SCARAB & DAHLIA TAROT
A twist of fate.
The Scarab & Dahlia Tarot is the passion project of Johanna Callahan and her associate Daren Foreman. The deck features a series of collages painstakingly assembled by Callahan over the course of several years. I was brought on board to ensure the project reached its fullest potential.
Color Corrections
Most office workers can attest to the fact that printers and copy machines despise humanity. Callahan's collages were pieced together from a plethora of magazines, photographs, and other materials — some glossier than others. In such a scenario, a conventional scanner can overexpose particular sections while underexposing others. Luckily, I was able to recover some of the lost imagery through a composite photo technique.
Stacking the Deck
The first edition of the Scarab & Dahlia Tarot includes 82 cards. For the uninitiated, this is a handful more than a standard deck. Callahan included two separate designs for Death and four designs to represent The Lovers. On Foreman's part, he delivered half a terabyte's worth of high-resolution scans to me when I began my work with the project. The scans of the collages were rich in detail, but the edges of each were unfinished. Each collage needed to be positioned, framed, and labeled before they could be reprinted as polished cards.
Boxed In
The Scarab & Dahlia Tarot did, of course, require a box to store the cards. To maintain a coherent visual identity across the project, I utilized the typeface Priori Serif and developed a color palette extracted from the deck's title card. These elements were present in the borders of each card, the informational booklet which accompanied them, and the packaging that tied it all together. I spliced the backdrop for the lid from two of Callahan's scans. The whole process blurred the line between physical and digital collage-making.
The First Edition and Beyond
The Scarab & Dahlia Tarot was independently published by Foreman and Callahan. The duo offered the first edition to online customers through a limited pre-order window. Each card is limned with silver and carries a satisfying weight to it, roughly around 200 gsm. They qualify as luxe display cards — the kind you'd keep out on your coffee table or indiscreet altar to impress your guests. Future editions of the deck may contain additional swag, including a custom spreadcloth for all of your divination needs.
