Dan Palmer
Dan Palmer, PhD, is a professor of computer science, as well as the Chair of the Department of Computer Sciences at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. He's an avid gamer and is the creator of the Gnomon deck, as well as (at present) all of the games that can be played with it. One of his goals, as indicated on the box sides, is to provide games that run in a spectrum between cooperation and competition, but he also wanted to explore the three-dimensional aspect that could be evoked, cards that match in different and multiple directions.
Dan can be reached at dan@gnomondeck.com
Al Denelsbeck
Al Denelsbeck is a nature and wildlife photographer from central North Carolina, and as such, it was his challenge to bring Dan's imagined concepts into physical existence through both images and graphic design. Some of this meant overcoming the potential pitfalls of confusion, such as unclear characteristics or presenting difficulties for color-blind players. How do you make a square that is not a hollow, filled, or even shaded square? How green is "too green" to cause the foreground symbols to disappear against the background?
Al can be reached at al@gnomondeck.com. His website can be found at wading-in.net.
Why 'Gnomon?'
A gnomon is a symbol used to two-dimensionally represent directions in three dimensions, such as the X, Y, and Z axes - it's used often in software that creates 3D objects. It also hasn't yet been used as a name in all of the myriad games that exist, and wasn't taken up by a domain when we applied - this is a lot harder to accomplish than you might imagine.How can I get a deck?
We're working on that whole process, and hope to have it slick and easy as soon as possible. Right at the moment, there are a limited number of decks available, and you can contact either Dan or Al above and ask for one to be shipped to you - we'll give you the cost with shipping and have it out in a jiffy.