Awesome Playing Cards

Inspired by the look of vintage ticket stubs, designer Jackson Robinson’s playing cards for Kings Wild Project definitely stand out from the crowd. Each card is splashed with a patchwork of colors and halftone patterns, while the court cards feature full-body images of the royal crew.

A collaboration between Art of Play and the USDA Forest Service, this unique deck of cards reminds us “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.” The court cards feature images of a dozen woodland creatures, illustrated by Sam Larson, along with fire-prevention tips scattered throughout the deck. Packed in a letterpress tuck box.

Do you collect decks of playing cards? This DIY kit from UGears lets you build a storage unit for up to a dozen decks. The ornate wooden deck holder opens up from a rectangle into an angled configuration for easy access to all 12 decks. It’s also great for storing tabletop game cards.

Animator Omozoc has entertained us with his delectable stop-motion meals. But in this clip, he uses the technique and 1667 individual still images to show some artful but physically impossible ways to deal cards. We’re a little surprised that he didn’t literally cut any cards.

Nintendo started out making playing cards, so it makes sense that they might occasionally dip their toe back in those waters. This official deck features images inspired by the game levels in various Super Mario games. Apparently, they’re a little thin compared to regular playing cards, so they’re best as a collector’s item.

Theory11 is back with another great Disney collab, this time taking on Marvel’s Avengers. The deck has court cards based on The Avengers themselves, while the card backs are adorned with their symbols, along with powerful objects like the Infinity Gauntlet and the Tesseract. Of course, Thanos is the Joker.

Following up on his Instant Noodle cards, magician Bao Hoang turns to another tasty treat as a source of inspiration: brown sugar bubble tea. The cards are decorated in soothing shades of brown and beige, decked out with tapioca pearls and playful court card illustrations incorporating the refreshing Taiwanese beverage.

Kings Wild Project’s money-inspired playing cards features intricate drawings that look like banknote engravings. Artist Jackson Robinson’s imagery is embellished with a foil printing technique that gives this deck and its box a shimmery holographic effect that mimics the anti-counterfeiting tech used in modern paper currency.

Designed by Jirs Huygen for Copag, these premium playing cards are great for magic, cardistry, or just playing a game of poker. They feature a black background with inverse fine line art in white or red ink, along with a skull motif throughout. The True Linen B9 finish is designed for smooth handling and longevity.

Created by CardCutz, this limited-edition deck is illustrated with a bold and modern art style, in which images seem to be moving between real and imaginary worlds. The cards are decorated in shades of pink and blue, with original court and suit imagery and an abstract back design.

Artist Chet Phillips created this awesome deck of playing cards featuring hand-drawn illustrations inspired by vintage matchbook covers. The subjects of each image are drawn from pop culture subjects, from Alien to Monty Python’s Holy Grail.

Artist Nadine Sophie designed and illustrated this impressive deck of cards which features images inspired by the gods and monsters of Greek mythology. The cards feature a bold monochromatic look, which brings out all of the light and shadow in Nadine’s detailed imagery. That Cerberus 3-headed dog is badass.

Spanish design studio Brosmind created these vibrant and trippy modern art playing cards for Bicycle. Each of the 56 cards features the artists’ abstract and imaginative characters, representing four colorful street gangs. They also have smiley face suit markers and brick wall backs.

Make Playing Cards is showing off a sweet new deck printed with neon inks that intensify under ultraviolet light. Their matching tuck case also glows brightly under black light. Limited to 5000 decks, along with special multi-deck “brick” packaging and an uncut sheet that would look awesome framed and illuminated.

Usually, domino displays are made with dominoes. But this Douyin (TikTok China) member prefers to build structures using bent playing cards. This compilation video from Animal Lover shows off a bunch of these amazing card displays being knocked over. The spiral that starts around 6:18 is really something special.

HypieLab’s second of a 2-deck series of cards inspired by vampires. This deck focuses on vampires from Western culture – the first was all Eastern vampires. The manga-style characters are based on those in pop culture, myths, and legends. The cards will come in four editions: Blood, Darkness, Secret, and Torpor.

Premium playing card brand Theory11 teamed up with Lucasfilm for another official Star Wars-inspired deck. It features Beskar silver, black, and red foil packaging, Mandalorian helmet back art, and custom court cards with characters from the series, including Mando, Cara Dune, and IG-11. Of course, Grogu is the Ace of Spades.

Artist Andy Elliot shows of an interesting craft technique that anyone can do using a couple of decks of cards, glue, a straight edge, and a hobby knife. By cutting out abstract shapes in each card, then layering them together, he ends up with a unique work of 3-dimensional art. If you’re really fancy, you could always try this.

We’re not sure why it took so long for someone to realize that gin was a natural subject for an illustrated deck of playing cards. Featuring 40 bottles of gin from around the world and 12 gin-based cocktails, these cards are perfect for playing Gin Rummy or any other card game… especially at cocktail hour.

Bazaardodo teamed up with nine great cyberpunk artists to create these neon-tinged playing cards. Its decks represent two factions: Wasteland Rebels and Elysion Technology, with character portrait face cards and honeycomb pattern number cards. A special edition Collection deck features hot foil stamping and UV effects.

Artist Chet Phillips expresses his askew world view with a wink and detailed renderings of creepy creatures from pop culture and literature. His limited-edition playing cards feature 58 illustrations of characters from Cthulhu to “The Muppets”’ Animal. Half the fun is how Phillips IDs the critters with pseudo-Latin names.

Marvelous Decks‘ created this colorful deck inspired by our tiny feathered friends. Holographic foil can be found throughout the deck, while the tuck case adds sculpted embossing and multiple foils for added effect. Available in red, blue, or purple. The gilded three-pack is extra special. Pre-orders start shipping 1.2021.

Inspired by an early 20th-century project in which artists predicted the future, Playing Arts invited dozens of artists to do the same for the year 2120. The unique and colorful images come printed on premium playing cards and work in concert with an augmented reality app to bring some of the designs to life. View all card designs here.