Art Research | Art of Dragon Age Inquisiton

The main thing I wanted to look at when looking at "The art of Inquisition" was the tarot deck. I think its the most notable art in Dragon Age Inquisition and I also think the art style on these is both gorgeous and really unique, Also, the imagery on the cards show a lot of the characters personality which I think is really interesting. Obviously, doing character design I wont be having scenery etc on my cards, but it does remind me that accessories and the way a character is presented via clothes/hair can show a lot.

Lets go deeper by looking at uhhhh... Dorian's Character card. (Just cause It was the first one I found an individual picture of.)
Before His Personal Quest

• In his introduction he is presented as (the good Tevinter mage) so unsurprisingly his character card is white. Not just his clothing, but even the lines in the background of the card are white (purity etc, whatever.) So yea, positive connotations. It is telling us Dorian is a good hearted heroic character --- further highlighted none too subtly by the radiant yellow halo bursting from his forehead. 
• Dorian's "reformer" nature is also shown, his colour scheme separating him from that of Tevinter's. Tevinter's colour scheme shown in the art book is mainly black. Showing Dorian all in white marks him as the pariah.
• I'm assuming also that the infinity symbol on his hand is a reference to his involvement in time magic. Also, it's a link to the magician tarot card.

• Black is present in the card, most significantly in his staff and you might notice the snake across the body of his card (these are hints if things that will become more prominent in a later card.)
• Finally, more obviously, there are elements that show him to be a mage (important when picking a party.) Robe covers most of the card, book under his arm is mage-y and also hints at his interest in culture. 

Post-Personal Quest

• Snake is back, now its black. Snakes have a poor reputation and the snake on this card does not look particularly well behaved. Black (remember Tevinter) Poisonous looking and wrapped almost entirely around the card. This shows that the snake (Tevinter) is a core part of Dorian's personality, not just in birthplace, he loves his homeland. He is not about to just abandon it and never mention it again. This is underlined by black/grey surroundings and clothing.
• Reformer nature is reinforced but with a more subtle halo this time, the snake also looks like its about to bite his head off (not a flattering depiction of Tevinter - not unsurprising due to what you learn of his family in his personal quest.)
• Black and white heavily contrast showing pariah and reformer, bla bla bla. However, note that if you wanted to show Dorian as completely divorced from the black/Tevinter you could have stuck him in, I dunno, pink or something. The white shade is still tied to Tevinter, even though it is opposite.
• Dorian sits tall on a snooty looking horse, shows independent nature.

Romance Card

• In a letter available at the war table, Dorian's Magister friend Maevaris refers to him as a "hot-house orchid". A beautiful but extremely finicky flower bred in captivity, Dorian is offering up not only the darker parts of his nature (the black Tevinter snake) but also the fragile parts he keeps hidden (the delicate white orchid).
• snake is outright wrapped around his body, highlighting the whole "Tevinter is a part of me" thing, but unlike in the previous card, it is pacified. 
• Hand of Inquisitor is shown stroking his naked body, hand often symbolic of Inquisitor because of Anchor but also because (regardless of what you did in the character creator) Bioware can be pretty sure that you have a hand.
• Symbol of house Pavus hangs off hand, symbol of you tied to Dorian.