Adrian

Adrian Tarot
Adrian B. Koehli (AGM AGMuller, 1997)

Review
An uninspiring deck has, rather surprisingly, become a historical document.

This deck came out in 1997, which makes it part of the very first wave of CGI decks. Unlike the gorgeous layers of light and colour that we have now, however, this deck is a pared down, delicately composed set of photo references. Heck, if you get really bored you can flick through the cards and figure out which of the half-dozen or so models are posed for each role.

And boredom is certainly a possibility. The neutral smudgy backgrounds are made more noticeable in the Minors, which are simply and disappointingly pips. The Majors are a fair bit better, and obviously took the brunt of the artist's effort. If you lay the Magician at the top of a column and down to the Wheel, then make a second column with Strength going up to Judgement, then if you squint and feel charitable you can see a bigger version of the Lovers. It's a nice visual conceit, but popping a Hebrew letter on each Major doesn't convince anyone that this is a usable deck, rather than an empty visual spectacle.