The goal of Tranquil Tarot is to position the practice of tarot cards as a personal tool that helps the user better cope with general anxiety.
THE PROBLEM
Many people experience general anxiety, but either do not know how to cope or they’re bored of hearing about the traditional coping mechanisms that we’ve all heard before. To go along with this, many of us have probably noticed that anxiety occurs more often when there is a change or transition in your life. Therefore, this tarot kit is focused for people who are currently transitioning from high school to college, to finally starting their career.
SOLUTION
My solution is to encourage people to use tarot as a form of self reflection. Learning a new skill can help your mind relax as it focuses on something new and by using tarot, they will also be able to gain a new perspective on the situation that they’re going through which will help them grow overall as a healthy individual. They’ll be able to build confidence, and gain positive reassurance.
HOW OUR SOLUTION WILL HELP
By creating a tarot kit geared toward a younger generation, my goal is for people to be more open minded about the practice. With the use of modern and colorful illustrations, it will peak people's interest in tarot and allow people to be exposed to a healthy new hobby. It’s also my goal for people to understand not to take life too seriously because we all go through similar situations and are able to understand each other.
WHAT IS TAROT?
There are 78 cards in a tarot deck. These can be broken down into two categories, major arcana, and minor arcana. There are 22 major arcana cards and these represent life lessons, common themes, and karmic lessons that we all go through. The remaining 56 cards are the minor arcana cards. These can be broken down into four suits, similar to a deck of regular playing cards. The four suits are swords, cups, pentacles, and wands. Of these suits, there are 10 numbered cards and four court cards. The minor arcana cards as a whole represent turbulent experiences that we go through on a daily basis. Each card within the deck has either a story or a persona attached to it. When you connect these together, you can understand a message from the cards that can be relatable to everyone. It’s also important to note that tarot does not tell the future and they do not make predictions. It’s all about how you interpret and relate your own life to the cards.
TAROT CARDS
These illustrations are meant to feel calm, airy, and soothing to look at while still displaying the traditional themes of each card. The box design resembles the book, shown below. The back of the cards have a mostly monotone pattern resembling flowers or gemstones.
GUIDE BOOK
The Tranquil Tarot educational book will guide the user into understanding how to best use the cards and what each card means. I decided to name it The Tranquil Tarot because it gives it both a realistic and fun connotation to the name. This book is a guide for practicing self reflection in a positive light. The beginning of the book has sections explaining in detail what these cards are and the best practices on how to use them. The middle of the book goes into detail about each card and what it means. The end of the book has sections such as various layouts to read the cards, ways to shuffle the cards, and extra information related to tarot in order to peak interest in the practice.
It's important to note that just because a card has a name with a negative connotation, doesn’t mean it’s all bad. For example, The Devil card asks you to identify any bad habits or addictions, and asks you to think about what has been holding you back from your goals. This card is important because by observing our shadow self, it lets us make changes that will help us grow.
JOURNAL & SKETCHBOOK
The first half of the journal comes with writing prompts and stickers. These are all prompts that help the user gain more of a perspective on themselves and life and there are also questions specifically pertaining to anxiety which will help the user better connect with their experiences. The stickers are there for an added bonus and they’re also helpful for some of the prompts if it asks a question based on one of the tarot cards. The Second half of the journal, which is the sketchbook half, has a section of drawing prompts. All of these either connect to the tarot cards, anxiety, or it asks you to draw based on your feelings. Adding this drawing section is a great way for people to begin using art therapy as a tool for coping. These prompts are meant to both calm your mind and reflect on the situation at the same time.
TRANQUIL TAROT APP
The Tranquil Tarot app makes it easy to practice and learn about tarot on the go or when you have spare time and you don’t want to bring the physical cards or book. You can also add friends, share posts, and build your own support system. After logging in, there’s a community section where you can share posts with friends, read other people’s posts, and stay connected. The next tab has the descriptions for each tarot card and they’re split up by section so you can more easily find the card you’re looking for. Or you can search it at the top. The third tab is so you can do a reading wherever you are. It has various layouts to choose from and lets you choose cards at random. It builds your spread for you and at the end you can view your reading. You can also click on a card to view the full description which makes it easier to learn from. After you do a reading, you can also save it to your bookmark tab so you can view it later. You can give it your own title, select a color for it, and keep it for as long as you want.
The Tranquil Tarot is the winner of the Capstone Excellence Award from the Jefferson Graphic Design Communication Graduating class of 2020.
