The Kickstarter campaign to bring The Gwai Lenormand to life.

I was intrigued by how the Lenormand divination system was a more practical, simplistic, and straightforward way of cartomancy, so I decided to study it more closely by creating my own version of the deck. This project also became a way for me to explore digital illustration and to really lean into the simpler iconography in comparison to my usual art style and I began to complete each card after work as a mini pandemic project.

The word 'Gwai' is the romanization or Chinglish of the Cantonese word '鬼 ghost' yet also bears similar pronunciation (or at least similar Chinglish) as '怪 monster' and '乖 well-behaved'. The first two Cantonese words suggest whimsically mystical world the deck inhabits, while the last one is a hope that this deck is less grumpy than my tarot deck.