We believe that sharing knowledge in the world is an essential part of a prosperous and sustainable future.  Our decks and related materials are designed to enchance converstions and we value the beauty in knowledge, both new and ancestral.  We believe that conversations don’t have to begin and end with arguments.  They can share complex perspectives that lead to meaningful growth.

How did this deck begin?

The deck was designed after finding how hard it was for complex conversations to be used for practical purposes. While I believe conversation is an end unto itself, I also found how hard it was to retrace the wonderful thoughts shared in groups. I also found how hard it was for students, family, and colleagues to have discussions equitably. This system is designed not only to let people have a fair turn in conversations, but also to prevent unnecessary adversarial debates when thinking creatively and with a sense of discovery is possible.

Here’s a peek at the front image one of our Blueprint Deck cards:

What is our goal

We have modest and ambitious goals:

We want to influence the lives of as many people as we can

We want Terra Prime cards to influence a wide array of conversations, but we also want it to be pop culture movement, a place where beautiful knowledge represented by artists and thinkers from many walks of life can be celebrated and valued as part of how we do work. It doesn’t matter if it’s policy or dinner talk, we want to influence growth in our interactions through the use of these beautiful pieces of knowledge that you can carry with you as an intellectual companion.

We want to raise money for an original artwork deck and future products

We are selling the Blueprint Deck to raise money for the Artisan Deck, which will recreate the deck using original art from local artists and additional ideas from home to express our contribution with the world. We believe the two-way street between home and world matters, and has the ability to change the way we have discussions and how we integrate knowledge when discussing the complexities of the world. To do that, we need to sell a minimum of 2500 decks. But we don’t want this to be a one-off project. Terra Prime is a learning system, and one that we hope to build upon for years to come.

Together, we can make this happen! Thanks for stopping by and THANK YOU for your support!

Who we are

From MJR Montoya (Founder of project) From my hometown of Mora, New Mexico to Albuquerque to Oxford to New York to Santa Fe to Atlanta and 67 countries in between, I have poured those experiences into the Blueprint Deck, a conversation deck that pays tribute to ideas and themes from decades of learning centuries of human thought. I grew up collecting comics for comfort and I read books to defend my family and friends with my thoughts and my words. My mother taught me that my mind and my creativity is the key to how to thrive and survive in this world. This project is about beauty in survival and it is about living the hard task of sharing knowledge across all sorts of human boundaries.

From Claire Stasiewicz, member of the Terra Prime Team

Terra Prime is an important project for me because the cards are a physical representation of many things I highly value. As an academic and educator, I’m constantly trying to find new ways to teach the complexities of the world in ways that are accessible to a diverse audience. Terra Prime is a beautiful aid for this goal, and includes many concepts I write about in my academic work (the black swan and first human power cards are two of my favorites!). My students and my research have both been improved by the Terra Prime concepts.

From Rudy Montoya, member of the Terra Prime Team

I love Terra Prime because the intersections and possibilities are so vast. This deck can engage and impact so many people, subjects, and connections. It makes me indulge my creativity and challenge my critical thinking. I see this as an opportunity to do great works.

From Bellal Hossain, member of the Terra Prime Team

I’m a proud Lobo who graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Masters in Information Assurance (Cyber Security). I’m passionate about alleviating global issues, particularly interested in solving poverty in marginalized communities; this deck is a way for us to learn about the depth of those problems so that we can share what we know to create the community needed to solve these issues.

From Md Tariqul Islam, member of the Terra Prime family

I am a passionate Graphic Designer and Web Developer. I have received Bachelor of Fine Arts (Graphic Design Major) from University of Development Alternative (UODA), Dhaka, Bangladesh. I am also a self-taught web developer and has experience in building Web Applications and Services. I have been serving small businesses to achieve their business goals through my years of experience in Print, Web, Media and Creativity. Terra Prime is an important project for me and happy to collaborate with the team. We are building materials to enhance the conversation and integrate knowledge when discussing the complexities of the world.

Our Future, Our Artists Matter:

We are building towards an artisan deck and our work in selling the blueprint deck is connected to producing original artwork in an adaptation of the deck that will take this project to the next level

In the planning of the deck, Andrew Fearnside,  a local artist in Albuquerque created some initial sketches for what we hope will become its own deck.  Andrew was a part of our discussions and we recognize his contributions as a stakeholder of this project.  Visit his website here.