Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Dmitry Lebedev of Invasion Playing Cards

Conceptualized and designed by father and son team of Dmitry Lebedev and Nikita Lebedev, Invasion Playing Cards are a fully custom deck currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. Invasion features four different alien races, each representing a different suit. The hand-illustrated court cards showcase the alien leaders while the aces are the spaceships they conquer the planets with. The deck is kept in a tuck box, with embossing and silver foil on the exterior and a full map of Milky Way Galaxy printed on the inside.

Last week, we had a chat with Dmitry about his design background, inspiration and design process behind the Invasion deck.

For those of us who don’t know,  can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
My name is Dmitry Lebedev, I'm a professional graphic designer with more than 20 years of experience. This deck was created in collaboration with my son Nikita Lebedev, he is an experienced cardist.

Can you describe Invasion Playing Cards and why you are passionate about it?
Invasion Playing Cards is the first playing cards deck I've ever designed. I put a lot of work into it, it took more than a year to take it from an idea all the way to a project launch. I had to start over multiple times because I didn't like where it was going, I feel satisfied with the final result.

Every piece of this deck is customized: the tuck box, faces, pips, and bucks. Both faces and backs contain metallic silver ink. The tuck box contains silver foil on it. The tuck box for this deck contains a lot of easter eggs and references that people would appreciate, for some of them you would have to unfold the tuck box since they are hidden in folded parts of the box. The design was inspired by War of The Worlds by Herbert George Wells that I read as a child growing up in snowy Russia.

Talk to us a bit about going from the first draft to the final version. How did you get to this finished product?
As I mentioned before, I had to start over multiple times, because I didn't like where it was going. I didn't want to make a deck for cardists or illusionists, but I didn't want to make a funky, collectors only deck either. So I ended up making 2 designs, one of which is using a full custom marking system. The pipes index was inspired by the movie Predator (1987), it was intended to look like an encrypted numeric system, that you as a player can learn over time and become fluent at.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
The most brilliant breakthrough when designing a deck for me was the fact, that making minimal changes to the second deck (blood edition) design can significantly change the overall tone of it. It became more impressive, magnificent, and brutal at the same time.



With so many playing card projects competing for funding, why should potential backers choose your deck?
First of all, this deck is high quality, it will be printed at one of the leading companies in this field, the design is well thought-through, this deck might be appealing not only to deck collectors and magicians but also to sci-fi fans.

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future?
I already have a bunch of ideas cooking for future projects. Basing on the experience and feedback I already received by working on this deck, I started working on a new design that will be more appealing for a bigger audience, and possibly more successful then Invasion Playing Cards deck.



Finally, what are your favorite playing card decks?
My favorite playing card deck as of right now would be National by theory11. It got a full custom design including faces, pips, and tuck box. It is simple enough to be used for games and performances, but it is fully custom and it does stand out from the crowd.

Thank you for your time Dmitry and all the best! At the time of writing Invasion Playing Cards are only 56% funded with 35 days to go. If you like what you've read here and want to support Dmitry you can find it on Kickstarter Here!


Pledge starts at $16 and Invasion playing cards will be printed by the Expert Playing Card Company on the classic stock.