Cardistry: 3 Questions with Juan Lorenzo Cobo of Paperwave Playing Cards

Image by Edoardo Cavalieri

Designed by New York-based graphic designer, Lorenzo Cobo, Paperwave Playing Cards are born from an exploration of style. Lorenzo wanted to design a deck that combines mysterious, stylish, and nostalgic design elements, that would culminate in a homage to the Synthwave music genre and culture, also known as Retrowave.

Lorenzo is currently a junior graphic design student at Purchase College in New York. He grew up surrounded by art, from his mom being a ballet teacher to his dad being a photographer, art and design have always been in his life, slowly inspiring him to be a creative individual. Last week, we sat down with Lorenzo for a quick Q&A on the Paperwave deck.

What is your inspiration behind the Paperwave Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea?
I have been working on Paperwave for over two years now, and it has been a dream of mine to produce a deck of cards for even longer. This deck design was born from an exploration of style. I wanted to design a deck that mixed enigmatic, stylish, and nostalgic elements, that would culminate in a homage to the Synthwave music genre and culture, also known as Retrowave. Many things inspired and informed the design of this deck, from 80’s science fiction and scientific diagrams, to some of my favorite Synthwave artists such as Kavinsky and Power Glove, to the father of Optical art, Victor Vasarely.

Picture by Limus Schmidt

We first noticed the deck on Instagram. What do you think of the community in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting so far?
This is the most welcoming community I have ever been a part of, I have managed to meet a lot of great people through instagram, many of whom I have never even met in person, but I can confidently call them my friends. As far as the feedback and support goes, it has completely exceeded all my expectations. I thought that If my Kickstarter campaign managed to get 20% funded on the first few days I could maybe have a chance of getting funded, needless to say, I was totally shocked once it managed to get funded on the first few hours! I could have never anticipated the amazing support from the people in the community. This is a project I have spend countless hours of work into, hence, I am very grateful and humbled to see all the positive feedback from the community.

Image by Pablo Frey

Finally, what are your favorite playing card decks?
My top three favorite playing cards, in no particular order, are blue circle back Tally Ho, for their unrivaled, timeless look and durability, Wavy Playing Cards by Nathan Stichter, for their tasteful use of a minimalistic back design and beautiful complexity of the faces, and Headlong Into Eternity by A1, for having what could be my favorite custom court cards ever.

Paperwave Playing Cards is already 258% funded with only 11 days to go! Head on to Kickstarter if you want to support Lorenzo. Pledge starts at $10.

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