News: Tycoon Playing Cards Returns With Ivory Edition

Last Friday, Theory11 unveiled the latest edition of Tycoon Playing Cards, the Ivory Edition. This is the fourth release in the series, following the Red, Blue, and Black Edition.

This elegant deck is produced in collaboration with Steve Cohen - star of Chamber Magic at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria in New York.

This latest Ivory Edition features an off-white, premium tuck case, shielded in gold foil. The back design on the cards is printed with striking gold metallic ink.

The courts are licensed from Fournier in Villareal de Álava, Spain, the Jacks, Queens, and Kings have skin tone faces - joined by an elegant, debonair Joker and Ace of Spades.

Available now for $9.95 from theory11.com


Images from Theory11.com

First Look: Superior Brand Classic Back

Coming from Conjuring Arts and the Expert Playing Card Co. the latest release of the highly successful and beautifully crafted Superior Brand. We're hearing that there will be 2 new colors available, one of which is the blue back pictured here that there will be some very special promotion offered when the decks release to the public.

Keep an eye out and we'll be sure to post details as they become available.

Deck View: The Kings Wild Blue Tally Ho

Revamp. History. Colourful.

The Tally Ho brand has been a staple for over a hundred years. Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild Project was given the privilege by the United States Playing Card Company to be one of the first people in their long history to revamp the look and design of Tally Ho from the ground up.

The Kings Wild Blue Tally Ho was given a new iconic back design, gorgeous new tuck case, a beautiful new set of standard court cards and an updated Ace of Spades and Joker design. Incredibly well done!

Available from JP Games.

New Sons of Liberty Playing Cards in Patriot Blue Released

Along with the Vintage Plaids, Dan and Dave are also releasing the stunning Patriot Blue Edition of the acclaimed Sons of Liberty Playing Cards in conjunction with the launch of the all-new dananddave.com.

The updated tuck box is among the most exquisite the Buck twins have ever produced, featuring sculptural embossing in both bronze and pewter foil. The cards themselves feature a plethora of masonic imagery, a Liberty Tree ace of spades, and a tax stamp seal. A handful of the Son’s most patriotic members are represented on the court cards in 18th-century style etching.

The card stock itself has undergone a unique crushing procedure, in order to guarantee a thin and snappy deck that handles magnificently.

You don't want to miss this one! Head over to the new dananddave.com, add to cart and check out!

News: Dan and Dave Releases Updated Design of Vintage Plaid Playing Cards

The Vintage Plaid Playing Cards are being unveiled in conjunction with the launch of the all-new dananddave.com. These classy decks feature a brand new embossed tuck complete with gold lettering, and in addition, all around back-design printing within.

Not only have the tuck box been recreated, the Buck twins have gone a step further and created an all new Ace of Spades along with two Jokers.

If this wasn’t enough, they raised the bar even further and included an all new typeface that adds a sleek component to the deck’s already rugged yet refined feel.

Here's Dan Buck to tell us more,

By far one of our favorite decks, Vintage Plaids have become a staple in every card man’s collection and has been highly sought after since we sold out years ago. Inspired by our camping trips as children, each deck pays homage to the great outdoors. We’re proud to say that while the original Vintage Plaids hold a special place in our hearts, our new updated design of the deck takes the cake. They are something to behold.

Masterfully printed by the United States Playing Cards Company on the trademark "Thin Stock". We recommend you act quickly—these are bound to go fast.

News: Patrick Kun Teases New Version of Mirage Playing Cards on Instagram

Magician Patrick Kun posted an unboxing video of the new version of Mirage (Dawn Edition) Playing Cards this week in advance of his Asia lecture tour in July. The new version will be available exclusively on tour first before the official launch in August 2016.

A video posted by Patrick Kun (แพททริค คุณ) (@patrickkun) on Jun 21, 2016 at 8:08pm PDT

The Dawn Edition features a predominantly Maroon Red colourway with a touch of champaign gold weaved throughout the deck, giving it an elegant look. The deck includes a subtle marking system.

The eye-catching deck is finished off with matching gold perforated seal and stunning gold foil on a pearlescent Maroon red tuck.

Be sure to head over to PatrickKun.com and subscribe to the mailing list for updates.

First Look: Doong Doong Playing Cards by Khanh

Two years in the making, Doong Doong Playing Cards are designed by Khanh.This exotic deck is inspired by the pattern motifs on the Dong Son bronze drums and Lac Viet culture. From the circles, triangles, Viet bird and deer, the Doong Doong is designed according to the characteristics of the ancient culture in Vietnam with a modern twist and brings a touch sophistication.

The intricate back design is made out of four Viet birds flying around the rhombus features detailed characteristics adapted from Lac Viet culture.

According to Khanh, the four Viet birds represents the number of years since iV, a cardistry and sleight of hand group in Saigon, Vietnam, was established- "VII VII MMXII – VII VII MMXVI".

On the court cards, Khanh said,

I wanted to design something classic but contemporary in nature, hence no borders, no standard faces and new weapons.

Printed by Legends Playing Card Co, Doong Doong Playing Cards are designed with card enthusiasts, cardists, sleight of hand artists and poker players in mind.

Doong Doong Playing Cards is scheduled to launch on Indiegogo in July 2016. To keep up to date with Doong Doong Playing Cards and anything iV, follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

Deck View: Bloodlines Playing Cards

Royals. Tradition. Fresh.

Designed by Billy French, Bloodlines Playing Cards is an eye-catching deck that derives it's name from the tradition of playing cards - the royal families.

This fully custom deck is inspired by Billy's desire to bring a fresh look to the face cards. The tuck is deep red with Gold Foil accents and the court cards are unique in that rather than the traditional courts, these cards are represented by the kings, queens, knights and weapons, each with their own traits and personalities.

Bloodlines are printed by the US Playing Card Co and available from BillyFrench.com. For more cool playing cards, check out JP Games.

7 Questions with Wylie Beckert of the Wicked Kingdom Playing Cards

Hand-painted by fantasy illustrator Wylie Beckert, Wicked Kingdom is an art-rich deck of playing cards set in a dark fantasy world and populated by a cast of strange and complex characters. Each character has a personality, a backstory... and a hidden agenda.

This gorgeous deck features insanely detailed, hand-drawn artwork with a dark fantasy flair. Custom-designed subtle one-way card backs, hand-drawn pips, elegantly watermarked number cards, and dual-identity face cards make for an art-rich playing card deck for cardists, collectors, and fans of the fantasy genre.

We reached out to Wylie and had a quick chat about her design background, the inspiration & design process behind the Wicked Kingdom and her thoughts on the support from the playing card community.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
I'm an illustrator working mainly in the sci-fi/fantasy genre; I love creating images that tell a story. It's always been a challenge to find commercial applications for my work - whimsical, stylized, and traditionally painted - in an industry that tends to favor photorealism and a slick digital finish. As a result, over the past few years, I've gravitated more and more towards creating personal work and building my own projects. Wicked Kingdom is my first large-scale personal project; it was an opportunity to stop trying to fit the square peg of my art into the round hole of commercial work and instead carve out a niche of my own.

What is your inspiration behind the Wicked Kingdom Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea?
I started the Wicked Kingdom project because I wanted to use card art - a medium that is typically more decorative than illustrative - to tell a story. I thought that the classic two-way court cards would be a perfect opportunity to explore multiple facets of each character's identity, and to play those opposing halves against each other to build a backstory for each card. There are essentially two faces of each character: a "light" side, and a "dark" side - although there is a great deal of overlap between the two!

Talk to us a bit about going from the first draft to the final version. How did you get to this finished product? 
Before I even started sketching, I explored the concept for each card in writing: idea maps, random word associations, and pages and pages of circuitous scribblings. Once I'd hit on one possible identity for a character - for example, the gardener who would become the King of Spades - I had to ferret out a second, interrelated yet opposing concept for the reverse of the card (in this case, a gravedigger!)

From there, I would begin to design the visuals for my character - figuring out what elements would best tell the story, and sketching out how to arrange it all visually. My initial sketches were extremely rough; through several stages of drawing, I refined my rough concepts into polished, detailed pencil drawings ready for layers of ink, watercolor, and oil paint.

Skipping the digital tools and creating each card in traditional media was an extremely time-intensive process, but I feel like it added an extra depth to the images that would be hard to achieve digitally. I had the wherewithal to document the process for each card in photos and written notes; I've assembled this documentation into mini art tutorials to include in the Kickstarter campaign for the deck (the King of Spades process can be found here.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck? 
When I realized that the stories I was building for each card could be more than standalone - I could weave them together to create a larger narrative for each suit, and hint at an overarching storyline for the entire deck. Once I had this breakthrough, the brainstorming stage for each card became even more intense and the resulting images became more and more interesting.

From the project page, what are a few of your favorite reward levels and why? 
My #1 favorite reward is the deck itself. It was a daunting but exciting process to set aside my finished artwork and tackle all the design work that went into the deck - card layouts, tuck design, lettering - even the pips had to fit the painstakingly detailed, hand-painted aesthetic of the deck. After going to such great lengths to make sure everything fit together perfectly, I can't wait to see it all come together in the finished deck.

A close second is the Postcard Print Pack - a fun little set of postcard-sized prints featuring the artwork on one side, and the character's backstory on the other. Since the narrative element was such a huge part of building the deck, I wanted to make sure backers could enjoy the written aspect of the cards along with the art.

We’ve been following Wicked Kingdom Playing Cards for awhile in the forums. What do you think of the playing card community in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting so far? Also, can we expect to see more card designs from you in the future? 
I'm really thrilled to have come across the playing card community while building this deck - the amount of knowledge and support to be found in it is enormous. It can sometimes be a challenge to incorporate all the feedback you get into a design - different people want different things out of a card deck, and often one piece of advice will be at odds with another.

In the end, I think I found a balance that did justice to both my own vision and the preferences of the playing card community. A few small but significant improvements to the deck (such as the elaborate design of the card back) can be credited directly to help I got in the forums! And yes, there will definitely be more card decks in my future! I suspect I'll need a break after the Kickstarter, but I'm already starting to get ideas for Round 2...

Finally, what are your favorite playing cards? 
There are so many visually striking decks out there that it's impossible to pick one. The Wicked Kingdom deck definitely drew a lot of inspiration from tarot cards, with their narrative component, visual symbolism, and multiple levels of meaning. The Rider-Waite deck, while rather unspectacular art-wise, was on my mind a lot as I designed my own concepts.

Thank you for your time Wylie and congratulations on hitting the funding goal! If you like what you’ve read here and want to support the Wicked Kingdom Playing Cards (currently 173% funded), you can find it on Kickstarter here.


This deck will be printed by the USPCC. Pledge starts from $15 and there are multiple add-ons available such as postcard print pack, limited edition print set and uncut sheet.

Playing Arts (Third Edition) Playing Cards by Digital Abstracts

The team behind Digital Abstracts (DA), an online magazine about art, design, products and trends is back this year with the Third Edition, and a Special Edition of its popular Playing Arts deck.

Each deck features 55 designers and illustrators from all over the world. The face cards are custom and the standard fifty two cards are used to represent the distinct style and technique of each artist. Exemplifying the uniqueness of this deck.

Backers of the project will be able to discover new cards each day and a quick interview with the artist of the Third Edition on the project’s website. Also, DA has launched an international design contest that will give 55 artist a chance showcase their talents in the Special Edition deck. Backers of the Special Edition deck will make up the judging panel once the campaign has successfully funded to choose the winner of the contest.

The decks will be printed by the US Playing Card Co. on their famous Bicycle Card Stock. Cards will be coated with the Air Cushion Finish. At the time of writing, the project is 90% funded with 11 days to go. If you want to support the Playing Arts decks, head on over to the Kickstarter page to back this project.

Don't miss out!

Card Gear: Magic & Coffee

Card Gear is our monthly feature dedicated to discovering new inventory, setup and accessories used everyday by card designers, cardists, magicians and collectors. The concept originated from the popular social media site, Instagram: #passthepockets. Whenever one of these hashtags come up on the social news feed, there's always something new to discover, no matter who that person is.

This month we have the gears of Magician/Designer Edo Huang. Edo is the founder of Edo Huang Design and well known for his playing card designs such as Nautical, Sky Island, Black Friday and Victorian Room.

Edo spends most of his time at the coffee shop, where he performs close-up magic for customers, learns how to make good coffee and brainstorms new ideas for his playing card designs. Edo loves to meet people and shares his magic. You can see his work on Instagram @edohuang.

Here are Edo's gears. He is really picky about what he brings and use daily for his magic performance.
+ Louis Vuitton men clutch bag
+ Moscot eyeglasses
+ Mont Blanc wallet
+ iPhone 6 Plus
+ Apple watch sport
+ Keepcup
+ Sharpie
+ Lo'ccocitane Hand cream
+ Lo'ccocitane Hand sanitizer
+ Card Coffee Collective Playing cCrds
+ Hocus Pocus Playing Cards
+ Nautical Playing Cards
+ Business card
+ Gatsby card clip

What’s yours? If you would like your card gears to be featured on Kardify, contact us.

Deck View: Union Playing Cards

History. Patriotic. America.

A stunning deck of playing cards from Theory11 designed by Jay Fletcher. Over a year in the making, Union Playing Cards are filled with imagery of the American Revolution — with a message of freedom, hope, and independence.

Union feature a heavy stock tuck with a beautiful Bronze foiling and embossing give the deck a really nice impression at first glance. The courts depict characters fitting the time period and looks fantastic with the Americana theme and colour scheme. The Ace of Spades features an Eagle with outstretched wings and the top of the spade being composed of the Ole' Stars and Stripes.

Union Playing Cards are Made in America, using FSC-certified paper, vegetable-based inks, and starch-based laminates. Available from JP Games.

Dedalo Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries Funded Within 7 Hours

In less than 7 hours, the Kickstarter campaign for Thirdway Industries’ Dedalo Playing Cards has reached its €20,000 funding goal. Dedalo is inspired by mythology and meticulously illustrated by Giovanni Meroni with a sharp and modern style.

Dedalo Alpha, Dedalo Omega and Dedalo Apeiron are available on the Kickstarter project. Check out our First Look for the backstory and details.

The first stretch goal is at €30,000 and unlocks embossing on all Dedalo tucks. Given that the campaign only launched 24 hour ago and still has 29 days to go, it’s not hard to believe that a number of stretch goals will be smashed by then.

Dedalo Playing Cards will be printed by Expert Playing Card Co. and features rich and complex lore, which complements the artistry of the images. It is currently standing at €23,312 from 338 backers.

Don't miss out!

Card Radar: Run It Once (First Edition) Playing Cards

Created by professional poker player Phil Galfond, Run It Once (RIO) is a place where poker enthusiasts and contribute professional-level strategy. The RIO crew partnered up with Underbelly to design the first edition of the Run It Once Playing Cards.

The Classy RIO brand is reflected by it’s clean, elegant and luxurious logo. The deck was meticulously designed to match the palatial look and feel of the brand. The team at Underbelly landed on a style that was sleek, geometric and modern.

Each suit was designed with a unique personality to give the deck depth and variety while still remaining true to RIO’s brand. Diamonds are crafted to be rugged and adventurous, spades strong an ruthless, clubs secretive and seductive, and hearts trustworthy and approachable.

The deck features a one-way back and are printed on plastic playing card stock.

RIO’s logo is prominently displayed on the black tuck laced with black foil, giving it a touch of class and elegance.

Priced at $20 per deck and currntly out of stock at store.runitonce.com

Deck View: Fandangled (First Edition) Playing Cards

Angled. Modern. Unique.

Designed by Stewart West and John Johnson of TunnelBravo, the Fandangled Playing Cards are a modern take on the traditional deck with all new suits, pips, courts, jokers and backs.

According to the designers, they've re-branded the classic playing card deck – looking at every aspect from a new angle. Literally. Every element of the design is angled. The deck features intricate geometric line-work, a unique approach to face cards and suits.

The cards are printed on Bicycle-grade stock by the United States Playing Card Company. Available from JP Games.

First Look: Jaguar Playing Cards by 9780 Design

[Update] Jaguar Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

Jaguar Playing Cards is an elegant and bold deck is created by 9780 Design studio, designer of Venom, Venom Strike and Dr. Jekyll and Hyde Playing Cards. Jaguar Playing Cards are inspired by what the animal represents - Mystery - Bold - Simplicity - Precision.

The Black Edition is the first in the series of Jaguar's new line of signature playing cards. Wrapped in alluring black with the magnificent beast on the tuck, these cards commission a perfect blend of minimalistic beauty and a striking design.

Jaguar will be printed by the Expert Playing Card Co., ensuring the same storied quality and will feature a gorgeous black stock matte tuck case.

A second deck will be offered in the Kickstarter campaign. Here’s Manoj Kaushal to tell us more,

For the stretch goals we wanted to create a prized possession, a deck that looked like jewelled in gold. Caged inside stretch goal is Jaguar Cards dipped in pure molten gold. Mesmerising is the word to describe the sight of the beast in front of the tuck carved in gold. 

[Update] Jaguar Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

The provisional launch date for the campaign will be 03 June 2016.


To keep up to date with Jaguar and anything 9780 Design Studio, visit 9780design.com