Deck View: Misc Goods Co First Edition Playing Cards

White. Limited. Cool.

A completely custom designed deck of cards by Tyler Deeb. Launched on Kickstarter in 2012 to unprecedented success - first playing card project to hit the $100k mark.

Stunning design, beautiful artwork - a 10,000 print run at The United States playing Card Company. Each deck is numbered by hand.

Available at JP Games. Use the code KARDIFY10 during check-out to get 10% off for orders over £50.

First Look: Kings Wild's Artist for the Hive Deck

On January 2014, Kings Wild released a teaser image giving us a glimpse of what the upcoming playing card look like. The image reveals little besides the name of the deck, the bee hive inspired back and it is from the newest Kings Wild artist.

Since then, the Hive deck as it is now known has been under the radar. Kings Wild has kept quiet about the design of the cards, the tuck box or even the identify of the artist. Until now.

Kardify is excited to announce the identity of Kings Wild artist for the Hive deck:


Brendan Hong. 


If you've backed Kings Wild's Sherlock Holmes Playing Cards and the Independence Playing Cards project,  you have probably seen Brendan in the comments section answering backer's queries as part of the Kings Crew.

As part of the exclusive, Brendan sat down with Kardify to talk about his background, how he became a Kings Wild artist, his passion for the Hive deck and his future with Kings Wild. Before we begin, I want to thank Kings Wild for this exclusive reveal and the unreleased images of the deck & the Ace of Spades.


Could you introduce yourself to our readers? What is your design background?
I am a freelance illustrator that works out of Toronto, Canada. A few years ago, I graduated from the flying checked shoebox in the sky that is called OCAD with a bachelor in designs in illustration, which sounds like a mouthful. There is a lot of creativity in both sides of my family, but not a lot of artist so it felt fun to be a first in my family.

How did you end up being a Kings Wild artist?
It all started last year when Jackson was doing Google Hangouts with backers and crew members during the Sherlock Holmes Kickstarter project. We got talking and I told him that I was an illustrator. I started to show off my work to Jackson. He liked what he saw and suggested that we collaborated together on a project.

I was hesitant as first as it s kind of a daunting project to create 54 individual artworks (52 cards plus 2 jokers, as most decks these days come with a double backer and blank card). But I slowly warmed up to the idea. I thought it was a great way for both of us to get the best of both worlds in a new venture.

For me, I could create a deck and not worry about the fulfillment side, which I am man enough to admit gives me nightmares, and for Jackson, it was a way to build this company further in creating a platform to work with other artist in creating beautiful functional works of art in a deck of playing cards.

Can you describe the Hive deck and why you’re passionate about it?
The Hive deck comes from my love of the Bee deck of playing card by USPCC. I grew up watching Hong Kong cinema as a kid where the Bee deck is used in a lot of gambling and casino movies. I remember playing with a deck of Bee cards as a kid and loving that wonderful Ace of Spaces and the fun jokers. I wanted to create a deck that takes inspiration from that as well as from other beautiful decks from the past.  

From the teaser pictures, I really like the clean back design and the beautiful illustrated Queen of Hearts! What role did you play in the art direction and how much time did you spend working on the deck?
Thank you for those kind words about the cards. I've actually had a lot of free range in working with Jackson. I think he understands from an artist and art director point of view where you need to step in where you should just leave creativity to work if it's working best. The old adage of "if it's not broken, don't fix it" comes to mind. I don't keep track of time when I work as time honestly flies by when things are getting done, but I start with a very traditional design process of though through thumbnails to roughs to taking things into the computer to create the final version. Depending on how the rough work is going, it can taken between 1-2 days to get a card finished. It's funny to admit that I had more trouble designing the tuckbox as packaging is not one of my strengths.

What are your thoughts about the growth of custom playing cards in the past year? Are you planning to release more decks under the Kings Wild label in the future?
I think it's been great to see the growth of custom playing cards within the last year or two. It's wonderful to see all these artist and designers breathing new life back into playing cards. It feels like a Renaissance for custom playing cards now. I've definitely got a few ideas that I'm working through at the moment, but there's no rush so I'm letting the ideas brew and stew until I feel that they're ready. I'm definitely looking forward to working with Jackson again as Kings Wild artist. It's been a lot of fun for the both of us and I just can't wait for this first deck to finally become a reality.  

What are your three favorite non-Kings Wild playing cards?
That's honestly a tough question. There's way too many decks on the market that are just beyond amazing. But to bring the list down to three, in no particular order I'd have to say the JAQK, that first got me into playing card collecting, Empire by Lee McKenzie with its beautiful and intricate design that plays with the traditional playing card design and Pagan by Uusi with its great artwork and wonderful theme.

Finally, do you have any other words of wisdom for aspiring artists and designers?
Just keep creating and striving to get better. I think it's all too easy for any of us to give up for whatever reason or just be satisfied with the current level we've attained. I love to look back and see the growth of where I've been and seeing where I am today.

Thank you for your time Brendan. Your artwork is truly breathtaking! Can't wait to see more of this stylish deck.


No release dates or price were mentioned, but Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild said, "The Hive deck will be printed by the Expert Playing Card Company with the same stock and finish as the newest Exquisites."

Follow Kings Wild to get the latest news on the Hive deck. Also, if you see more exclusives and interviews, please follow us Facebook.

Analytics: Project by Numbers - Where Do Playing Card Projects Come From?

In our Project by Numbers series, we've looked at pledge and backer numbers for two popular playing card projects, Federal 52 Part II by Kings Wild Project and Requiem by Lorenzo Gaggiotti. We also know that the popular crowd-funding platform is a global phenomenon with over 3 million backers coming from 214 countries and territories.

With this phenomenal growth and huge audience, it is no surprise that more artists and designers from around the world are using this platform to produce their own deck of playing cards. For example with the two projects mentioned above, Kings Wild is based in Memphis, Tennessee while Lorenzo is in Stockholm, Sweden. The question is, where do all playing card projects come from?

To answer this question, I've consolidated all the data provided by Kickspy into a spreadsheet and chart it out to give you a visual view of where all the projects come from both domestically (US) and internationally.

Domestic US

2010 - Two playing card projects were recorded was back in 2010. Since then, the numbers have increased exponentially and at the end of February 2014, more than 200 has been recorded.

2011

2012

2013 - Incredible growth for 2013, approximately 300% increase from the previous 2012.

Jan-Feb 2014

International

2012 - First recorded playing card project was in the UK.

2013 - Increased in the number of playing cards project in Canada and Australia due to the launch of Kickstarter platform in the respective countries.

Jan-Feb 2014

Hope you find this insightful. Next month, we will look at playing cards project categories on Kickstarter. Do projects listed under Tabletop Games perform better than Graphic Design? We will drill down the numbers for you and see which has been the most effective category.


Data provider:

Deck View: Curator Deck

Creative. Paper-Cut. Art.

Talented artist Emmanuel Jose has created every element of the Curator Deck entirely by hand. One card a week. No digital software, or pen and ink. Every design was painstakingly crafted out of paper.  Known as a "transformation" deck, this style of art has been around for years.

The back design features scissors- the method used to create this masterwork. The entire deck has a black, white, and red theme, which extends to the striking minimalist tuck box.

Available at JP Games. Use the code KARDIFY10 during check-out to get 10% off for orders over £50. Also, don't forget Emmanuel's latest project, Clipped Wings.

1-on-1: Randy Butterfield

Most of us go to work each day, put in our time, come home and relax. We kick off our shoes, sit in our favorite chair, have a bite to eat and spend some time with our family or significant other. As the night winds down we get ready for a good night’s sleep, just to be ready to face the next day’s challenges.  Not Randy Butterfield, nope when most of us, certainly his family, head for bed, this Night Owl creates some of the most stunning designs card aficionados have ever seen. 

Randy grew up in a small country town just outside of Michigan. The oldest of 4 boys, Randy’s childhood home still stands on a dirt road where his creativity started to show,  spending  many of his childhood days drawing….little did he know.

As a young man, Randy attended college at Central Michigan University, spending his college summers working at Cedar Point. A couple of Randy’s brothers, who attended schools in other parts of Michigan and South Dakota, found themselves working side by side with Randy at the Cedar Point Food Warehouse over the summer breaks.

“It was great! We were all at various schools in Michigan and South Dakota but would spend the summers together and we met a great group of friends that we still stay in touch with to this day”

During this time Randy developed a serious relationship while working at Cedar Point. After graduating from Central Michigan University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design the couple moved to Toledo, Ohio where they found an apartment and moved in together. Shortly after that the couple married. Randy and his new wife were in Toledo for four years. Randy held a position at a Printshop/Prepress where he would troubleshoot design files to print to film. The job itself was very technical, but Randy couldn’t suppress his creative side, the creativity that he knew ever since childhood kept looking for an opportunity to shine.

 

When we have dreams, those very dreams can take a toll when we feel they aren’t being realized, add to that the everyday stress of life in general and not only does it take its toll on you, but inevitably on our relationships. Life changes were on their way for Randy and the path wasn’t a simple one to choose, but to succeed you need to take chances and Randy was ready to take his, but not without a bit of heartache.

“For me, Toledo was a depressing and soul-sucking city. It had drastic effects on my marriage, which led to our eventual divorce. At that point I took a chance. I gave notice to my job and moved to San Francisco.”

In 2000, San Francisco was exactly what Randy needed to get his creativity and career on track. He quickly found a position as a Production Artist with a company called Motive Marketing. Motive is a small agency that specializes in Point-of-Sale and Gift Pack designs for the Spirits Industry. In time and with hard work Randy found himself working on designs utilizing his experience in 3D Modeling for conceptual Renders and his hard work paid off. He continues to work for Motive to this day, only now as their Senior Designer.

After a few years in San Francisco Randy met his wife Susan, they were married in 2004 and lived on the Island of Alameda just across from San Francisco. While Alameda was a wonderful location, Randy and Susan were starting to plan ahead, wanting to start a family and find a nice home to start that chapter of their lives together. During this time Motive was going through some changes of their own, the agency was becoming very mobile with most of their designers working from home offices. This lent itself well to Randy and Susan’s future plans.

On a trip to Indianapolis to visit his brother Tony and his family, Randy and Susan found themselves truly enjoying the city of Indianapolis. In 2007 they made their trip a bit more permanent and relocated from California to Indianapolis, where Randy and his family currently live today. Since 2007 Randy and Susan have welcomed two children into their lives, Violet 6 and Aaron who is 4. While the more “Home Town” feel of the Midwest agrees with Randy, he still occasionally returns to California with his family.

“It was great moving back to the Midwest. The overall vibe is generally friendlier and more down to earth than the California lifestyle. Susan's family is still out in California, so we make sure to visit the Bay Area every 12-18 months and take the kids to some our old favorites.”

In 2011 Randy and his cousin were working on a side project, a board game idea his cousin was developing. They finished the Board Game prototype just in time to showcase the project at GenCon, one of the biggest annual Board Game Conventions in Indianapolis. During the course of the convention, one of the common topics of discussion was a new crowd-funding site called Kickstarter, which apparently the major game companies were already using as a pre-order system for their products.

That evening Randy and his cousin spent hours searching the Kickstarter site to see what it had to offer. One of the projects they came across, that really struck Randy, was the Revision 1 Deck by a designer by the name of Adam Clarkson, who interestingly enough was from the Indianapolis area. Randy immediately backed the project with his pledge and found himself drawn to the idea of designing a custom deck of Playing Cards. Once his cousins Board Game project came to a close Randy wasted no time bringing his creativity and design sense to his 1st Playing Card project. The project would eventually become one of Randy’s most successful concepts to date and the catalyst behind the launch of Randy’s own company. The deck became Randy’s Original Ornates and the company would be Midnight Cards. When asked how the name came to be, Randy quickly credits his wife for the idea…

“My wife thought of the name Midnight Cards. It's perfect because I do all of my work on Card designs late at night, after everyone else is fast asleep. I've always been a night owl and constantly feel the urge to work on a creative personal project during my off hours."

 

During our collaboration Randy told me that he had always been into playing cards ever since he was a child, the elaborate back designs always intrigued him and really lured him in. He plays poker once a month with a large group of friends and acquaintances and has even amassed a decent card collection of his own over the last few years. Randy finds himself in a very envious position these days….

“I'm lucky to have two jobs that justify buying a lot of Alcohol (Motive) and Playing Cards (Midnight Cards)!”

Last October and November Randy took a little time to relax and recharge his batteries, being the creative individual that he is, he also spent that time planning and brainstorming projects for 2014. The 1st project was the White Ornates which are currently Live and well beyond their funding goal on Kickstarter. The next project on tap is the LUXX Deck with JP Playing Cards from the UK. Randy hadn’t planned on the LUXX project, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with Paul Middleton on a Victorian / Deco inspired design. After the LUXX project comes to its completion Randy has a new fully custom deck project on the horizon, but that’s all going to stay hush, hush…for now. So stay tuned!

Like many other designers, Randy follows his passion to new creative visions. His work is bold and eye catching. He has an unmistakable style all his own. I admire the work he does and can’t wait to see what he brings to the “Table” next. As always, I can’t thank Randy enough for collaborating with me on this piece, his time and patience is greatly appreciated. 

                                          

Before we part ways with Randy, he was nice enough to answer just a few more questions for us and you, our readers:

  

As a designer and artist who's work do you admire and appreciate outside of the card industry?

I've never been one to keep track of designers in the Advertising world. I'm more of a fan of old-world Renaissaince painters - Da Vinci being my favorite. Although, the Playing Card world being so small makes it essential to keep up with the other Deck designers' work. I enjoy the work of Deck designers like Jackson, Uusi, Lotrek, Encarded, Emmanuel, Rick Davidson and others.

Your deck designs have a distinct style, what influences the look of your deck designs?

About half of the designs I do for my day job need to stay within their brand's specific guidelines. It's still creative, but also a little bit on the production side of design. Working on Playing Cards allows me to do whatever I like and create my own brand standards for each Deck. I guess the influence of style just comes from my overall background and personal taste.

With the success that you've had with your deck projects this far, is there ever added pressure with each new concept?

Definitely! I felt a lot of pressure with the Imperial Deck. The theme and design was so unique, it just didn't appeal to the casual Playing Card consumer. That was a tough campaign! I learned a lot from that project. Most notably - don't pick a theme with such a small niche of fans (Faberge Eggs).

If you could obtain the release to any one intelectual property to bring to a custom deck of cards, what would it be and why?

I guess I would have to say Star Wars. Like just about every boy growing up in the 80's, I'm a huge fan of the original trilogy. I can't wait to see what J.J. Abram's does with the Star Wars universe. The Goonies would be a fun Deck to work on as well!

Any final thoughts, comments or parting words?

Just a quick shout out to your readers. If you haven't already, please check out the White ORNATES' Kickstarter page!

As always, I can’t thank Randy enough for collaborating with me on this piece, his time and patience is greatly appreciated. You can keep up with Randy’s latest work on his Facebookpage and don’t forget to check out his White Ornate project LIVE on Kickstarter.

This exclusive 1-on-1 is written by Anthony Ingrassia for kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can check out Anthony's awesome collection at sparkzcollector.  

7 Questions with Emmanuel Jose of Clipped Wings Playing Cards

Clipped Wings Playing Cards is a deck inspired by birds created by paper-cutting maestro, Emmanuel Jose. Emmanuel is well known for the Curator Playing Cards, a popular transformation deck which incorporate the suits into a design. Like its predecessor, Clipped Wings is a fully custom transformation deck featuring 55 unique works of art, all entirely cut by hand.

While preparing for his Kickstarter project, we had the chance of catching up with Emmanuel about his design background, his unique paper cutting style & ideas and thoughts on Kickstarter.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
I’m an artist and I recently moved to New York City. I was born in the Philippines, and I grew up in San Diego, California and Raleigh, North Carolina. Art runs in both sides of my family, and I’ve been artistic since I was very young. I double majored in art and psychology at Davidson College, North Carolina.

You are well known for your first unique paper-cut style playing card, the Curator Deck. Can you briefly explain what the paper cutting technique is and how did you get started?
I use scissors and an X-acto knife to cut paper and create images. That’s pretty much all there is to the paper-cutting technique, haha.

I did some paper-cutting-related school projects here and there when I was young, but I gained a new appreciation of it when my art teacher in high school introduced us to an amazing Chinese paper-cutting artist. Even after meeting him though, I didn't immediately start cutting. A couple years later in college, paper-cutting came up again when we studied some modern and contemporary artists for class. Later, when I was home during summer break, I decided to make some paper-cutting art to entertain myself. From that point on, I made more and more paper-cutting art.

Clipped Wings will be your second playing card project but first on Kickstarter. Why Kickstarter? 
After the Curator deck was produced and released, I eventually reached the point where I wanted to manage my own decks and have my own control over my work. I’m going with Kickstarter since it has allowed a number of designers and artists to produce their own decks of cards.

What is your inspiration behind Clipped Wings? How did you come up with the idea?
When I was a young boy, I had pet birds, and they were talking myna birds. Those birds were amazing since they could say your name and mimic human speech. I’m very fond of birds, and I also had a lot of bird ideas running through my head as I was making the Curator deck. When I noticed how many of those ideas I had, I decided to make my second deck all about birds.

How much time did you spend working on the deck?
The Clipped Wings deck took a whole year to complete since I make one card a week. A single card can take anywhere from 1 to 5 days to complete.

Can you briefly go through the evolution for one of your unique card designs?
The ace of spades for Clipped Wings is a bird in a birdcage because it’s based on the myna birds I had as pets. The idea for it came pretty quickly, and the paper-cut card doesn't differ from what I had first sketched out. For a more complicated card like the paper crane 10 of Diamonds, I studied origami instructions and had to make sure that the paper crane instructions could be depicted in only 10 steps. It was impossible to have all the diamond pips be the same size while still showing the origami steps, so I made the decision to alter the size and shape of the diamonds. I had known months in advance that I was going to do a paper crane as the 10 of diamonds, but I didn’t know what it would look like yet.

Here's an exclusive look at the paper cutting technique from Emmanuel's next deck Sawdust: 

Finally, what are your thoughts about the continuous strong growth of playing card projects on Kickstarter?
I believe that the strong growth of projects will make playing cards better. Kickstarter is saturated right now with great and not-so-great decks, but successful decks ultimately raise the bar for the entire cardistry community. The beauty and artistry of playing cards continues to be elevated and celebrated, and there’s no complaining about that!

I totally agree! Thank you for your time Emmanuel and all the best! If you like what you’ve read here and want to support the Clipped Wings Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter here. 

This deck will be Bicycle branded and printed by the USPCC with air-cushion finish. Pledge starts from $11 and there are multiple add-ons available such as uncut sheets, art prints, art book and paper-cut art.

1-on-1: Ryan Edwards

It’s always interesting to hear how someone got to where they are. What’s even more interesting is when it’s not exactly what you may have expected. These are the conversations that I love having with people, and while my conversation with Ryan Edward’s wasn’t face to face, it’s still a pretty cool story and one I’m glad to share.

Born in Hamilton Ontario Canada and moving to Caledonia Ontario at a young age, where he still resides, Ryan’s interest in Magic grew with a friends magic set. Performing for friends and family he was able to talk his parents into getting him a magic set of his own. Like many young magicians, David Copperfield specials and local magic shops became staples in his everyday life. On a trip to Canada’s Wonderland, Ryan visited Browsers Den, a magic shop, where he saw a magician use a Svengali deck for the 1st time and purchased one on the spot. In time, and having the same audience, the deck had run its course, but a friend had shown him a card trick you could perform with a regular deck. This motivated Ryan to pick up a few books and start to really work on his craft. About this time a street magician by the name of David Blaine had broadcast his Street Magic special, making magic the entire buzz not only among magicians but regular people everywhere. Capitalizing on the attention street magic was getting Ryan began performing at school on a regular basis….how good was he, well, some teachers were actually giving him time at the end of classes to perform for his classmates

As a young man he continued to work on his magic and to earn some income also worked for a landscaping company along with doing some construction work, “I’ve always loved creating things and seeing the finished out come... that’s why I did construction and landscaping for a while, just because I loved seeing something ugly become beautiful when we were done working!”. With some encouragement from his boss to take his magic to a larger audience, Ryan started performing in restaurants, all the while coming up with his own new routines, gimmicks and gaffs. This tinkering took Ryan to a new job working for a friend, Ryan Joyce, as an Illusion engineer back stage during performances, insuring everything was as it needed to be and set up just right, but more importantly gaining some more knowledge in the art of magic and performing.

When Ryan went off to attended college he performed every month at a coffee house. Being on a small campus, he also became very well known for his magic and was asked to perform on a steady basis. This popularity landed him a job as the host of “Most Requested” a music video program in which Ryan also performed street magic in between videos. This opportunity also opened the door for the next step in his career….set design, which also continued to feed his love of creating thing

After that Ryan began to frequent magic shops in Toronto, getting to know other magician and also helping them with gimmicks and routines while enjoying the same help in return. It was during this time that Ryan met Peter McKinnon. Peter turned out to be the “Nudge” Ryan was needing. Urging him to attend magic conventions and meeting people in the industry, while getting his name out there for others to remember. With his usual desire to create, Ryan had been working on some card clips for himself and some close friends. Last year when he attended Magic Live he had brought the clips along to show some new friends and the reaction was very positive. “…everyone kept asking where they could buy them and I kept saying they are not for sale” By the end of the weekend he had so many requests for his card clips that it just seemed like all the signals where there to bring his products to the masses, something Peter McKinnon had urged him to do quite often.

All the creative people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting seem to share a common thread in the support they received from varying sources. Ryan’s constant support not only in his magic, but also in nurturing his creativity came from 3 very important people in his life. His Mother, his Grandmother and his Father, who was always a willing spectator to Ryan’s magic until his passing in 2010. “…he always wanted to see tricks all the time and I wish he was here to see me today!”

The time I spent learning more and more about Ryan Edwards’s one thing seemed to be consistent…his passion for what he does. R.E Hand Crafted truly is a labor of love for a very talented and creative mind. Ryan’s Card Clips have become so popular he’s made some very unique pieces for some of the biggest names in the industry. And this just echoes his drive to create something very personal and original for every one of his customers. I use customers for lack of a better word, because it seems like people become friends more so than customers when working with Ryan. It’s not very common now a day to find someone who’s willing to give you his personal cell number to make sure you get exactly what you’re  looking for, but that’s just another thing that speaks volumes about Ryan and his commitment to detail. There have been many Card Clips on the market, but Ryan’s creations truly push the envelope of creativity and his use of the “Not so Common” materials to create them, produces some amazing one of a kind works of art.

So with this great story, I wanted to also take the opportunity to ask a few questions of our friend Ryan Edward’s.

 It seems you were a bit hesitant to bring your Card Clips to the masses, why?
I was hesitant to release my clips to the general public because I wasn't sure if I was ready to, in terms of offering people whatever they wanted and I wasn't sure what people would think of them. I guess it's one of those things where you love your product and you just want others to love it too! So I wanted to get people’s feelings on them before jumping full in.

What motivated you to pursue the different skins and textures you use in your
Card Clips?
I decided to bring out a bunch of different leathers, skins and textures because I wanted everyone that bought a clip to be able to get what suited them and that matched their character or personality! That’s why I offer as many colors as possible, and do all sorts of custom orders! :)

You take a very personal approach to your business, what do you enjoy most about that aspect?
I absolutely love having the personal approach to my business because I like hearing the person’s dream of their clip and then going and seeing it all the way through! And I have always thought customer service is number one! I thought if people could get in touch with me at any time, it would be the best policy! I hate calling a company and listening to a machine... People want to talk to people so I basically tried to take everything I disliked about customer service and do the 180 of that! :)

What’s in store for R.E Hand Crafted in 2014?
2014 is going to be a massive year for RE! There’s a ton in the works! I don't want to give too much away but let's just say there will soon be some other custom designs that aren't clips... And maybe a deck or two...

Do you still enjoy magic and do you still perform?
And yes I still love magic and still perform! :) I just had a big show a week ago. I do close up magic and then have my own stand up mentalism show!

I want to thank you so much for your time and being nice enough to share with me and your fans. Do you have any final thoughts or comments?
I would love to thank everyone who has supported and believed in RE Hand Crafted and without your support none of this would be possible!

I want to give a huge thank you to Ryan for taking the time to share his story and I truly hope I get the opportunity to meet him in person someday.

You can check out Ryan’s products at www.rehandcrafted.com as well as follow him on Facebook at rehandcrafted to keep up to date on his latest creations.

This exclusive 1-on-1 is written by Anthony Ingrassia for kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can check out Anthony's awesome collection at sparkzcollector. 

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild Project

Earlier this month, Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild Project released The Independence, a playing card series inspired by the American Revolution, featuring both a Continentals Deck and a British deck. Within 10 hours, the project was fully funded and is now trending towards 244% of the funding goal! Incredible! Considering that this is a little project that Jackson has been working on for a while but had to be bumped up the schedule due to production issues with the scheduled Army Deck.

Between his busy schedule, we were able to catch-up with Jackson for a quick Q&A on the future of Kings Wild Project, the inspiration behind the Independence and his thoughts on Kickstarter.

2013 was a great year for Kings Wild Project. Can you tell us what you have been up to since the last project?
Yes, 2013 was a crazy awesome year. I never imagined that Kings Wild would take off the way that it did. And 2014 has been following that same crazy wild ride. This year, my family and my business moved to Memphis, TN. We’ve launched our own fulfillment branch. Cards have to be shipped so carefully to protect their 'collectibility' - and I have learned so much through my previous projects about shipping cards, I wanted to put that knowledge to use by shipping my own cards as well as helping other card projects get their decks out in the best possible conditions.

We’ve also got some other things planned for this year, including The Hive. It will be our first deck that I haven’t actually done the artwork for. I really have connected with the community of deck designers out there and I want Kings Wild to be a place where other artists can be mentored and see their projects come to life.

We’ve got other things planned that I can’t share just yet but trust me when I say - it’s gonna be awesome!

What is your inspiration behind The Independence? How did you come up with the idea?
When I first started Kings Wild Project last year, I would write down all kinds of ideas for decks. I love history and especially American History and early American art, so it was a no-brainer to have a deck from American roots - the revolution.

Can you briefly go through the design evolution of one of your unique card design?
First, I start out with tons of research and reference. Then I do a rough concept, and I keep refining and refining until I get what’s in my head to appear on the card.

The Independence was funded in 10 hours and according to our data provider- Kickspy, the project is trending towards 244%. What are your thoughts in terms of support received, the successful funding of your project and what’s next?
Each kickstarter continues to blow me away. The support is unbelievable. I love the Kickstarter platform because it allows people to be so involved in the process. My crew has been so awesome. I’m developing a plan to take that same environment and community and transfer it to my website as we move towards that direction. It will include a pre-order system and funding goals similar to Kickstarter.

That sounds awesome! What are your thoughts about the continuous strong growth of playing card projects on Kickstarter?
Some people might see all this growth as competition but I think it just elevates the art of playing cards and the world of card collecting, which is beneficial for everyone. But with more card project out there, it gives backers more choices of what they want to support. That means the designs and art has to be top notch. A project that would have been easily funded last year may not be successfully funded this year. Backers are looking for the best of the best of the projects to see those come to life.

You have previously launched 3 successful playing cards projects on Kickstarter. Are there any takeaway lessons from your previous projects you would like to share?
 + Bring your A game. As I said above, people will not support a project that is not a well thought out idea with stellar artwork. Don’t expect to get funded with something you threw together over the weekend.
+ Do your research on all your costs. Getting funded is only half the story. There is no faster way to get into financial trouble than to get funded and not have a solid plan of what you are doing.
+ Backers Beware. I encourage backers to be careful also. If your project creator is not in constant contact with you - something is wrong. A few backers might get annoyed with the number of updates I send out, but the majority of them feel secure because they know I am not scamming them out of money. It’s unfortunate because this happened to a really big deck recently.  

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks and why?
Tiger #101 - This is my favorite vintage deck. It was the first deck produced by USPCC and it was the beginning of the era of modern cards. I love them.
New Era #46 - Another vintage favorite. The court cards were revolutionary and non-standard. I am a big fan of doing non standard court cards, as fans can see.

Right now, I am really liking Whispering Imps by Chris Chelko as a modern deck. I think they have a great design and I’m a big fan of the tuck case.

Thank you for your awesome insights Jackson! I can't wait to see what Kings Wild has in store for us next!

The Independence will be available in two sets- The Continental and The Crown deck. Two editions available: Standard and Limited Edition (LE).The LE decks feature the new Kings Wild Exclusive custom fold over tuck case and the set will come wrapped in a vintage style vellum paper and have a removable 2-inch-wide belly band that is also foiled and embossed.

Printed by the USPCC, pledge starts from $12 and there are multiple add-ons available such as screen printed posters, dealer coin, uncut sheets and collector's boxes.

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Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Chris Edgerly of Dia de los Muertos Playing Cards

Dia de Los Muertos Bicycle Playing Cards is a Deck inspired by the art and traditions of the Day of the Dead -  a traditional Meso-American holiday dedicated to the ancestors; it honors both death and the cycle of life. Created by the team at Edgy Brothers, this beautifully illustrated deck pays homage to the spiritual and cultural event as it is celebrated today: full of color, detail and character.

We caught up with Chirs Edgerly, one of the founders of Edgy Brothers to talk about his company, the inspiration behind the Dia De Los Muertos Playing Cards, the evolution of design of the deck and Kickstarter.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
Our company, Edgy Brothers, started in 2011 mainly to do t-shirt designs. It was myself (Chris Edgerly) and my wife (Geraldine Planchart) and my brother David Edgerly - our resident artist. But David was so busy doing freelance work that we could only devote so much time to getting the designs going. Dave's got the design background - he's worked in graphic design, animation, illustration, you name it. Geraldine's and my backgrounds are more in the performing arts, though we've found that gives us a valuable p.o.v. for design. You're constantly thinking of not just the visual idea, but how it connects with an audience, how it tells its story.

This is Edgy Brothers’ first Kickstarter Project. Why Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is the perfect storefront. They've done all the heavy lifting for you. The backers are already there, looking all over the site for something to inspire them. Some are niche backers, who pledge in just one area, and others are generous across a wide landscape of concepts. Naturally you've got to do whatever you can to pull other card enthusiasts into the site to see your work, but in this case, virtually every hardcore collector knows about Kickstarter.

What is your inspiration behind the Dia De Los Muertos Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea?
We've always been inspired by Dia de los Muertos. One of our first t-shirt designs was of a Flamenco-dancing skeleton. We've still got a few shirts of it (we sell them on our site.) And my wife Geraldine is Venezuelan, and everyone in the Latin culture knows Dia de los Muertos and the strong connection to those who have passed on. It's such a wonderful, mysterious, vibrant aesthetic, and, like Latin culture, is also quite bold. Hard not to be inspired by that. So, the idea then was how best to represent that on a deck of cards, keeping the modern, popular style of Dia de los Muertos in tune with the older, more historic side of it.

How much time did you spend working on the deck?
We spent a couple of months, at least. David had just finished the art work for a successfully funded campaign he did with a couple of friends, the Edgar Allen Poe deck, and was ready to jump right in with this one. We had to discuss the concept for a bit before we were happy with what card would be represented by what character, and from there he started sending us designs for notes (he lives in Austin, we're in Los Angeles.) After that, it was back and forth for weeks, tweaking, sometimes starting from scratch, etc. Meanwhile we also worked on the project page and everything else that comes with running a campaign, as we found out.

Can you briefly go through the design evolution of one of your unique card design?
Let's take the Jack of Spades and the Jack of Hearts. You'd think they're both Jacks, no big deal, just a minor difference here and there, right? But they were elusive. The color scheme was crucial - we knew we wanted Mariachi for the Jacks, but once we juxtaposed the red of the Heart with the colors inside the border and the border itself, it didn't always work. And then what works with the Heart doesn't work with the black of the Spade. So, after this long back and forth we finally realized that the solution was two different borders: one more rustic and bronze/copper shaded for the Heart and one more silver/grey for the Spade. Then we had to deal with the negative space of the card design, which was harder to fill with a skeleton, being as they're obviously slimmer than a person, unless you want to do a bulky, broad skeleton and that didn't work.

So, we found ways to put filigree in just the right spots to complete the design. In the interim, we toyed with adding and subtracting different colors and flowers, juggling all these classic Dia de los Muertos elements that we wanted to include but some of them just didn't work with the rest of the design. It's knowing what to leave out sometimes. And while all this is going on, David is methodically cranking out this unbelievable art work and you hardly want to reject any of it because you know on your best day you couldn't do that yourself. But the perk of being family is you get to be honest. And he prefers being challenged instead of having someone who just says "yes" to everything.

57% of the top projects in 2012 missed their delivery dates? What are your thoughts?
We studied a lot of campaigns - and not just up until they got funded. We looked at their post-funding updates, at comments from backers who were sometimes understandably impatient with a very loooong fulfillment process. And we realized that both sides have to understand the other for this all to work. Backers who get behind a lot of campaigns are the coolest. They know fulfillment takes months, and they accept it. In fact, they're suspicious of creators who promise short fulfillment windows.

Newer backers, however, are amazed at the window of time between when they pledge their money and when they get their deck. But Bicycle - who almost everyone uses - has their process, and it takes weeks. And that's assuming you've got the art work finished as soon as the campaign ends, which doesn't always happen. Then you've got to use a good fund manager (we're using Backerkit for this campaign) to keep everything in order and communicate with your fulfillment center so things get shipped on time and to the right place.

They key is being realistic. If you've got several different add ons and complicated pledge levels, you've got a lot of sorting out to do before everyone gets what they pledged. And communicating with backers is crucial. You have to use regular updates to explain where you are in the process so they don't think you forgot about them. To help with that, we pledge campaigns regularly so we can not just support the creators but to get a sense of what it's like to be a backer and experience that wait.

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks? 
There are too many to mention. Some we only found about after they had ended because we're so new to Kickstarter, and you just kick yourself for not being one of the early backers. Uusi's Pagan deck was very cool and original. House of Playing Cards' Imperial deck had a nice design choice as well but it was also over when we found it. But we managed to back Elite's One Million deck, the Steampunk Goggles deck, and the Diploma Bicycle deck, which unfortunately didn't get funded. We also loved Jackson Robinson's Federal Decks, which were long since closed after we discovered them. We did back his Independence deck.

We're just like any backer - we're looking for something to surprise and amaze us. Lot of that to be found on Kickstarter. We plan on mentioning other ongoing campaigns in one of our updates a little later in our campaign. Gotta send out your support.

That's very nice Chris! Congrats on reaching the funding goal! :)

Pledge starts from $12 and the Dia de Los Muertos Bicycle Playing Cards will be the USPCC. There are also multiple rewards that are waiting to be unlocked once the project hits its stretch goals. The most notable is the black deck at $25k and painted deck at $50k! Add-ons such as dice, dealer coin and shot glass are available.

Deck View: Whispering Imps Special Edition

Mythological. Folklore. Mischievous.

Illustrated by Mark Stutzman and inspired by American magician Harry Kellar's 'Whispering Imps' poster from 1894, the same year the USPCC was established. This Special Edition is a very limited edition deck of Whispering Imps.

The cards are presented in a tuck box crafted from premium Starfire Red Vellum Paper embossed with Red Foil. The intricate card back design of the Whispering Imps is embossed with red foil on the back of the tuck box.

This Deck View is contributed by @Charlie_L1f3, our regular Deck View guru. Check out his Instagram to see more of his awesome collection.

Available at JP Games. Use the code KARDIFY10 during check-out to get 10% off for orders over £50.

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Ken Sommer of Portraits of the Zombie Apocalypse Playing Cards

This is NOT your regular zombie themed deck that features zombies in various poses doing what they usually do. The Portraits of the Zombie Apocalypse Playing Cards is a tribute to what it was before and a reminder that zombies were once people too. Inspired by post-apocalyptic fiction, Ken Sommer designed the deck to stand as a testament to humanity after the zombie uprising comes to pass.

Presented in an eye-catching tuck and unique back design, this deck features portraits based on real people. Backers who pledge on the 'be on the zombie court' tier will have their likeness immortalise on this beautifully illustrated deck.

We caught up with Ken to have a chat about his design background, Classy Horse Industries, inspiration behind the Portraits of the Zombie Apocalypse deck and his thoughts on Kickstarter projects.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
My name is Ken, I work under the moniker logicaloperator. I’ve been an illustrator and designer for seven years, and I spent the majority of that time working in the print publication industry.

Like any designer, I love creating, but I identify with the idea that good design is problem solving. My passion is working on full projects rather than just single pieces. I personally feel the beauty of design and satisfaction one derives from working in the field is found in all the unseen details behind every project.

I have a love of all things “post-apocalyptic” and like most people of my generation I am better prepared for the zombie apocalypse than I probably should be…but who doesn’t have “a plan”.

This is Classy Horse Industries’ first Kickstarter Project. What is Classy Horse Industries’ and why Kickstarter?
Classy Horse Industries was initially born from making cards, games, puzzles and print media for other clients. We’re both fans of cards and games, and with our experience in the field, we wanted to launch a project of our own.

We chose Kickstarter for our first major project because it’s a great way to get ourselves out there as well as really connect with other like-minded people. We’ve only been live for a few days but we’ve already gotten an enormous number of responses from both fans, designers, and vendors. The instant feedback makes it possible for us to grow as creators as well as make sure we are able to make something that everyone loves.




What is your inspiration behind Portraits of the Zombie Apocalypse Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea?
As I mentioned, I have an affinity for all things post apocalyptic as does Andrew so we knew we wanted to explore the subject in our first deck. We tried out a few concepts but really like the idea of having a painted portrait as the court and the zombified version on the reverse. Initially we wanted to use public domain victorian portrait photos to be the subjects of our decks, but the USPCC requires model releases for all likenesses public domain or otherwise, which would have easily fallen into challenge part of the “risks and challenges” Kickstarter category. So we reached out to our friends and family to see if anyone wanted to become a zombie. The response was amazing so we thought we definitely need to extend the offer to the backers.

How much time did you spend working on the deck?
Probably somewhere between six and seven hundred hours over the past few months. This has been my main focus once we got underway and includes everything from concepting to finalization as well as the various work involved in forming a new company and creating our first Kickstarter.

Can you briefly go through the design evolution of one of your unique card design?
Our initial concepts were monochromatic, and very busy with a good deal of superfluous design elements and weathering effects; I like to start big and refine with the idea that “less is more”.

For the final design, I moved the floral elements behind the character in the background splatter and made the border a simple stroke on the living side and a scrawl on the zombie side with subtle blood effects throughout the border.


We tossed around the idea of making the pips “realistic items” that were in keeping with the theme, but nixed it believing that even though it looked cool, the pips might not be instantly recognizable as the traditional counterpart they were depicting, thereby decreasing the decks usability. We ultimately settled on a splattered effect for the “zombie side” of the card.



For the portraits, I work digitally but I started my career using traditional tools and techniques so I employ a process one might use if they were going to paint a non-digital portrait. Typically a non-photo blue sketch, followed by a refined grayscale sketch over that and finally painting in full color over that.

57% of the top projects in 2012 missed their delivery dates? What are your thoughts?
Projects slip, it happens, for many reasons. I think the key is communication. I’ve seen projects where backers are completely understanding and it’s because the creators are actively engaging the backers and keeping them informed.

There is so much involved in delivering any print product and with Kickstarter. It’s not just designing a beautiful product, it’s also managing a marketing campaign, being an accountant, a customer service rep, a logistics and supply chain manager, a shipping clerk, a backer liason. It’s a lot of work and no matter how much you plan there are always surprises.

Andrew and I have worked together on projects including cards, packaging, puzzles, stickers and textbooks. Through these experiences we understand the logistics of a project like this and are able to set realistic goals for our Kickstarter while realizing how important it is to keep backers informed whenever issues arise.

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
I have a long list but I can name a few from past Kickstarters. Anything by Jackson Robinson, Postumo, Oracle, Pedale Designs Misc Goods deck, Karnival, and the 8-bit deck was an amazing project overall, great cards, great rewards.

Thank you for your time Ken and all the best!

The Portraits of the Zombie Apocalypse Playing Cards will be printed by the USPCC and pledge currently starts at $10 (early bird). There are multiple add-ons available such as t-shirts, art prints and uncut sheets.

1-on-1: Emmanuel Jose

If you’ve never seen any of Emmanuel Jose’s work, you need to. When I started collecting playing cards I formed a list, like many do, of the decks I wanted to add to my collection. Usually the easiest way to go about that is to see what decks are popular or caused some buzz. I kept coming across Emmanuel’s Curator deck in poking around the internet, so I added it to my list. As I worked through that list I would do some research on the deck and then make my decision. So there it is the Curator deck…kind of cool, very creative transformation deck. Then I came across a thread on a forum that talked about how these images were produced, and all of a sudden this “kind of cool” deck took on an entirely new life. Why does the analogy, “Never judge a book by its cover” come to mind? Needless to say, Emmanuel’s art form of paper-cutting is something to be admired and seen.

Emmanuel was born in the Philippines and moved to San Diego California along with his family at the age of 6. By the time Emmanuel was 13 his family found themselves relocating once more, this time to Raleigh North Carolina where in time he attended Davidson College, a small liberal arts school near Charlotte. Motivated by the artistic people on both sides of his family Emmanuel was a double major at Davidson in the fields of Art and Psychology. ” I’ve been artistic all my life, and there are artists on both sides of my family.”

Davidson College offered a very traditional art curriculum, and even though one of his majors was in studio/fine art, Emmanuel has never had a formal education in graphic design. He did design logos and T-Shirts in High School and college, and he even worked as a lab tech for a biopharmaceutical company for five years. As an undergraduate, Emmanuel started creating paper-cut artwork, the first steps in what we see and admire today. Emmanuel graduated with a degree in Studio Art from Davidson College in 2006.

A collector of playing cards and an avid card player, Emmanuel’s creativity fuels his passion not only in designing playing cards but also in other artistic media. “My goal is to establish myself as an artist and to be creatively fulfilled. I’d also like to do more in terms of photography, painting, and sculpture.” As for playing cards specifically, Emmanuel was always an admirer of the designs and creativity he found on them, “…I’ve been fascinated with the artistry and beauty of playing cards as long as I could remember.” Emmanuel’s longtime fascination with playing cards and the art of paper-cutting came together in 2011 with his Curator deck.

Emmanuel’s decks to date are produced using paper-cutting techniques, where if you’ve ever cut out a snowflake or silhouettes to put on a piece of paper you “kind of” get a very general idea of what he does. The process of coming up with the transformation image is a challenge in itself and truly clever if you have ever seen any of his work. Brining that vision to reality by painstakingly clipping layers of various colored paper to form an amazing image is not only a creative challenge, but also a test of patience. One card can take up to a week to produce. 52 cards in a deck…you do the math. Once you see the finished product, much like I felt when I first discovered Emmanuel’s process, you can’t help but say to yourself, “How did he do that?” Emmanuel’s work shows fine lines, intricacy, as well as shading and depth, a far cry from just cutting out a simple shape.

Currently working on his fourth transformation deck, Delicious, continuing to utilize the fine art of paper-cutting, Emmanuel doesn’t seem to be slowing down in 2014 with the highly anticipated releases of his Clipped Wings and Sawdust playing cards. If that were not enough, Emmanuel even expressed an interest in possibly taking one of his future deck designs away from the transformation deck genre.

Emmanuel has been busy with his current project but was nice enough to take a few moments to answer some questions:

1. What or who inspired your art form/style? 
Papel Picado artists and Chinese paper-cutting artists have definitely influenced me in terms of technique. Visually, artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Wayne Thiebaud, and Robert Indiana inspire me. There are so many more artists and illustrators that I could list, but I tend to love Pop Artists. The visual crispness of their work appeals to me, and I find that same crispness with paper.

2. With the successful release of The Curator deck, did you feel that you needed to produce something “Bigger and Better” for your next project? 
I didn’t feel like I needed to produce something bigger, but truthfully, the first audience I have in mind is myself, and that steers me in the directions I’ve gone. For the majority of 2011, I thought the Curator deck would be the only deck I would make since I initially planned on making cards for only 1 year. Fortunately, I decided to make Clipped Wings when I saw all the recurring bird ideas that I had and from my experiences of having pet birds. I made Sawdust because I was getting to know more and more circus performers, and the circus world is an incredibly rich one to explore. I’m now making Delicious because I want to improve my cooking, haha.

3. Speaking of your next project, it would seem you have multiple projects in the works at the same time, how challenging is that and can you tell us something about them? 
So far, Delicious is what I’m primarily working on, but I do want to create a non-transformation deck sometime and also work on art that’s not necessarily related to the cards. It is challenging finding the time to balance everything, but mentally and creatively, I thrive from that challenge.

4. Do you ever find yourself having to explain what’s so special and different about your work, be it cards or gallery pieces?
At times I have to explain that the medium is paper if people aren’t seeing the cards up close, but I’ve been lucky to have people give great feedback when they view the cards in person. Some in the art world have said my work is “too commercial” or “not serious enough,” but I love to create art with humor, whimsy, and fun.

5. Have you ever considered straying away from your trademark style? 
I want to push my skills and mature as an artist, but I don’t know if or when I’ll stray away from the cards. I want to create more 3D/sculptural work and be a better photographer and painter, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop making the cards. As long as I continue to be inspired and have fun, I’ll keep making the cards.

6. Any final thoughts or comments?
I want to thank everyone that’s behind me and supports my work. It means the world that I can share my art with you all, and I’m so grateful for the people who are there for me. Emmanuel Jose defines creativity, his passion for what he does is evident not only in his work, but in his drive to expand on his medium of choice. I’m sure that whatever Emmanuel chooses as the “Style” of his future projects will be nothing short of amazing. As I’ve said in my past pieces, creative people have to create, and Emmanuel is no exception.

I want to thank Emmanuel for taking some time away from his busy schedule to help me put together this piece, it was an honor to get to know him a little better and a privilege to work with him on this. If you would like to learn more about Emmanuel Jose and his work, please visit his web site at emmanueljose.com, you can also follow him on Twitter, and Facebook.


This exclusive 1-on-1 is written by Anthony Ingrassia for kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can check out Anthony's awesome collection at sparkzcollector.