Kickstarter: 5 Most Anticipated Playing Card Projects for 2014

As impressive as 2013 was for the playing card industry, we look forward to 2014 to see what is in store for collectors, cardists and magicians across the globe. Many (including me) were caught off-guard by the the boom of crowd-funded playing cards this year, but 2014 is looking damn exciting with a few projects already being teased and announced. Here's what we know so far: 

Requiem Playing Cards Deck by Lorenzo Gaggiotti

So little is known about designer Lorenzo Gaggiotti but this mysterious and unique set of playing cards will definitely be a hit based on interests generated by our preview here on Kardify. The deck is gory and dark but beautiful in a weird way. It will not be to everyone's liking but the project will no doubt reach it's funding goal.

Click here to read the story behind Requiem.

Uusi's Fifth Deck 

We love everything Uusi! All four of their releases are masterpieces! Uusi's fifth (of six) deck will be launched on Kickstarter sometime in 2014. Without giving too much away, we can expect intense colors, an unexpected theme and a big surprise that Uusi haven't done before but are excited to add to the upcoming project. As with all their previous decks, all the artwork will be created by hand. I am really looking forward to this one!

United States Army Playing Cards Deck by Kings Wild Project

There is no stopping Jackson Robinson! In 2013, all 3 of his Kickstarter projects finished in the Top10 most funded playing card projects of all-time (2010-2013). What an achievement! Recently teased on Kings Wild site, this project will be launched on Kickstarter and will be a followup to the Federal 52 series. Not to be missed!

Clipped Wings Transformation Playing Cards by Emmanuel José

After the success of the Curator Deck, artist Emmanuel José will launch his second deck- this time on Kickstarter. Like the predeseccsor, Clipped Wings will feature the unique papercutting technique where all the elements and imagery are cut out of paper. Everything is drawn and cut by hand. The Clipped Wings deck will be dedicated to birds.

Origins Playing cards by Rick Davidson

Designer and illustrator Rick Davidson has spent many hours working on this masterpiece. Inspired by the elegance of 16th century originals, the designer aim to produce a premium quality deck merging today’s standards with yesterdays elegance. Beautiful theme, elegant tuck box, intricate back design and gorgeous court cards. I can't wait for this one!

Did we miss any? Let us know which 2014 playing cards project you are waiting for?

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Jason Kreiger of Seven Seas Playing Cards

Ahoy! Brain Vessel Studios (@brainvessel) released their first Deck of playing cards, Seven Seas on Kickstarter last week... and in a little over 24 hours, the project hit it's funding goal of $13k. Shiver me timbers!

Seven Seas is nautical adventure like no other. This beautifully illustrated 54 card deck explores famous sailors, explorers, pirates, privateers, ghost ships, sea creatures and superstitions.

We managed to get hold of Jason Kreiger, co-founder of Brain Vessel Creative and illustrator behind the Seven Seas deck, from his super busy schedule for a quick Q&A about their first Kickstarter project, the design inspiration behind Seven Seas Playing Cards and his thoughts on crowd-funding.

Can you tell us about Brain Vessel Creative and what is your design background?
Brain Vessel was started little over a year ago by Douglas Koozer and myself, Jason Kreiger. We have worked together for the past 5 years on projects ranging from our own IP’s to mobile game development. Wanting to strike out on our own, we created Brain Vessel. We do anything from animation and illustration to project management and brand development.

As well as doing client work we are also dedicated to starting our own projects to help further our careers as artist. This is why we started the Seven Seas Playing card deck. If you would like to know more visit our website.

This seem to be your first Kickstarter Project. Why Kickstarter?
Well, this being our first year in business as Brain Vessel, funds are a little on the slim side so what better way to get funding than Kickstarter. And what better way to showcase what I can do as an artist than to create 54 pieces of art that everyone can enjoy without emptying their pockets. The playing card medium is a great way to showcase yourself as an artist. Plus playing cards are just awesome.  

What is your inspiration behind Seven Seas Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea?
First of all the nautical theme goes hand in hand with our business name. It is also so rich in folklore and history. There are so many stories to draw from. I wanted to create a playing card deck that not only looked beautiful but was rich in content and depth. To do the cards justice and elaborate on the stories behind each card, we created the Captain’s Log, which will showcase a tale based on each card, written by my good friend Matthew Fishgold.

How much time did you spend working on the deck?
I’ve been working on this deck for over four months now. There are a lot of illustrations that go into the creation of a deck like this. Not only am I doing a unique illustrated story for all of the court cards, I also created 18 illustrations for the 2-10 cards. That is 36 unique illustrations not counting the backs, tuck boxes and other odds and ends. There are only a few more illustrations of the court cards to be done while the campaign runs, so be on the look out for updates.

You are currently 168% funded and according to our data provider- Kickspy, you are trending towards 326%. What are your thoughts in terms of support, the successful funding of your project and what next?
Honestly we have been overwhelmed by the response we’ve received so far. Although I think that trending goal may be a bit of a stretch, we expect to have quite an awesome campaign. We have received a ton of support so far. I can’t thank everyone enough. It’s really great seeing your hard work being appreciating. You can expect many updates on our progress throughout the campaign. We have a few new rewards in the works and possibly a new contest on the horizon.  

Ooo.. Contest. Awesome! What are your thoughts about the exponential increase of playing card projects on kickstarter? 
I think it’s amazing how much the playing card community has grown on Kickstarter. And the increasing amount of playing card Kickstarters that get funded, have let to some amazing products. Products of such a level of production you wouldn’t think possible.

I believe Kickstarter playing cards are rivaling and even surpassing the traditionally distributed ones. I really don’t think you can go wrong with the passion and creativity that Kickstarter allows artist by giving them an chance to do it themselves.  

Finally, what are you favorite playing card decks?
I have to say Jackson Robinson’s Federal 52 decks were what really inspired me to get involved in this. The detail and artistry he puts in his decks are amazing. Hats off to you.

Thank you Jason for your time and sharing with us your awesome artwork! All the best!

Pledges starts from $12 and there are multiple add-ons available such as pouch, giant coins, uncut sheets and our favorite, Deck in a Bottle. Fits the theme so well!

There are also multiple rewards that will be unlocked once the project hits their set stretch goals. The Seven Seas Playing Cards will be Bicycle Branded and printed by the USPCC. The deck will be due out to backers on May 2014.

News: The Blue Crown Releases Crown Luxury Deck: Diamond Edition (Only 2500 Printed)

Tonight on 12/26 The Blue Crown released the next playing card deck in their Crown Luxury Series and it is limited to only 2,500 decks. The new deck, which is dubbed the Diamond Edition, was designed by Randy Butterfield and boasts a brilliant white, silver and gold color scheme. According the The Blue Crown, the "faces are a classic Arrco design with custom coloring on the court cards."  They also custom designed the Ace of Spades and Jokers.

With the release of the Luxury Diamond Edition, The Blue Crown has released an even more limited edition deck that they are calling handmade. According to The Blue Crown, "This special deck features a real metal plaque autographed by Alex Pandrea (The Blue Crown Founder) instead of the gold foil plaque found on the main Diamond deck. The Handmade deck also has a custom sticker seal, and comes inside a custom Pack Jacket, also rendered in brilliant white and gold with an autographed plaque."

7 Questions with Dennis Consorte of Steampunk Goggles Playing Cards

SteampunkGoggles is a unique website that sells Steampunk inspired goggles. Managed by Dennis Consorte of Consorte Marketing, this website is a testing-ground for new marketing ideas before offering them to their clients.

We managed to get hold of Dennis over the busy holiday period to have a quick Q&A about his first Kickstarter project, the Steampunk goggles playing cards and his thoughts on crowd-funding.

Can you tell us about Steampunk Goggles and what is your design background?
SteampunkGoggles.com is a side project that my design & marketing teams work on with me, in-between client stuff at my online marketing firm, Consorte Marketing. It gives us the opportunity to explore new marketing methods that might be a bit too risky for our clients. Sometimes ideas work and sometimes they don't, but that's what makes it fun. Besides using the goggle website as a testing-ground for new marketing ideas, I enjoy meeting and connecting with people outside of my usual group of friends and colleagues. It's been a real pleasure to work with some of the artisans behind the steampunk goggles available on our website, and those who have been a part of this project have been very supportive.

My personal design background doesn't really go beyond web design and Photoshop. I'm good at looking at things and providing direction to make them better. That's why I brought Mike Lees in on this project. He's a very talented illustrator and it's been a lot of fun working with him. I feed him concepts and he makes them better and turns visions into actual images on paper. Then I provide some feedback on direction to tweak his images in a way to follow my vision more precisely and he executes with perfection.

Here's what Mike Lees had to say about his background:

 In 2006, I escaped my lifelong home in North Carolina to go to school at California College of the Arts in San Francisco/Oakland. There, I received a BFA in Illustration in 2010.

I'm probably influenced less by other artists than I am by all of what I see in world around me. I suppose you could say I'm most inspired by the study of history, science, and literature. And with these as my favorite subjects, it was only natural that I find an affinity for Steampunk and its combination of science-fiction and Victorian aesthetics. So when I was approached by Dennis to create a full deck of cards based around this theme, I was overjoyed. It has been a blast working on the deck - from research, to concept, to execution. 

This seem to be your first Kickstarter Project. Why Kickstarter? 
This goes to my background in marketing, and pushing my limits. I'm an expert at things like search engine marketing and directing the design of websites to make them more effective for conversion. However Kickstarter is something entirely new to me, and the learning curve has been steep. I enjoy pushing my abilities outside of my comfort zone, and learning new things. In the past 2 weeks, I've learned so much about Kickstarter -- what works and what doesn't work.

It's been stressful, but I've enjoyed the challenge every step of the way. I can tell you that it's no picnic -- Kickstarter is a fulltime job. Combine that with running a company and trying to fit in time for family and friends over the holidays, and you get a sense of what my life's like right now. Still, I believe I made the right decision. The one thing I can tell you is that Kickstarter success is all based on networking. I'm more of a technical guy than a sales guy, so this is definitely outside of my comfort zone, but that's how you grow.

We looked at Indiegogo and some other platforms but Kickstarter looked the most "playing-card friendly." We noticed more decks getting funded on Kickstarter than the other platforms, so we decided to give it a go.

What is your inspiration behind Steampunk Goggles Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea?
We wanted to do something fun and different to showcase the really cool goggles we have available on our website. It's been so much fun working with the artists behind them, and we know how much work they put into coming up with new and creative designs. So we thought it would be great to make new art based on existing art. Playing cards seemed like the perfect solution, because you have 12-14 cards to play with, each card showcasing a different pair of goggles.

I then gave Jenelle Sosa ownership of the overall concept. She has a background in performing arts, manages the content on our goggles website, and knows a lot more about steampunk than I do. She came up with the brilliant idea of assigning different archetypes to each of the 4 suits, and then assigned each of 4 lines of goggles to those suits. Hearts became "Lover and Rogues" - consisting of the Jack who's a playboy, the Queen who's a madame, and the King who started out as a gentleman that we've been transforming into a magician that has gentlemanly and subdued roguish qualities with his sleight of hand skills. You're going to love this card. Diamonds became the "Gliterati," Clubs the "Aviators" and Spades (my favorite) became the "Industrials."

How much time was spend working on the deck?
A lot! Mike has spent countless hours drawing, sketching and painting. Jenelle, the staff and I have spent hundreds of hours conceptualizing, brainstorming and marketing the decks. I'd say that personally I've invested over 200 hours in this project to date. The video was a colllaborative effort between Consorte Marketing and The Joey Creative Agency that took around 60-70 hours to plan and produce. This time doesn't even count the many hours that the artisans spent on their parts of the project.

Debbie Rounds and Hans Meier & Matthew Winkelmann put some really creative videos together to give the project more personality, and Graham & StacyFaye Dehuff created new designs for the King & Queen of Hearts goggles, just for this project. We've also had support from some of our backers and other people in the community who have been kind enough to volunteer their own personal time to the development of this project. It's really amazing how people come together to achieve a common goal, without being so concerned about the money side of it. That's what makes Kickstarter such a great community that I'm glad to become a part of.

You just released a new back design for the LE decks. How did you come out with this unique design and why not just another colour variation?

Originally we were planning to only release one deck, using the black and brass-colored design. However in my research it became apparent that most successful decks on Kickstarter had a limited edition version. So, that card back was initially an afterthought, and we started with just a color variation to make it different than the Standard Edition.

However, we realized that a Limited Edition deck needs to have some special qualities about it. So we added things like signatures on the first 1000 LE decks, metallic ink and embossing of the tuck box. However we felt that wasn't enough, so we brainstormed ideas for the back design. Among these was a steam-powered locomotive. I gave Mike the idea of taking this locomotive and turning our Steampunk Goggles logo into a stylized cow-catcher at the front. He came back with a brilliant rendition of a train that was exactly as I had pictured it in my head. However the train spanned the full length of the card back and had a giant plume of smoke coming out of the top. It was beautiful but I wanted to tweak the design from a functional perspective.

Personally, I like playing cards that can be held in the hand without appearing upside down, and that's just not possible with a design that spans the full length. So we shrunk the train and added context. To make it interesting, I wanted to create the illusion that the bottom half of the card was a reflection of the top half. So I pictured the train running down the middle of a river, with old buildings on either side to give it a more industrial context (design 2). This isn't something that you would find in real life - trains cross rivers all the time, but you never see one running down the length of the river. That's the beauty of Steampunk - it's a genre of science fiction that's based on a future that never happened, with a strong Victorian influence on it. People wear these funky goggles and gears and gadgets that don't necessarily have a functional purpose to them. So why not have a big, bad, bold train run down the middle of a river?

I found some pictures on Google Images and sent mock ups to Mike that married the train to the rest of the concept and the result is what you see now. We of course are open to feedback from the community, and are trying several different design directions before deciding on the final version. So, it's possible that we won't go with the river concept in the final version. But, that's the inspiration.

What are your thoughts about the exponential increase of playing card projects on kickstarter?
It's both a blessing and a curse. I love the fact that Kickstarter provides a platform for artists and other creators to get real backing for projects without giving up full control, and without having to conform to the requirements of a more corporate engagement. The result is that you get a wide variety of decks in multiple genres, several of which have been steampunk-inspired. This is the blessing. The curse is that sometimes you get very creative people who produce beautiful designs, and get backing, but they haven't necessarily thought through the business side of it. The result is that they get funded and then realize that costs are substantially higher than what they set as a funding goal.

Sometimes this has resulted in projects that got funded, but where the creators never delivered. It also makes it challenging for those of us who have taken the time to crunch the numbers, and when we set reward levels that are slightly more costly than some of the other decks, or set a funding goal that's double-to-triple the goals of many past decks, backers get turned off. For example, a minimum run of 2500 Bicycle decks is going to run you $6,000 - $7,000 just for the printing. This doesn't include postage, packaging, or the labor required to produce the artwork, market the product, coordinate with the printer, ship the product to backers, Amazon fees, Kickstarter fees, credit cards that don't successfully get charged at the time the project is funded, damage and returns.

I can tell you that for my personal project, I would need to raise about $30k to cover all of my costs - and it's much higher than that if I were to put a dollar value on my personal time. I set the funding goal of $24k because I can live with investing $6k into this project to see it come to fruition, and I know I'll make that back over time. My deck is a little different than most because it's part of a "bigger picture."

We're raising awareness about the steampunk goggles we carry by introducing a beautiful work of art to the public, and would have spent this money on advertising anyway. We're also picking away at another website where we will be selling steampunk jewelry and have other domains like SteampunkFashion.com and SteampunkArt.com - so you might see some more deck themes come out depending on the success of the goggle campaign. Because these names are generic, the branding doesn't overwhelm the backer but rather is more category-defining. Who wouldn't want to own a deck of Steampunk Goggles playing cards?

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
There are so many great decks on Kickstarter. Some of my favorites that come to mind include the Sherlock Holmes deck by Jackson Robinson, the Extraordinary Voyages deck by BentCastle Workshops, and the Pagan deck by Uusi.

Thank you for your time Dennis. 

Pledges starts from $12 and Steampunk Goggles will be due out to backers on February 2014.

Season's Greetings 2013

Thanks to @angelusanimus for his astonishing work of art! ... made specially for us here at Kardify for the Holiday season.

The month of December has been fantastic for many reasons... new owners at both popular playing card forums, getting those Black Friday deals finally delivered, those awesome decks delivered like Empire from Kings&Crooks, BlueBlood Redux from Uusi, Venexiana from Half Moon Playing Cards, Federeal 52 part 2 from King Wild delivered and news that the Imperial Deck will be shipping soon.

We here at Kardify are thankful for your support and hopeful that 2014 will be another great year with lots of awesome playing card decks to look forward to.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Blue Fontaines Creator Zach Mueller

On February 2013, Zach (@zachmonky) Mueller launched his first crowd-funding project, the Red Fontaines on Indiegogo. The project achieved its $10k funding goal within 18 hours and doubled its funding by months end. Since then, strong demand for the elusive Red Fontaines drove up prices and the deck was sold at a premium on eBay.

Zach recently launched the Blue Fontaines on Kickstarter, a follow up to the popular Reds. With no surprise, the project was fully funded in approximately 12 hours ($20k) and now trending trending towards an incredible 350% (source: kickspy).

We were able to catch-up with Zach for a quick Q&A on the Fontaines, his experience on Indigogo and his thoughts on crowd-funding.

Tell us a little about the background and the inspiration behind the Fontaine Playing Card series? 
Fontaines were a deck I made one night in Photoshop out of boredom. People started liking them. So I made them! Simple as that.

Why did you launch the first Fontaine on Indiegogo (and not Kickstarter)? 
Truthfully because I didn't know Kickstarter had an approval process - I made the IndieGogo page literally hours before the launch. I was more prepared this time around, so I chose kickstarter.

Since you have such a large fan-base from Theory11, wouldn't it be easier to launch Fontaine through Theory11? 
Don't think it would be 'easier' to release through theory11 - Fontaine is my passion project, and making them through Kickstarter allows me to do it all on my own.

From making the design, to the trailer, to the shipping - I do it all and I love doing it. Watching a video of a kid in Australia opening a package that I know I personally packed, labelled, and stamped is an awesome feeling.

Having theory11 or any other company sell them would mean them taking over shipping, packaging, marketing and some percentage as well - while that may be 'easier', it wouldn't be the same for me. Not to say that a collaboration with another company is out of the realm of possibilities in the future, that's just not in the picture currently.

Can you tell us about the packaging issues that you had with the Red Fontaine? What were the lessons learned from the Indiegogo project? 
Definitely learned a lot of lessons from the first deck - ESPECIALLY when it came to shipping. I lost over $3,000 on international shipping alone last time, so we've increased the shipping costs on everything not only to lose less money, but also to invest in better packaging. Several orders had to be replaced due to rain, or a busted bubble envelope - we'll be paying extra care this time!

So far, what are the difference have you noticed between Kickstarter and Indiegogo? 
The Kickstarter community is way cooler. The interaction, the organization of messages, the update system - it's all just a bit better in every aspect. I love it!

What are your thoughts on how Crowd-funding has changed the playing card scene? 
It's awesome. Anyone can make a deck of cards, and it's not an impossible feat to get funded. Some say that it's over saturating the market, but I believe it just makes people more creative, more driven and gives the creator a job. I think that's awesome.

Finally, what is you favorite playing card deck? 
Smoke and Mirrors v5 - the originals. Love that deck. Although I have a soft spot for anything Art Deco, and the Rarebits are the best 'deco'ish design I've seen. Close second.

Thanks for your time Zach and all the best.

The Blue Fontaines will be due out to backers on March 2014.

Analytics: Kickstarter's Biggest Playing Card Backer

While doing some research for an analytics article on how many playing card projects does an average Kickstarter backer pledge, I went through quite a number of projects from early 2012 to December 2013. I encountered a few backers who had pledged quite a few, but one stood out because he had pledged for a lot more playing card projects than any other backers I had encountered.

For my recent articles, I emailed and interviewed lots of project creators but it recently occurred to me that it might be helpful for other project creators to know what a backer thinks about Kickstarter. Not just any backer, but someone who has the passion for playing cards and has backed almost 200 project. (Approximately 194 projects as at December 2013... that's 59% of all listed playing card projects on Kickstarter!)

Better known as Sharpie in the forums,  he is a very well liked member of the community and you would have probably seen him around. I reached out to him and he graciously accepted my offer to interview him. I hope you enjoy Sharpie's insights.

Oh.. please do not use this as an excuse to spam him with requests to back your project. Sharpie has been really generous responding to these questions, so let’s show him some respect in return.

The first playing card project you ever backed was the Lance T. Miller Steampunk playing cards in November 2011. How did you first discover playing card projects on Kickstarter? 
I believe it was while searching for Lance Miller's "Gargoyles Deck", that I found out about this one. Which has since led me down a long, sometimes dark road of Kickstarting. I'd collected decks for many years, but I jumped back in in a big way at the end of 2011.

As of December 2013, you have backed approximately 194 playing card projects on Kickstarter. What makes you keep coming back? 
Wow. That's a lot. In the beginning it was the desire to back people working in a hobby that I enjoyed so much. A little payback, or pay-it-forward. Despite some questionable designs, I would try to back for at least one deck to support them.

Then when Kickstarter became a little crowded, and my tastes more refined, it just seemed the best way to ensure that I got the  Kickstarter decks as they happen, instead of waiting and regretting it after the fact. 90% of the projects I back that are funded, end up fulfilled. So even though there have been a few disappointments (Founding Fathers, anyone?), it hasn't been enough to warn me off... although opinions vary.

On average, what reward tier do you back (e.g. single deck, a pair...)? Do you usually increase your pledge for add-ons? If so, why? 
Currently, if I like the design, I tend to back for at least 3 (1 to open, 1 to keep and 1 to trade). But if the design is really appealing (Uusi, Empire, Federal 52), I'll pick up at least 4-6. Sometimes just 1 is enough for the decks that are questionable but still interesting to me.

As for add-ons, I usually do it when there's a coin or it's the only way to get the number of decks I want. And I'm a sucker for a well designed "whatever".

How do you discover new Playing Card Projects? Do you log on to Kickstarter every day for interesting projects, or do you have a 'secret system' to discover projects?
Occasionally I check in with Kickstarter, though that is difficult lately with all the other things keeping me busy. And as for a secret system, it's called Unitedcardists. It is an easy one stop shop for playing card project info. Not all of them Kickstarters.

Without this particular community forum, I would have missed out on most of the projects I've backed. There are other blogs and forums, but none are as easy to navigate and keep track of, as the UC.

Given the number of playing card projects you’ve backed over the years, in your opinion what are the top things that every creator should do?
Well, keep in mind I've never run a Kickstarter, though I have considered it. I think the main thing is communication. When people back your idea, you're both entering into a relationship of sorts. And as with any good relationship, communication is key. Let them know the details of the project as it goes along. The good and the bad. Holding onto bad news that you eventually must tell, is a good way to lose a person's trust. But on the same note, don't kill your backers' inboxes with endless and needless updates. It can come off as desperate, and that can ruin a relationship quick too.

Next, and almost as important, is to have your design as close to finished before launching your campaign. All your ducks in a row, so to speak. This includes getting design approval and a quote from the USPCC or whoever you intend to use.

Consider using a fulfillment center for shipping out your rewards, and try timing your add-ons to be ready to ship out with the decks. Most backers don't want to wait for the dice you ordered to arrive before they can get their decks. Especially when they start seeing them pop up on eBay.

All of this will help a great deal with the projects funding and shipping goals. And that's not to say that the design can't change. It's always good to listen to the community for pointers and detail changes. There's nothing like public opinion to help one conceive a better deck. So...

Do it, if you have an idea you want to make a reality. You may not get anywhere, but you'll learn a lot in the process.
Do listen and be willing to adapt your campaign as you go, without compromising you goals.
Don't promise unless you're sure you can fulfill. You do not want to be on that list of campaigns that took money and delivered nothing. Even if you refund it, your reputation is stained forever.
Don't get discouraged if your project doesn't fund, but also don't be too stubborn to realize why it didn't happen. Life is a lesson. Learn it.

What are some of the things a playing card project creator can do to make you cancel your pledge or not get your pledge at all? 
No updates or communication is big. 
Unwillingness to listen or adapt to feedback or suggestions.
Funding goal too low to create the project (essentially misleading your backers).
The number one thing for me is a poorly thought out or executed design. I think the playing card community has wide spectrum of tastes when it comes to card design, but if you look at most of the Kickstarters that didn't get funding, you'll see that a poor design is a pretty common theme.

Looking back over the last 2 years on Kickstarter, what are a few of the playing card projects you enjoyed the most and why? 
I thought Skallops was an amazing idea. Opening up a whole new avenue to explore with a deck of cards. So happy to have gone in on the original Blue Bloods, and have never regretted throwing money at Uusi, since. Loved the Draw Like A Boss campaign because it came out of nowhere. An amazing custom deck that many wrote off as a novelty. Now people are begging for it.

Generally, what do you think of the quality of delivered playing card projects? Have you ever been disappointed with any? 
I'm usually more than satisfied with the quality and design of the decks. There are sometimes a few that are manufactured very poorly, but you can usually tell that's going to happen, if you pay attention to the project.

The only times I'm really disappointed are when I back for too many decks, and one would have been enough. Or when I receive only one or two of a deck that I really like, but forgot to add on more to my pledge.

I have the same problem! Finally, do you have anything you’d like to say to creators or backers?
Thank you for putting yourselves out there for the world to see and support, or disdain. Too many people hold back their creativity for fear of ridicule. I say put it out there, and learn and grow. Whether you're successful or not, it will teach you a lot about the world you obviously want to be a part of, and the experience will be invaluable. Not succeeding is just as, if not more, important than success. Think about it. If you succeeded every time you tried something, what would you learn? What would you take from the experience?

To quote my favorite author in a recent speech:
"...go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art." 

I for one, don't mind that there are a lot of Kickstarter Projects out there. It just means that our hobby is growing, and more artists from all over the world are joining in to create more unique, amazing and interesting stuff... along with some disasters. I think that's a good thing. But as you may have noticed... I'm an easy sell.  ;)

Thank you for taking time off to talk to us Sharpie.

News: Bicycle Monster Montage Playing Cards Coming In Late January to Kickstarter

In about a month's time, Artist Carlos Bercini and I will be launching a custom playing card project on Kickstarter.com. We have been designing a playing card deck for release in late January called Bicycle Monster Montage. The deck is inspired by vintage monster and horror movies from the first half of the 20th century. While most of the designs are not being released at this time, we have decided to tease the new project by creating a teaser or "movie" poster that incorporates the major themes of the deck.

Below you will also see only two of the court card designs that will be featured in the project - The Mummy and Frankenstein's monster. Two timeless monsters that are the epitome of the monster genre. Please keep your eyes out for more information on this project as it comes closer to the launch date in late January.

Card designs are subject to change. 

The launch of the deck will also launch Uncrowned Playing Cards, which will be an entity for custom playing card decks released by me, Scott Carey.

News: Tom Dawson buys the Discourse

This came as a surprise! Yesterday, world-renowned playing card expert Tom Dawson announced that he has purchased the Discourse, the world's largest playing card Internet forum from previous owner, Alexander Yusupov. 

The inspiration for selling the Discourse recalled twenty-two year old Alexander Yusupov, original founder of the forum "Tom and Judy Dawson are THE experts," Yusupov said. "It was time to pass the forum along to people that could take my work into unprecedented territory."

As the author, with Judy, his wife, of the definitive work The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, as well the current president of the 52 Plus Joker Club, the preeminent North American card collecting organization, Mr. Dawson has lots to offer the large and growing roster of playing card collectors online.

The idea of hunting for vintage pasteboards has always intrigued Mr. Dawson since he began his obsession almost forty years ago. The kind of passion that drove him back then to seek out the beauty and history those decks of cards possess still leads him today to help other fellow collectors, no matter their age or experience. After updating the 52 Plus Joker's Constitution and Mission Statement to expand the membership to include more modern custom playing card collectors and designers, Mr. Dawson saw the purchase of a sizable forum with over ten thousand members worldwide as a rare opportunity, one he couldn't pass up.

"When the United States Playing Card Company needs their collection evaluated, they call Tom and Judy Dawson. Imagine the kind of rich history and fascinating information they are going to share with anyone interested," said 52 Plus Joker's Director of Publicity, Lee Asher.

Asher adds, "It looks like 2014 is going to be pretty spectacular for card enthusiasts. I can't remember a time when everyone was so excited about playing card culture!"

According to Discourse statistics, the forum's membership is already growing exponentially with a high rate of regular visitors and posters. With luck, and if Tom Dawson 'plays his cards right,' he will end up achieving his ultimate goal of inspiring a new generation of playing card aficionados. 

Congratulations to Tom from all of us at here Kardify. 2014 is shaping up to be an exciting year.

Analytics: Why Top 2012 Kickstarter Playing Cards Project Shipped Late

This is a follow up to the analysis of 2013 projects on Kickstarter we published last week. Word of advice: if you have pledged for a crowd-funded product, be prepared to be patient, very very patient. We examined the 2012's top 30 most-funded projects on Kickstarter and found that 57% missed their target delivery dates.

The Numbers

Collectively the 2012 top 30 projects raised $1.03 million from more than 29k backers.

Raising money, though, is only half the battle. The most successful projects convince thousands of supporters to buy into their vision. If it fails to become a reality - at least in the expected timeframe - Things.Can.Get.Ugly.

Going through the 2012 top 30 highest-funded campaign, only 11 hit their deadline. 9 projects left the warehouse months late and 8 were partially delivered or in most case hadn't even shipped!

Median delay is 6 months, although some outliers will take much longer, for example the Ultraviolet ($19k) Playing Cards project, which is 16 months overdue with no expected shipping date.

The Delay

Here's the troubling question: Why are so many playing card projects blowing their deadlines? Over and over in our interviews, the same pattern emerged. What happens after the idea is successfully funded is always a big surprise for most first-time Kickstarter creators, mainly because many of the Kickstarter creators are individuals and inexperienced start-ups. The learning curve to set up a system for shipping hundreds of packages at one time while simultaneously dealing with outside vendors and manufacturers as well as customer service to backers, is incredibly steep and time consuming.

Also, inexperienced creators launched a project that they expected would attract a few hundred backers. It takes off, raising vastly more money than they anticipated- obliterating the original production plans and timeline. Managing projects of this size and structure requires full time attention and if creator only does this on a part-time basis, they will get caught out. Compounding the problem.

The problem is, when plans get pushed, not all backers are understanding. Quicksilver ($51k) was funded in November 2012 - 10 months later, the rewards were partially shipped and from the comment section of the project page, a number of frustrated and angry backers are still waiting for their pledge to be fulfilled. Failing to deliver will impact a creator's reputation and backer's trust making it hard to launch future projects. The Internet never forgets.

Let's change gear. Instead of focusing on the negatives, we look at how some of the 43% top 30 project meet their target delivery date.

The Delivery

Elite Playing Cards launched their first project, RITUAL ($23k) on September 2012. With full time commitment, knowledgeable staff and well organized distribution network, they have met their delivery target date. Since then, they have launched 5 other projects and successfully shipped DIVINE ($32k), Majestic ($21k) and PLATINUM ($27k) on time.

"We have been in business for almost 10 years. Our brands are our full time job. We have warehouses with permanent staff in California and in Europe," said Jay from Elite Playing Cards. "Our brands are our full time job. We have warehouses with permanent staff in California and in Europe. We eat and breath playing cards and magic tricks. Because of our background in business we are able to run a project from the beginning to the end without almost any bumps along the way."

The Blue Blood ($19k) playing cards was the first project for the popular design studio, UUSI. This beautiful deck was over 200% funded- more than anticipated. Once again, with experience, good systems and tried & tested distribution network in place they were able to efficiently get the playing cards to their backers on time.

"As a small design studio, Uusi has always had an online presence, so we had a shipping & customer service system in place when we created our first Kickstarter project, but it was still a huge surprise to us how intense fulfilment was on a project," Linnea from Uusi told us. "We also designed and in many cases produced products for large companies like Design Within Reach, Herman Miller and Anthropologie and have dealt with shipping large quantities of a single product at one time. This manufacturing & wholesale background and pre-existing shipping system allow us to handle our Kickstarter projects efficiently."

UUSI went on to launch 4 more projects, Bohemia ($45k), ROYAL OPTIK ($51k), Blueblood Redux ($29k) and PAGAN (currently live). All of their project were delivered on time. If you ask me, it is definitely not an easy task considering all of UUSI's projects were at least 200% funded. Also, the high quality of the final delivered products were maintained. Keeping backers happy. That is what makes UUSI one of the most respected name in the industry and backers keep coming back for more.

At Encarded, Paul Carpenter launched his first project Tendril ($42k) on February 2012. At that time, being new to the concept of crowd-funding with no experience in printing a deck of cards and never bought shipping materials in bulk or even assembled 1,000 packages, Paul managed to get Tendril ($42k) to all his backers on time. This is attributed to understanding and defining all of these various elements before he felt comfortable to launch his project. Only when he knew that he had accounted for all facets did he decide to make the project real.

"As to my projects, Tendril came in on time for a very simple reason. Planning. At the time there were very few playing card projects on Kickstarter and I spent many weeks researching the process of making cards," Paul explained. "This involved talking with USPCC, learning about their timeframes and the flow of their process, looking into Kickstarter and how long it took to receive the funds, checking with the Postal Service to see what rates were, what packaging was optimal for each tier, how many supplies I would need, what technology I could use to expedite the postage process, etc. Even after shipping well over 3,000 packages I am constantly refining my process and finding better ways to get my cards into customer hands."

The Black Swan

Even with all the planning experience, systems and knowledge, things can still go wrong. According to Linnea "...no matter how good you think your system is, shipping to hundreds – and for some of the larger funded projects, thousands of people– at one time, as well as shepherding your work through the manufacturing process successfully, is always a challenge and mistakes are bound to happen."

"The only thing that usually can happen is a delay of 2-3 weeks because of USPCC's busy schedule." said Jay.

Paul had a much interesting experience with his latest project Deco ($29k), "I took all that I learned in my first projects and ran my latest card project, Deco, the same way. As with Tendril, I planned out everything and had the advantage of knowing much more about the process and was fully prepared to have everything complete and shipped well before the deadline that I had set. I received the cards right on schedule and was all prepared to get them to my backers, when completely unforeseen circumstances appeared that I never would have accounted for. "

USPCC had been lax in their quality control and Paul recieved decks with blemishes that made them impossible to sell. Many creators assume that once they got delivery of the cards, it would be perfect but for Paul, that is not the case.

"Because of this I had to negotiate their replacement and this added nearly 7 weeks onto the process," Paul continued. "I felt that in this case, sending defective items to my customers was not a viable option, and the delay was the lesser of the two evils. In the end I got a much better product and was able to get those to my customers, late, but better than the first printing."

Black Swans do occur and these are things or events that are unplanned and beyond control but with solid experience,  dedication, reliable systems and good knowledge & understanding will steer you back on track.

Jay added, "...  thanks to our fantastic warehouse team that can ship hundreds of packages a day very easily. This allows us to stay on schedule. We don't sleep until everything is shipped out."

The Trust

At the end of the day, it is all about the backers "What we have found to be the core elements in keeping our backers happy and getting their rewards out to them as fast as possible," said Linnea on what she learned from her Kickstarter experience.

If a project has been delayed or timeline is behind schedule, creators should communicate that to backers. Backers are generally patient and more acceptable of the truth. Keeping quiet and creating smokes screens, creators risk a backers revolt if they do not treat backers with respect or take backers for granted. No one wants that experience.

In Paul's case, the key to the Deco ($29k) situation was to communicate to his backers promptly and transparently describe what was happening. "I didn’t try to hide it and made sure to tell everyone why things were happening and why I had made certain decisions," explained Paul. "I felt that clearly and honestly telling everyone was the only way to make the situation acceptable and the response from the backers was that the delay was unfortunate but made sense, and everyone appreciated the lengths I took to get them a perfect product."

First Look: Bicycle Seven Seas Playing Cards Coming Soon to Kickstarter

Douglas Ian Koozer and Jason A. Kreiger, of Harrisburg, PA design firm Brain Vessel, are gearing up to release a brand new nautical themed playing card deck on Kickstarter called Bicycle Seven Seas. The deck project, which is currently being teased on Brain Vessel's Facebook page, will launch this winter and will also include custom coins and other reward items.

If funded it will be printed by The United States Playing Card Company.

Here is a sneak peek at the upcoming deck courtesy of Brain Vessel's Facebook page:

This is quite the change from the company's attempt at an unreleased deck that was first released on their Facebook page back in August. The deck was supposed to launch in September but never saw the light of day.

Emmanuel José Discusses Playing Card Design and Clipped Wings

Artist Emmanuel José, designer of the Curator Deck,  is somewhat of an  anomaly in the world of custom playing cards. Not only does he produce playing card decks in a style that is not often done but his art form is unlike standard graphic design. Instead of sitting down with a Wacom tablet and pen, Emmanuel works with X-Acto knives and scissors in an art form known as papercutting. To date Emmanuel has released one deck known as the Curator Deck and has two upcoming decks known as Clipped Wings and Sawdust.

Now after many days and nights working on his next release Clipped Wings, Emmanuel is ready to launch the card deck in early 2014 on Kickstarter with much anticipation from friends, fans and many playing card enthusiasts. Last week, Emmanuel announced that he would be launching the deck on Kickstarter, which is a departure from the way the Curator deck was released. So Tuckcase.com decided to contact Emmanuel to discuss his upcoming project, his decision to go with Kickstarter and to get a glimpse into the world of papercutting. Emmanuel agreed to talk with us and share his story. Enjoy!

Tuck Case: What is your design background?
Emmanuel: I have a bachelor’s degree in art from Davidson College, and I’ve been drawing since I was young. I also paint, and I like to shoot photography. I did some papercutting in elementary school and high school, but it wasn’t until college that I started to create series of papercut art.

Tuck Case: When and how did you decide you wanted to do a deck of cards?
Emmanuel: When I was a junior in college, I made court card paintings for a class. The models were fellow students that I photographed. My professor wasn’t a fan of those paintings, so I stopped that series and moved on to other subject matter.


Fast-forward over five years to late December 2010: I was working for a biopharmaceutical company, and I was creatively unfulfilled. I hadn't made art since graduating from college, and I’d always wanted to create a series based on playing cards. So I told myself that starting in the first week of 2011, I would make one card a week.

On Monday, January 3, 2011, I made my first papercut playing card.

Tuck Case: Can you explain what exactly a papercut deck is? How is it different from traditional graphic design?
Emmanuel: In a papercut deck, all the elements and imagery are cut out of paper. I draw everything by hand, and then I cut everything by hand. Pretty much the only difference from traditional graphic/digital design is technique since I am cutting out paper with X-Acto knives and scissors.

Tuck Case: Are you the first to design a deck using this papercut technique or style?
Emmanuel: To be honest, I don’t know. I’m certainly not the first to make a transformation deck though.

Tuck Case: Your first deck project, Curator, has already been released, can you describe your next two projects, Clipped Wings and Sawdust?
Emmanuel: Clipped Wings has a bird theme, and Sawdust has a circus theme. Many of the ideas I wrote down while I was making the Curator deck in 2011 were related to birds, and that became the groundwork for Clipped Wings the following year.

In May 2012, I decided my 2013 deck would have a circus theme. In September 2012, I saw the 1952 circus film The Greatest Show on Earth, and “Sawdust” stood out to me as the perfect name for the deck.

Tuck Case: Is there a particular reason you create transformation decks instead of a traditional decks of cards?
Emmanuel: I create transformation decks because it challenges me mentally and creatively. I tend to create art with some kind of twist or sense of humor, and transforming playing cards allow me to do that.

Tuck Case: It is known that the Curator deck was ripped off by a re-seller outside of the United States, have they been stopped and what have you done to protect your work going forward?
Emmanuel: I don’t know if they've been stopped since I still don’t know who is responsible. What I do know is that the counterfeit decks were first sold at a marketplace in Ufa, Russia, and that the images were stolen from my deviantArt.com profile. The Curator deck was registered with the US Copyright Office when this incident occurred, and I've continued to register copyright for my new work. To deter stealing, I now take photos of the cards at an angle and in uneven lighting.

Tuck Case: How did you get hooked up with House Of Playing Cards (HOPC) to release the Curator Deck?
Emmanuel: I joined the Aethercards.com cardistry forum in late 2011, and Don Boyer, one of the administrators, is a friend of Alex Pandrea and Kevin Reylek from House of Playing Cards. Don introduced my art to them, and in May 2012, I met Kevin in person since he is originally from North Carolina.

Tuck Case: Now since your first deck was released through HOPC, why the departure on your second deck to release it on your own through Kickstarter?
Emmanuel: Clipped Wings was originally going to be released by HOPC, and the deck was intended to be released in May or June of 2013. However, Alex kept pushing the release back for reasons I don't fully understand. Additionally, there were conflicting ideas on how to market and manage the deck. I'll always be grateful that HOPC released Curator, but I reached the point where I thought it would be best to produce Clipped Wings on my own, and I ended my contract with them.

Tuck Case: Do you have any particular artists or works of art you use for inspiration?
Emmanuel: Pop Artists such as Wayne Thiebaud and Roy Lichtenstein inspire me. I actually paid homage to Lichtenstein with the Curator 10 of diamonds. Realist painters such as Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth also inspire me. Keith Haring is another influential artist for me, and I also love the work of illustrators such as William Joyce, Molly Idle, Maurice Sendak, Eyvind Earle, Winsor McCay, and many more.

Tuck Case: Do you have any favorite playing card decks?
Emmanuel: Three decks that are near and dear to my heart are Tony Meeuwissen’s transformation deck The Key to the Kingdom, the Ukrainian deck of cards illustrated by Vladislav Erko, and the MAD Deck designed by Ozlem Olcer.


Tuck Case: A question I ask all interviews, do you have any advice for others looking to create a custom deck of cards?
Emmanuel: There’s one question all artists, designers, and creators should ask themselves: Am I passionate about this?

There are all kinds of decks created by people with different skills and talents. Despite the differences in these decks, people can tell which decks are labors of love, and which decks are not. No matter how skilled you are or what kind of resources you have, passion has to be your foundation.

News: Ellusionist Releases 60's Ad Era Inspired Pressers Playing Cards

After a weekend of Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness, Ellusionist released a new deck today that is inspired by the 1960's advertising era called Pressers Playing Cards. In fact, Ellusionist has gone as far as to say that the deck is "one of Don and Roger Sterling's favorite sets of playing cards" and "is the talk of Sterling Cooper." For those unaware, Sterling Cooper is the fictional advertising agency from the popular AMC show Mad Men.

Pressers were teased earlier in the Fall by members of the Ellusionist team but the deck was not released for sale until today with no prior "warning." The deck was first made available to Ellusionist's Black Club earlier this afternoon and then later released to the masses after the Black Club had first grabs.

According to Ellusionist, Pressers were printed on soft luxe paper. Printed by the United States Playing Card Company, the Pressers feature an antique look and simplistic design that "glides like air!"  It is not known if the Pressers are a limited or unlimited release.

News: Ellusionist Teases The Pressers Deck [Updated]

The cool wizards at @ellusionist released a few teaser photos of their upcomming Pressers deck. Inspired from the 60's, this deck is Wrapped in a beautiful vintage design, printed on soft luxe paper with a raised emboss, courts and faces cards are fully customized.

Pressers are up on Ellusionist site now for $7.95. No release dates given, but my guess would be a week before Christmas. Just in time to get your orders in and stuff it in the Christmas stockings.

One interesting to note is that Ellusionist marketed the deck as Pressers, from E.P.C.CO , Madison Ave, NY,NY. Hmm... Ellusionst Playing Card Company? I wonder if this was created to be used for branding all their playing cards going forward?

Designers: Traction Gives an Inside Look into the Development of Bicycle Espionage Playing Cards

Bicycle® Espionage is an all-new deck that launched on December 1 for members of Bicycle®’s Club 808. It’s another deck by the team at Traction, so Tuckcase.com invited them to share more behind their process and about the deck. Enjoy!

The minute Traction knew this deck was a go, we had ideas for conveying secrecy in every element of the design along with a sense of the unexpected. Illustrators Emily Webb and Ronny Young returned to craft the aesthetic and character design for Bicycle® Espionage after the success of the Bicycle® Sideshow Freaks Deck.

“What’s great is that it’s not just a James Bond-style deck,” said Ronny. “It pulls from the entire spy genre over the last 50 years. It would've been easy to go after every 007 type, the women, the villains—licensing aside. But we wanted every kind of agent to have a shot.”

The element of secrecy is first evident in the tuck, which is all one color except for a slight variant in the embossed details. The minimal, clean design on the front makes it look even more classified. “I think the best part of the tuck is how you really have to pick it up and move it around to notice all the little details,” said Emily. And of course, the tuck opens to the side instead of to the top, as though it’s actually a cigarette case with built-in knockout gas, or a business card holder that doubles as a parachute.





The cards themselves are completely custom. Custom court cards, custom pips, custom back design. The backs are black with an 80% gray overlay, making them subtle and stylish nods to secrecy.

The court cards are an amalgamation of every genre of undercover agent; you’ll see everyone from a tuxedoed gentleman, to a ninja woman, to a mad scientist in the employ of an agent. “The art style on the court cards is definitely heavy on the shadows,” said Emily. “Same with the pips. It shows that each character is literally operating in the shadows.”

Bicycle® Espionage was released in the Club 808 VIP Shop on December 1. Uncut sheets are also currently available in the same shop.

Here are process photos of the court cards:

Jack of Clubs Sketch - This card didn't change much from sketch to finish, but we love the detail of the scar over the eye and the buttons on his coat.

Kind of Diamonds Sketch - The final version of this card contains even more shadows for a mysterious look and feel.

King of Spades Sketch - We ended up leaving out the two knives on the final card to keep the design clean and focused.

Queen of Clubs Sketch - This ninja woman's hair changed considerably from where we started here. The kanji on her headband means "strength."

Post Author: Katherine Monasterio

About Traction: Traction is a design firm located in Cincinnati, OH. They specialize in high end branding and creative projects for a multitude of clients such as The United States Playing Card Company, NBA, Mindbody, Prilosec OTC and many more including local and national brands.