Peter McKinnon X Theory11 Collab Deck Drops TODAY!

Theory11 will drop the latest collab deck today (31st August)… this time, with Peter McKinnon Pete’s Pirate Life. With over 350k followers on Instagram (@petespiratelife), Pete’s PIrate Life is more than a brand, it’s a way of life, a sign of never giving up, taking risks, and living every day to the fullest.

The teaser images of Piracy playing cards posted on social media are just exquisite! So far, the tuck box looks incredible with intricate gold foil design and prominently features the logo and the motto of the brand, Fly the Flag.

There will be two concurrent drops. Single decks will be available on theory11.com and the Limited Edition Collector Box Sets will be available at petespiratelife.com at Noon EST today (31st August).

ARW V3 Playing Cards on Kickstarter!

Following the success of Luke Wadey‘s most ever funded, and community award-winning deck, ARW V2, the latest edition, V3 brings a vibrant new design to the palm of your hands, using neon ink! ARW V3 now takes street art and looks at it more in a hand-drawn form- a complex combination of arrows sketched to form a dark base and foundation for the card back. On the design, Luke mentioned,

Working on the ARW collection, I have found confidence in how I want the future decks to look – the large twin arrows form an instantly recognisable graphic which captures the eye in flourishes – cuts and fans and establish an ownable asset for the range. These also are great for isolation routines, and the two-way back means magic isn’t out of the question either.

For a real burst of colour, Neon ink is used. ARW V2 showed how great this could look under UV light, so get the V3 with a UV torch on it and watch the arrows, entwined in the background, come to life and catch the attention of any spectator. All four suits make use of the custom pips and include small subtle arrows in the form of cuts into the pip or acting as the base of the icon.

The custom courts have been updated with the neon arrows prominently featured. The contrast of colours in this deck is bold, it’s clean execution combined with freehand drawn effect takes the ARW collection in a new but familiar direction.

The eye-catching ace of spades embraces the style of the card back with hand-drawn arrows, typography and the iconic ARW arrow.

To follow the collection, the standard tuck box uses a similar layout as the previous ARW decks- bold typography and graphics, with new backgrounds and colours! Neon ink once more highlights the deck. Also, the sides of the tuck follow the fashion of previous ARW decks and they look great when lined up together!

The deck comes in TWO variations; V3 (printed by the USPCC) which is the standard deck, V3 LE (printed by MPC) featuring a full bleed back design and it is custom personalised. Pledge starts at $11 on Kickstarter.

Maya Sun and Moon Playing Cards, 48 Hours Remaining on Kickstarter

Less than 48 hours remaining on Kickstarter, the Maya Sun & Moon Playing Cards are inspired by Maya mythology. Produced by Vermilion Collection, the stunning decks come in two color variations: The Sun Deck” (red) and “The Moon Deck” (blue).

The fully custom deck features a full bleed back design featuring the symbol of the Hunab Ku (or the Galactic Butterfly). Often depicted as a black-and-white spiral galaxy, it resembles the yin-yang symbol of Asia.

Each face card has been meticulously researched and illustrated featuring Maya god or goddess represented in a distinctive way, showing off the charm of the mythology to the fullest extent.

The Ace of Spade is distinguished by the illustration of Chichen Itza, a large pre-Columbian city built by the Mayans of the Terminal Classic period. The Jokers use similar visuals to those on the tuck boxes but against faded backgrounds.

The cards are kept secured in beautifully crafted tuck boxes in their respective colorway featuring foil and embossing. The tuck includes a protective sleeve with hollowed-out design, showcasing the Sun and Moon design element of the tuck box.

Maya Sun & Moon comes in three editions (Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate) and are printed by BPCC (Standard and Deluxe editions) and MPC (Ultimate edition). Pledge starts at $15 on Kickstarter. Add-ons such as gift set half-brick boxes and commemorative coins are available during the campaign.

Deck View: Federal 52 (Green Foil Standard Edition) Playing Cards

Currency. Foil. Intricate.

From Kings Wild Project, this beautifully crafted deck is inspired by US banknotes and currency and features the original artwork of the Federal 52 but this time accentuated with stunning foil! From the intricate card backs, bold royals to the beautiful aces and jokers, the STUNNING foil blends perfectly with the meticulous details of the artwork. 

The deck is packaged in a green minimalist tuck box with silver foil, giving it a touch of elegance and class. The deck is printed by the Expert Playing Card Co.

Divergent Realms (Gaddis Deck) by Costa Pantazis

Costa Pantazis is a British musician, poet, comedian, and self-help satirist who enjoys playing cards. What begins as a little hobby of collecting cards, he ventured into creating his own brand of playing cards. His first successful project is the Primordial Playing Cards, a deck based on Greek mythology. In 2020, Costa started a series of playing cards revolving around people who pioneered the historic studies in the realm of supernatural mysticism, ancient aliens, dangerous technologies, and dark secrets. It is named “Divergent Realms”.

Divergent Realms will have up to 6 decks in the series, each deck with two variants – “Revealed” shows a colorful and bright scheme and “Concealed” shows an inverted dark scheme. It is expected the series will have a total of 12 decks – another 12 additional decks if gilded cards are counted in. A “volume” is named after a historical character and has a theme revolving around that character. All artworks for each volume are different. The previous two volumes had been successfully created – Vol.1 is about Sidney Gottlieb and the aspect of mind control; Vol. 2 is about Michael Faraday and the investigation of the spirit board. The current volume is now live on Kickstarter – Vol. 3 that revolves around the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, which phrase is invented by Argosy’s magazine author Vincent Hayes Gaddis.

Inside, the back design of the cards features a series of imageries surrounding the myth of the Bermuda Triangle, such as the prominent shape of a triangle on both sides and the picture of a ship sailing on the seas. There are tentacles in the illustrations, hinting that a sea creature might be suspected in the missing vessels. There is also spotted a picture of a UFO beaming up a human, indicating that the Triangle might be the work of aliens. The back design is bordered and will be printed in metallic ink. “Revealed” edition uses turquoise blue color while “Concealed” uses emerald green color. The gilded variants of the decks are gilded with metallic foil based on the edition’s color.

The artworks for the face cards are 100% custom. The Aces featured bigger pips with detailed iconographic. The Ace of Spades featured a sailing ship attacked by a sea creature. The numbered cards featured customized pips with unique pip arrangements and there is a background artwork behind those pips, which also can be found on the Aces.

The courts showcase brilliantly illustrated characters composed perfectly within the frame border. These characters are related to the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle: from the sailors and pilots who got lost in the waters to the humans hiding the aliens within. These are the works of Blackout Brother, also known as Charles Adi, a designer from Indonesia.

Each volume of “Divergent Realms” have its own customized coin, further exploring the theme of the deck. In Gaddis deck, the coin shows the sea creature called “Kraken”, a big cephalopod creature capable of destroying ships and taking the lives of seafarers. Also included is a metal card with customized artwork detailed etched that represents the entire series.

The tuck box for the deck is made with premium stock with metallic foils and embossing. It is made to look like a book, which if you line it up with the other decks, will create like a small collection of books. It has an interior artwork with a repeating pattern with the name of the character featured. Every deck will have a custom numbered seal.

The decks will be printed by the United States Playing Cards Co. and pledge starts at $12 for a single deck OR $24 for both decks on Kickstarter.

First Look icycle Apocalypse Playing Cards

Two years in the making, the Bicycle Apocalypse series by TCC features the dark art style of Sam Hayles, known for his popular Karnival series. Three unique decks are available during the Kickstarter campaign: Dead Souls, Lost Spirit, and Dragon Lord. As you would expect, all 3 decks are fully custom with bold and exquisite illustration lines, giving the decks a touch of mystery and macabre.

Dead Souls

This fully custom deck follows the art style of the Karnival decks, with skull and gothic design elements. Compared to the mysterious first edition, the new edition comes in a white colorway.

Inside, all card faces were redesigned, and the extra smoke rendering adds detail to card faces. Skull, spine, ribs, and carpal bones… each card faces are skeleton images. You can use the cards to put together a complete skeleton!

The courts are noblemen who are illustrious in their lifetime but still unwilling to return to the dust after their death, you can try to imagine their evil story. Joker’s bones belong to the ruler who still wears a crown on his head after his body has decayed and is unwilling to leave his throne.

Printed by the United States Playing Card Co. and limited to 2988 decks. Only 1,000 will be made available for the collection box.

Dragonlord

A 100% custom dragon theme deck designed with a combination of east and west design elements of the dragon. The mysterious deck is presented in a black and white colorway.

The deck features custom intricate hand-illustrated Ace and Jokers, prominently featuring the dragon. The design of face cards is updated with a black and gold color palette instead of the regular red and black suits, and a dated look to fit the overall theme of the deck.

The card backs showcase two awing dragons and black background without white edges. This Bicycle-branded deck is printed by USPCC and limited to 1343 decks. Only 1,000 are available in the collection box.

Lost Spirit

A macabre deck featuring fully custom artwork in a gray/silver colorway. Within, the face cards showcase fantastic detail and intricate design. Spade, clubs, hearts, and diamonds all use standard traditional suits, and the face cards are updated with a gray and white texture, adding a dark, and strange vibe.

For the card backs, the overlay of several layers of texture further enhances its already strong sense of solemnity, creating a mysterious and noble sense. Two jokers are Death who wears a black cloak and stares out of the frame.

Printed by USPCC and Limited to 1260 decks. 1,000 will be made available for the wooden collector box.

Wooden Box Set

Wooden boxes have long been the top and most expensive collector’s option. The elegant set includes all three decks and coins in the release, stored in a wooden collection box. The design of each deck is to the coin collection, and each unique artwork and design element is clearly visible on the coin.

Pledge starts at $59.90 for the box set (Early Bird Price is 45% OFF) on Kickstarter.

Abstract Playing Cards by Ruben Albrecht

Dutch graphic designer Ruben Albrecht designed a deck of playing cards that went viral on the design platform, dribble. With so much positive feedback, Reuben and his friend Dinand van der Graaf, a UX designer, have decided to launch a Kickstarter project and make Abstract Playing Cards a reality.

The overall design of the cards is to be as minimalistic as possible. The traditional black color for black suits had been redesigned into a more fitting beautiful blue. The red suits retain their original color. The court cards are redesigned to an abstract geometrical version of themselves – they are made with only four primary shapes: rectangles, squares, circles, and triangles.

The back design is a mesmerizing abstract artwork consisting of those primary shapes and it is symmetrical so the deck is a standard two-way deck.

The tuck box design is based on the card back design- it is a full bleed artwork of geometric abstract artwork covering all areas of the box. The decks will be produced by Noirs Playing Cards Company. Pledge starts with $14 for a single deck on Kickstarter.

Coco Palms Playing Cards by OPC

Coco Palms Playing Cards is an exciting new deck concept from Organic Playing Cards. The deck features calming sky blue/brown colorway with recognizable semi-custom court cards!

The bordered card back design features a mirrored design featuring coconut husk.

The tuck box and half brick box are brilliantly designed and fit the theme extremely well!

The deck is printed by USPCC on premium crushed stock. Limited run of 3,000. Available now from riffleshuffle.com for $8.95.

On Kickstarter, Purple Aurora Chillies Playing Cards

Designed by Stephen O’Neill and only 3 days remaining on Kickstarter, the Chilles Playing Cards series celebrates Mexican design and Maya culture. The Purple Aurora Chillies deck is the latest addition to the playing cards series.

The fully custom deck features a mirrored card back in a purple monochromatic repeated pattern and a sophisticated chilli broken border. Mixing the Traditional with expression, the courts are standard but with an added twist of spice. Each Card hides capsicum-inspired flourishes and vignettes to keep things heated. Designed to honour playing card heritage.

The elegant Ace of Spades features a Capsicum-inspired new look, based on the beautiful but delicate flowers that would become our fiery fruits.

The deck is packaged in a classic tuck box with hidden influences from Mexican Design and Maya Culture. Each tuck in the series reveals part of a hexaptych image that celebrates the spicy fruit.

Meticulously printed on the iconic Slim-Line stock with Premium B9 finish by Cartamundi. Available NOW on Kickstarter for $13.

Deck View: Headlong Into Eternity Playing Cards

Hypnotic. Collab. Artistic.

Headlong Into Eternity Playing Cards is a collab deck between Anyone Worldwide and New York artist B. Thom Stevenson. The deck features custom artwork in a predominantly black/white colorway of niche yet ubiquitous images on the Ace of Spades, Courts, and Jokers. The card back comes with a hypnotic circle pattern, which is also showcased on the tuck box. The deck was released in early 2019 and quickly sold out.

Creators: Ten Hundred Tours GW Facilities

Nine months ago, Vivid Kingdoms became the most successful playing cards campaign in Kickstarter’s history! The campaign is in the final stages of production right now and Ten Hundern shared some behind-the-scenes video of how the Vivid Kingdom playing cards sleeves are being manufactured and also a quick tour of the Gamblers Warehouse facilities.

Cardistry: 3 Questions With Joe Feldpausch of 3DOTDECK

Now on Kickstarter, the 3DOTDECK is conceptualized and designed by Joe Feldpausch. For the past decade, Joe has been pursuing cardistry and this interest led him to pursue a degree in creative arts. His dream has always been to integrate his passion for cardistry with his design degree to create something truly unique and special for the cardistry community. On the design of the deck, Joe told Kardify,

I fell in love with intentional design and solving creative problems through reason-based form and shape. My dream has always been to integrate my passion for cardistry with my skill in design to create something truly unique and special for the cardistry community. From that dream, the 3DOTDECK was created!

This unique fully custom cardistry deck features the displacement of three white dots on a black background, adding extra movement and one-of-a-kind visuals when the cards are shuffled or riffled.

Earlier this week, we had a chat with Joe about the inspiration behind 3DOTDECk, the support from the community, and his favorite flourish and playing cards.

What is your inspiration behind the 3DOTDECK? How did you come up with the idea?
I have always loved understated designs, designs that are both practical and fueled with intent, yet also visually striking and meticulously beautiful. When brainstorming ideas for my first deck of cards, I sought to create a minimal, practical focused, timeless design that would aid in enhancing the cardistry artform in every aspect possible. I wished to design a deck that no matter what order, direction, or orientation the cards were facing, the conceptual idea behind the design would not fail. With this vision in mind, and through much trial and error, the 3DOTDECK was born. A visually striking, meticulously designed set of 55 playing cards created solely for the artform of cardistry.

We first noticed the deck on Instagram. What do you think of the playing card community in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting so far?
Sharing my designs with the playing card community has been quite a daunting yet gratifying experience. The 3DOTDECK is very (okay extremely) minimal, which some people no doubt despise. However, understated design is what I am truly passionate about. I wanted to create a deck that I myself would personally love, I could only hope that others see value in the design as well.

Upon sharing the campaign with the community, I am very grateful for the support and kind words which have been coming my way. When others show appreciation for the concept and intentionality behind the design, it truly is the most gratifying experience. Releasing an original deck of cards has been a dream of mine ever since being introduced to cardistry a decade ago. I am hopeful that soon many people around the globe will be able to hold and use something which I have poured my entire heart, time, and efforts towards for the past year.

Finally, what are your favorite card flourishes and decks?
I have always gravitated towards flourishes that are either highly visual, showcase a clear intent, or demonstrate an understanding of unity, rhythm, and visual balance. My move Waterbend (totally not biased here) is one of my favorite flourishes as it represents a highly visual move with clear intent. Regarding rhythm and visual balance, many of the moves created by Nikolaj Honoré demonstrate this beautifully. Take Barolo 2 for example, despite very simple grips he is able to create a beautifully unified flourish through repetition of similar movements and a perfect understanding of visual tension and timing.

Regarding a few of my favorite decks, I really enjoy a nice minimal and bold design (imagine that). Many of the playing cards produced by Lotusinhand stand out amongst others. In particular, I really enjoy their Flux, Duo, Normal, and Solid line of decks. I have always admired their bold designs and their efforts to rethink what a deck of cards can be through their experimental uses of inks, materials, and concepts.

If you want to support Joe and the 3DOTDECK, head over to the campaign page on Kickstarter here! Pledge starts at $10 and the deck will be printed by the USPCC on Classic Bicycle stock, traditionally cut with air cushion finish.