First Look: Marquis Playing Cards by Brendan Hong

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

Launching tomorrow March 25th at 12pm EST on Kickstarter the latest project from Brendan Hong, Marquis. Brendan has his own unmistakable style and look. Beautiful court cards and amazing line work are a common element of all his work. The project will be printed by The Expert Playing Card Co. and will be presented in 3 versions, Noble, Royal and Imperial Editions. The project will feature some beautiful elements such as gold foil on the card backs of the Royal and Imperial Editions.

Hard at work bringing the final touches of this project together, Brendan was nice enough to take a break from the Marquis project to give us a little insight into the inspiration and development of his new playing cards.

Speaking on the inspiration, Brendan had this to say,

Marquis Playing Cards is inspired by my love of classical designs of playing cards. One of my favorite joys whenever I get a deck is seeing the court cards. I've loved all those wonderful designs and variations that designers had created in the past. They had to create something that is very recognizable, but yet they wanted to put their own spin and creative flair in that. Some of my favorite modern decks have been seeing different designers takes on this challenge and the wonders they have created. This was the challenge I attempted for myself with the Noble edition of Marquis Playing Cards.

As for the back design,

I wanted it to feel timeless. I spent a lot of time researching and looking at Victorian and Baroque artworks and prints to learn the language of their design. I think I could spend a lifetime trying to learn to do all the amazing and wonderful things that those designers were able to do, but I feel I was able to capture that feel within this design.

For the Royal edition, Brendan wanted to do more,

One of my favorite modern decks has been Uusi's Blue Blood deck. It was a very well done deck, but I love where Uusi just went beyond and created a whole narrative story behind all the courts. That is what has pulled me towards illustration, the idea that pictures tell all these wonderful stories. In creating the court cards for the Royal edition, I created this story and back history to the cards and how they relate to each other. The campaign also features a beautifully etched Carat Case encased Imperial Edition, complete with custom wax seals.

Brendan continued,

I had the pleasure and luck to work with Sherman to design a custom Carat Card Case for the project. It was something I wanted to do and I thought it'd be wonderful to do something special for Marquis. We've worked together to create a fully engraved Carat Card Case on all six panels. The Imperial Edition of Marquis, which features the same artwork as for the Royal edition, is housed in its own sealed Carat Card Case.

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

To see more on this amazing project mark your calendar for tomorrow's launch and help bring another stunning deck to fruition. Multiple tiers will be available from single decks to bundled tiers featuring limited edition prints. We want to thank Brendan for his time and wish him the very best on his new project.