Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Beau Challis of Vox Playing Cards

Photo credit to @playingcardart

Conceived by Beau Challis and designed by Lotrek, Vox Playing Cards are inspired by sound wave visualization. Vox, Latin for voice, is the general running theme for this eye-catching deck.

The unique back design looks really simple from a distance, but intricate wave-like pattern reveals itself on close up. Also, the backs will be printed in metallic silver inks and the tuck box with silver foil. Pretty cool! The courts are custom with some subtle changes made to the faces, patterns, lines and colours still preserving the element of the traditional court cards.

We caught up with Beau to chat about his creative background, inspiration behind Vox playing cards, the design process with Lotrek and thoughts about the growth of crowd-funded playing cards.  

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your creative background?
I am 18 years old and from the UK. I guess my creative background goes back to when I was a young child. I would always want to design and make new things even down to Lego - I don't think I ever followed the instructions to anything! I would always be drawing a design for this car, house or gun etc.

As I grew older my academic side became I guess more important, and I took subjects like history, geography, French at school and just let my creative side go onto hold. However, discovering the world of magic and custom decks re-lit the fire for me and well, here we are :)

This is your first Kickstarter Project. Why Kickstarter?
I went for Kickstarter just because more people use it. I know my goal is pretty high, so I need maximum exposure. :)

Can you describe the Vox Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it?
A deck of cards can become a very personal thing, especially after the amount of time and effort that been put in to get it to the final product. The Vox playing cards is a little piece of me, my ideas and designs. Also, because its taken so long, I have had far too long to think about it... haha! If I do manage to reach the goal, to know so many people beloved in the idea I had will feel incredible.

Could you walk us through your “Creative” process and do you and Lotrek have a routine when designing the deck?
Me and Lotrek started off out of sync I think, but as our friendship grew, we began to understand each other better and near the end we could talk about and share ideas perfectly - I would send him my drawings with annotations, and lists of ideas and he would be completely in sync with me, coming back with what I had imagined or better. Lotrek has been brilliant at getting my ideas into the real thing and I could never thank him enough.

What role did you play in the art direction and how did you get feedback?
I guess I directed most of the art, although Lotrek did play a huge part. His opinions and ideas were always great and very helpful - especially as he has a lot more experience than me! As for feedback, my 2 friends Daniel Hybrids and Nick Stumphauzer played a big part too, always helping me out... and then of course there is the community - I would share idea on Instagram, youtube etc and everyone was really helpful with feedback.

What are your thoughts about the continuous strong growth of playing card projects?
Its brilliant! As a collector I love the increase, its just great to see more people out there, getting interested in cards , magic and cardistry! It looks like 2015 is going to be a very good year indeed! :)

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
My favorite decks of cards are the D&D Smoke and Mirror series. Particularly the original Eco and Denim decks and the Private Reserve. For me, that series of cards did everything right - each deck was more than just a colour change and really offered something new. Dan and Dave really know how to nail it! :)

Thank you for your time and all the best, Beau! At the time of writing, VOX Playing Cards is only 15% funded. If want to support Vox you can find it on Kickstarter here. 

Vox Playing Cards will be printed by Legends Playing Card Company on their Legendary Sharps finish. Pledge starts from £6 (~USD$10). Additional pledge tier such as uncut sheet, impossible bottle and skateboard wall art are available for this project.