Ipsos Arcanum Tarot

Ipsos Arcanum Tarot - colourful RWS deck with geometric backgrounds

Just before the first lockdown in 2020, Ipsos Malafaya watched friends do tarot readings and became absorbed by the symbolism on the cards. As a professional artist already drawn to visionary, surreal and psychedelic imagery, she recognised a visual language that resonated with her work.

She spent the next eighteen months drawing all 78 cards herself, using an Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro with the app Procreate. The Ipsos Arcanum Tarot is her first tarot deck.

What you see on the cards

Rather than illustrating landscapes or narrative scenes behind the figures, Malafaya designed a geometric pattern for each suit, shifting the colour to signal which suit a card belongs to. In a reading, you can tell the dominant suit at a glance without reading every card individually.

The figures wear clothing in rainbow colours across all 78 cards. These colours reference the chakras and create a consistent visual thread running through the entire deck.

The overall tone is bright and saturated. Malafaya describes her aim as conveying luminosity and vibrancy, and the cards reflect that: they are light in feel, even when the subject matter is challenging.

How the deck is structured

The structure follows classic RWS conventions. The suits are named Wands, Cups, Pentacles and Swords. The Major Arcana follow the traditional sequence, with Strength at card VIII and Justice at card XI. Anyone familiar with RWS-based systems can apply that knowledge directly here.

Malafaya is currently working on making the deck more inclusive, with a wider representation of ethnicities, backgrounds and orientations reflected in the figures.

Materials and finish

The cards measure 70 x 120 mm and are printed on 350 gsm card stock with a matte lamination and gilded edges. The box is magnetic, made from 1200 gsm board, with gold lettering and borders on the front.

The colour-coded suit backgrounds are a practical feature: spread the cards on a table and the dominant suit in a reading becomes visible immediately, without reading each card in turn.

About Ipsos Malafaya

Ipsos Malafaya is a UK-based artist who describes herself as female, LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent. She has worked as a professional artist for many years, but the Ipsos Arcanum Tarot is her first tarot project.

She came to tarot through curiosity about its iconography and ended up becoming a tarot reader herself in the process of making the deck. That shift from observer to practitioner shaped how the deck was designed.

Specifications

• Number of cards: 78
• Language: English
• Dimensions: 70 x 120 mm
• Card stock: 350 gsm
• Finish: matte lamination, gilded edges
• Box: magnetic, 1200 gsm board with gold print
• Style: Rider Waite Smith
• Illustrator: Ipsos Malafaya

Questions we often get

Does this deck work if you already know the Rider Waite Smith system?
Yes. The structure, card names and sequence are identical to the classic RWS layout. Any knowledge you already have applies directly. The difference is in the visual language: geometric patterned backgrounds instead of narrative scenes, and a strongly saturated colour palette.

Does a guidebook come with the deck?
The available product information does not mention a guidebook. The deck follows the classic RWS structure, which means existing tarot literature and guidebooks written for other RWS-based decks can be used alongside it.