Why do we need style?
By Patrick Varnavas
Have you ever really considered what exactly style is? What does it feel like? Where does it come from? How do you find your own style? What role does style play in becoming a recognized artist?
Style, put shortly, is your way of doing something.
Style is a distinct appearance, representative of how something is designed or interpreted. In the cardistry community, style typically presents itself in the forms of presentational style and performance style.
One of the best examples of varying performance styles in the cardistry community is Daren Yeow’s move Mockingbird. The classic flourish has been played with by countless hands, and is a true landmark flourish. The move’s popularity has to led to different opinions on how the move should be performed.
Here are two distinctly different approaches to the same flourish:
Aviv Moraly’s performance of Mockingbird is dynamic and highly energetic with its large range of motion and its notably fast pace. While some cardists might believe this is the most visually and mechanically impressive way to perform the flourish, others might believe the performance is overly-stylized with unnecessary accents and motions.
Eric William’s Mockingbird contrasts Aviv’s performance rather nicely with its condensed, controlled and rhythmic flow. Rather than focusing on speed and range of motion, Eric chooses to highlight the rhythm of the flourish instead. While some cardists might believe that Eric’s interpretation is tasteful and best accents the move’s more subtle qualities, others might believe the energy of the move is lost within the tighter range of motion.
So here we have two cardists who perform the exact same flourish, but create two distinctly different visual experiences. The contrasting performances of the same mechanics epitomize the idea of performance style that I mentioned earlier. Both performances are equally valid in their justifications and both offer something unique to their performances. This not only highlights the flourish’s best qualities, but says something about themselves as performers. They communicate both mechanical mastery and artistic independence. Their performances both scream “This is the best way I can do this move.” and they’re both equally correct in that belief.
Remember that with style, the main contributing factor is not what you’re performing, rather it’s about how and why you’re performing a certain way.
Presentational style also plays a huge role in your audience’s perception of your value as a cardist. In the past 5 years, the “cardistry video” has come in many different formats.
The Fontaine Fam is such an important video because it’s trying to introduce a new video format to the cardistry community.
When you watch The Fontaine Fam, what message rings constantly throughout the entire video?
“We do this because it’s fun. We use cards to bring people together.”
The video never takes itself too seriously, but never once loses its energy and stylistic direction. The semi-casual walkaround filming style of the video contributes to this casual air of “We do this because it’s fun.” The music in the video is occasionally lighthearted, upbeat and most importantly highly energetic. The flourishes that are featured are all highly intuitive, easy to understand without any context and fun to watch. Zach picked three of the most stylistically distinct flourishers in the community to represent his vision of cardistry, and their styles all seamlessly contribute to the Fontaine brand. The inclusion of a meet-up within the video is meant to further emphasize the idea that “We use cards to bring people together.”
All of these factors ultimately come together to create a video that is recognizably a FONTAINE VIDEO. The features mentioned above are all things that typically don’t exist in cardistry videos outside of Fontaine’s videos. This makes Fontaine have a distinct feel in their videos. That feeling is style.
Style is so important because it makes artists recognizable.
STYLE MAKES YOU STAND OUT AND STAY FRESH IN PEOPLE’S MINDS.
Portfolio is the channel trailer that is currently used on the Dealer’s Grip YouTube channel. Note again how this video carries its own “air”, how it tends to follow a distinctly “Dealer’s Grip” rhythm. The video is professional, cleanly edited and straight to the point. The purpose of the video is exactly as the name suggests, a simple demonstration of some of the brand’s material. This clean, sharp atmosphere actually accentuates the smoothness and the practicality of their material. The presentation is as seamless and effortless as their performance style.
This combination of intriguing material and congruent presentation style motivates the viewer to expect higher-quality material from Dealer’s Grip.
This is referred to as branding, a concept that goes hand-in-hand with style.
If style is the way you do things, branding is the “name” you give to your approach.
The Fontaine Fam has a very distinctly Fontaine approach, and Portfolio takes a very distinctly Dealer’s Grip approach. These distinctions can only be made because the groups are so stylistically different. They brand themselves so that the community can efficiently refer back to their styles by using simple words like Fontaine and Dealer’s Grip, making it easier for their styles to spread throughout the community.
Zach Mueller doesn’t need to be the most mechanically fluent performer to be one of the most recognizable flourishers on the planet. He doesn’t need that raw physical ability as much purely because Zach Mueller is the most stylish performer in the cardistry community. His style is so prevalent in the current scene that its almost impossible to find something in the community that Zach Mueller hasn’t influenced in one way or another. The amount of support his brand has received gradually solidified the Fontaine style as a current staple in the community. Zach Mueller’s infectious style and his brand are the best examples of style in the cardistry community.
So how can you find your own style?
We’ve talked about what style is, why style is important and have highlighted certain key examples of stylistic diversity in the community, but how can you go about discovering/refining your own style for yourself?
Finding your personal style is something that takes time and critical thought. You have to ask yourself several important questions that will then remain in the back of your mind for the rest of your time as an artist.
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Who am I?
Think about who you are right now as you read this article. Think about your positioning in the community, the material you’ve published, and the material you’re working on. Consider every aspect of your being as a cardist and visualize it all in your brain.
2. Who do I want to be?
Once you’ve visualized all of the qualities and characteristics that your artistic being is composed of, start to visualize the ideal artist that you want to become. Think about the other flourishers in the community and think about who you like the best. Let’s say your favorite flourishers are Daren Yeow, Aviv Moraly and Noel Heath. Take these three styles and combine them. You will later become a stylistic combination of those three individuals.
3. Why should people care about me?
Think about what specific qualities you carry that people would be attracted to. If you can’t think of a good reason why people should care about you, then how can you expect others to find a reason? What qualities do you have that are valuable in the community?
4. What is distinctly different about me?
Visualize yourself in a line-up with ten other flourishers. What makes you stand out from the rest of those performers? What makes you seem valuable?
To summarize, if you want to become a recognizable artist and generate a loyal following, YOU NEED YOUR OWN STYLE. You have to give people more than enough reason to care about you. As an artist, take pride in your own approach. Don’t worry about not having a style as a beginner — nobody expects you to have one. In the beginning, all you have to do is borrow a combination of styles from the artists that you think are the best in the community. Your style will subsequently manifest as a result of all the styles you chose to emulate.
Show the world YOUR cardistry.
About the author, Patrick Varnavas:
Patrick Varnavas is an 28-year-old cardist from New Jersey. He's been creating card flourishes for the past 13 years. You can follow him @patch.god