your first impressions:
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What image says “Fool” to you?
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What would your Tower look like - chaos or breakthrough?
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What kind of world sits behind your Star?
Don’t worry about getting it “right”. Tarot has been reinterpreted for centuries - you’re just the next link in the chain.
🪄 Step 3: Build the Minors
Think about how your suits connect. Are they the classic Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles? Or do you want to rename them to fit your theme - Seasons, Elements, Stories, Dreams?
Keep a consistent system of symbolism and energy. (Or don’t. You’re the artist. Just make sure you can still read with it later!)
🎨 Step 4: Bring It to Life
Decide on your medium - drawing, collage, digital art, mixed media. Or, if art isn’t your thing, build it symbolically with found images, or even words and key phrases.
You can print your cards at home, use online printing services, or create a digital reading version on your phone or tablet.
When you’ve finished a few cards, try a spread with them. You’ll instantly see where your imagery sings and where it still mumbles.
🧠 Reader Prompts
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What would your Fool look like?
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Which card do you most want to redesign from scratch?
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Would your deck be serious, whimsical, or somewhere in between?
✨ Final Thought
Creating a deck isn’t about art skill or technical perfection. It’s about dialogue - between you and the tarot, between symbol and soul. The cards you make will always read more honestly than you expect, because they speak your language.
Whether you craft a full seventy-eight cards or just sketch the ones that fascinate you, it’s your deck, your vision, your voice.
Closing question:
If you designed a deck today, what would be its theme - and what would you call it?
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