Cardistry: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Diva Playing Cards by Alex Matencio

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

Created by Alex Matencio (Instagram: @alxmtnc), Diva Playing Cards is a vibrant geometric deck designed with cardists in mind, launching on Kickstarter 17th March. The deck was born after Alex met with Lucie Leger and Claire Fournier in May last year. They spoke to Alex about designing a deck of cards after learning that he is a designer.

According to Alex,

I had this idea of customizing a deck since I started Cardistry back in summer 2015, but never really found a solid idea. To be honest I simply wasn’t really dedicated to it. It’s only after we had this conversation the three of us that I came up with a back design idea a week later. I showed them the result and they loved it! I worked diligently until I finished designing and customizing all 54 cards.

Here are 5 things you didn't know about Diva Playing Cards:

1. The name Diva came after Claire & Lucie, who, Alex believed, are the real Divas.
Alex told Kardify, "It actually has a long story, I didn’t come up with it instantly. But long story short, I named it in honor of those two young French Divas."

2. Street Art.
For the Diva teasers, Alex often shoots in locations in Paris with street art.
"I moved back in 2015 in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, where I discovered the quite astonishing street gallery of Galerie Itinerrance, which employs various worldwide artists to give life to this « low-cost » neighborhood of Paris. Trust me on this, when you’re surrounded by aged, gray-ish social housings (mostly towers) in a city of predominant gray clouds, but spot around the corner an immense artwork covering an entire facade right in between of the splenetic ambiance and insipid colors, it warms your soul and makes your day. Street art significantly changed the way I see art today." Beyond street art, Alex's main inspiration is the 3D artist Peter Tarka (Dribble:   Behance:   ), who endorses geometric design as its best.

3. Geometric Art
The second inspiration is the late Ukrainian Sonia Delaunay (1885 - 1979), and her modern and geometric art of her time. "Although you will see more in the near future how much of an influence she became to me, she has her part in Diva as it is. My upcoming deck is more complex."

4. Cardistry-Con 2016
Adding to the list of inspiration (a few might have already noticed), is the Berlin CC16 deck by Next Exit, but contrary to what people may think, it is not the main. "When I spotted the design for the first time before the Con, I realized how modern card design could evolve like today if done well. It is for me a major turn in deck design - not mentioning the Dot deck by Anyone Worldwide. While the geometric genre is older than most of our parents, it remains a strong compound of today’s flat art since the rise of vectors, and I’m happy to see it making its way into Cardistry this well. Since I’m into web/app design and flat illustrations (conceived for the web), I have to say that flat design is something I deal and work with on a daily basis, and, even if it is not that apparent in Diva, it has its huge impact on the way I conceive art today."

5. Colors
The colors of Diva Playing Cards are highly inspired by Alex's mother, Patricia Matencio. "It’s an actual very unconscious influence. She’s the eccentric kind of artist, who will use various vivid colors of all genres to enlighten her environments such as her home decoration, atelier, and garden. Great against melancholia. It’s only a few months after I started communicating about the Diva deck and investing about my own color choice, that I realized I took inspiration from my own home. Mothers always tend to become an influence in your way of being or seeing things in life."

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

Diva Playing Cards be available on Kickstarter, March 17th! The deck will be printed by Cartamundi on their famous B9 stock. Follow Diva Playing Cards on Instagram to get updates on this eye-catching deck.