Deck Development: The Joker and the Ace of Spades of Hidden Leaves by Mahdi Gilbert

On our new series, Deck Development, we follow the progression of a deck of playing cards starting with the design inspiration to the final product you will hold in your hands. The designer will explain development decisions and may show the development process as well as the result itself.

This is the third part of our look at the design development of Hidden Leaves Playing Cards, the upcoming deck by Mahdi Gilbert (@mahdigilbert). Hidden Leaves blend Japanese and French aesthetics to create the style of this gorgeous deck, a spiritual homage to Le Samouraï, the 1967 French masterpiece by Jean-Pierre Melville.

The images previewed here shows the Joker and the Ace of Spades. The Joker is one of the most important cards as it represents one of the most powerful figures in a deck of playing cards. Mahdi told Kardify,

In Hidden Leaves the Devil himself plays the fool. Innocuous to a deliberate fault. The credo of the pure fool in the words of James Joyce, "...I am not afraid to make a mistake, even a grave mistake, a lifelong mistake and perhaps as long as eternity too."

Hidden Leaves only comes with one Joker which Mahdi finds conform to the aesthetic of the deck, as having two would lessen its impact and power.

The Joker is much more powerful than even all the court cards in Hidden Leaves and I wanted to find a way to balance that out with my Ace of Spades.

As for the Ace of Spades, Mahdi decided to feature a poor, peasant girl, on her knees praying as the most powerful and important card in the deck. To show true strength in the weak as greater than pride in the worldly.

The writing below her is one of the many, many mysteries and secrets hidden in Hidden Leaves, which are always giving clues to it's past and future.

Stay tuned as we continue with deck development and reveal more of the Hidden Leaves Playing Cards. Let us know what you think in our comment section below.

Kickstarter: Magician Mahdi Gilbert Launches Hidden Leaves Playing Cards

A year in the making, magician Mahdi Gilbert's Hidden Leaves Playing Cards has finally launched on Kickstarter. The deck was originally teased on Kardify last year, with a first look of the courts, Ace of Spades and Joker. The meticulously crafted deck is inspired by and a homage to the legendary card artist who in 1885 designed cards for Andrew Dougherty including Tally-Ho.

Hidden Leaves features a nostalgic feel. Inks on playing cards used to be pressed onto the uncut sheets one color at a time resulting in every single deck looking completely unique due to the discrepancies and bleeding of the ink. Mahdi decided to recreate this vintage aesthetic by making everything purposely imperfect.

According to Mahdi on the project page,

Printers used to use different plates for individual colors and to save money they would limit themselves to only two colors, red and black for the faces. I fell in love with this style, using your restrictions and limitations to create more powerful art. 

The artwork on this project has taken Mahdi almost a whole year to complete.

I had to figure out every single detail from the symmetrical pattern on the back inspired by William Morris to the Pantone colors used to print.

The face cards feature no indexes just like playing cards used to be made. This unique feature allows magicians to explore all sorts of forgotten card transformations, hypnotize audiences with hallucinations of duplicates and renders well-known prearranged stacks completely invisible.

Hidden Leaves Playing Cards will be printed to the highest quality possible by the United States Playing Card Company. The cards are made from the same Premium Bee Stock used in world class casinos for durability and flexibility. This premium stock has been Crushed Thin so that they can be used for superior and fine card manipulation by card experts worldwide. Pledge starts at CAD$20 (~USD$15) on Kickstarter.

Deck Development: The Spades of Hidden Leaves by Mahdi Gilbert

On our new series, Deck Development, we follow the progression of a deck of playing cards starting with the design inspiration to the final product you will hold in your hands. The designer will explain development decisions and may show the development process as well as the result itself.

This is the second part of our look at the design development of Hidden Leaves Playing Cards, the upcoming deck by Mahdi Gilbert (@mahdigilbert). Hidden Leaves blend Japanese and French aesthetics to create the style of this gorgeous deck, a spiritual homage to Le Samouraï, the 1967 French masterpiece by Jean-Pierre Melville.

Mahdi made a conscious decision to restrict himself to only using red and black for the faces of the deck. According to Mahdi,

This allows me, I believe to create more visual impact by creating strong contrasts and empty spaces. Notice how they are not symmetrical or perfect. Notice the wholesomeness of the faces, it reminds me of a time in entertainment long gone when families and multiple generations would gather around and enjoy the same entertainment together in a group, something that very rarely happens today.

The images previewed here shows the Spades Court cards. Stay tuned as we continue with deck development and reveal more of the Hidden Leaves Playing Cards. Let us know what you think in our comment section below.

Deck Development: The Hearts of Hidden Leaves by Mahdi Gilbert

On our new series, Deck Development, we follow the progression of a deck of playing cards starting with the design inspiration to the final product you will hold in your hands. The designer will explain development decisions and may show the development process as well as the result itself.

We are honored to have the incredible and inspirational magician Mahdi Gilbert (@mahdigilbert) with us to step is though his upcoming deck of playing cards, Hidden Leaves. The aim is to blend Japanese and French aesthetics to create the style of this gorgeous deck, which is a spiritual homage to Le Samouraï, the 1967 French masterpiece by Jean-Pierre Melville. According to Mahdi,

This is my first deck of cards and I have been dreaming about creating this deck for years. A deck of cards is very personal for a magician, they are a reflection of his inner world and I wanted to have a deck that tells my audience and the world something about my world.

Mahdi was very inspired by the old style of playing cards and how they were printed over a century ago. Mahdi explains,

Every color was printed on separately and there were natural imperfections and bleeding that occurred because of the printing method. This resulted in every deck being completely unique in very subtle ways. I found that the beauty of the imperfections was something that was very attractive and I knew I wanted my deck to be imperfect so that when people saw them and handled them they could notice the subtle details. 

The images previewed here shows the Heart Court cards. Stay tuned as we continue with deck development and reveal more of the Hidden Leaves Playing Cards. Let us know what you think in our comment section below.

Leaves (Seasons Exclusive Edition) Playing Cards

The Dutch House Company's Leaves Playing Cards series is back with a stunning new release on Kickstarter. This limited-edition deck, called the Leaves Seasons Exclusive Edition, is a vibrant celebration of nature’s beauty, combining all four seasons into one elegant design. 

The beautiful edition includes a beautifully designed Ace of Spades, continuing the tradition of exquisite detail across all Aces from the series.

The Tree of Life makes a return as the signature joker, symbolizing the journey through all seasons, while the traditional face cards receive a fresh update with vibrant colors that reflect the deck’s seasonal theme. 

In addition to its ornamental beauty, this deck includes a special treat for magic enthusiasts—a gaff card featuring the King of Diamonds with a hidden reveal of the 6 of Diamonds. Each deck features a fictitious numbered seal.

Available NOW on Kickstarter for $20 on Kickstarter.

Mahdi The Magician's Emanations Playing Cards Already Funded On Kickstarter

Emanations are a deck of custom playing cards drawn and designed by magician Mahdi Gilbert for his unique style of magic and cardistry. The deck is currently on Kickstarter and, with 3 days remaining, is already funded. Only 2 spots remain to pick up the deck at the early bird price of CAD$16 (USD$12).

Emanations is a subversive exploration of early magic. These playing cards are but part of the overall project. According to Mahdi on the project page,

As I penetrate more deeply into my quest, I am compelled to share the treasures that I've uncovered. Wonders and secrets that have been discovered and lost countless times.

This pack allows you to perform magic and play card games the way they were more than 100 years ago. Mahdi continues,

It is my personal belief, based on my knowledge and experience, that we have lost much more in magic through carelessness than we can ever dream of gaining through creativity. My goal with these playing cards is to elevate magic by reintroducing high quality tools to magicians worldwide.

Emanations is a study of early magic that was spread around the pre-civilized world and Mahdi loved the idea of using an art deco style tribal mask in the artwork. He remembered Charles T. Jordan's books and realized what he saw as a mask was really 3 letters.

Emanations is a project where explores the evidence of the unknown so Mahdi thought it only appropriate to appropriate something that he saw that wasn't actually there. The same tribal mask design is featured on the one-way card backs as well.

The face cards are similar to Mahdi's first deck, Hidden Leaves and feature no indexes just like playing cards used to be made, based on a very old and classic Goodall design. They produced some of the most artistic playing cards of their time and have inspired many trends, icons, and motifs you see in standard playing cards today.

Emanations will be printed to the highest quality possible by the United States Playing Card Company. The cards are made from the same Premium Bee Stock used in world class casinos for durability and flexibility. Pledge starts at CAD$16 (~USD$12) on Kickstarter.

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News: Download the First Issue of Kardify Magazine FREE!

Kardify is pleased and proud to introduce the first issue of its own MAGAZINE. We at Kardify values continuous improvement and to always create an inspiring place for collectors, creators, aspiring designers. As such, we are always finding new ways to connect and communicate, which is why we put together this magazine. The aim is to offer an overview to help you stay on top of playing card news. The monthly magazine will be a compilation of selected articles we’ve published.

If you have an idea for an article you would like us to pursue, do get in contact with us. We hope you enjoy the read.

In this issue:

+ Mahdi Gilbert: a look at Mahdi's upcoming deck of playing cards, Hidden Leaves.

+ Magic Orthodoxy: we have the EDC of Magic Orthodoxy, our favorite playing card reviewer on YouTube.

+ Anyone Worldwide: unveiled a new deck, the Checkerboard Playing Cards.

+ Annette Abolins: Q&A with designer of the fun and dynamic VIZAĜO Playing Cards

… and more! 30 pages of articles, deck images and more!

News: Issue Eleven of Kardify Magazine Now Available!

The April issue (#11) of Kardify magazine is now available to our Patrons who pledge $3 or more on our Patreon page. The monthly magazine compiles selected articles we’ve published from mid-March to mid-April. Our goal is to help you stay on top of playing card news.

Funds received from the magazine will help us keep the site running and growing, and bringing new quality content to you. Our aim is to support designers by backing on crowd-funded projects and supporting magic and playing cards retailers with their new releases. If you want to support us, please head over to our Patreon page.

If you have an idea for an article you would like us to pursue, do get in contact with us. We hope you enjoy the read. In this issue:

+ The E Deck: Find out more about Ellusionist's elusive deck made available to the public for a limited time.

+ Devastation Silver Edition: An elegant deck based on Black Ink's most successfully crowdfunded deck.

+ DIVA Playing Cards: 5 things you didn't know about the vibrant geometric deck designed for cardistry.

+ Jetsetter Premier Edition: A detailed look at the two decks by Jetsetter Playing Cards.

+ House of the Rising Spades: Stockholm17 has done it again! Find out more about this EPIC deck.

+ Mahdi Gilbert's Hidden Leaves: A look at the vintage-inspired deck currently funding on Kickstarter.

+ Outlaw Playing Cards: From the team at Scam School, the deck is themed around the old west and modern tech.

+ Red Checkerboard Playing Cards: This highly anticipated deck by Anyone Worldwide was sold out in 4 hours!

… and more! 39 pages of articles and deck images. Enjoy!

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Lorenzo Gaggiotti of Requiem Playing Cards

After months of hard work and anticipation, Requiem Playing Cards is now LIVE on Kickstarter. Created by Sweden based Italian artist/designer Lorenzo Gaggiotti, this unique set of playing cards is unlike any other... it is gory and dark yet beautiful in a weird way - this deck will not be to everyone's liking.

One of our most anticipated 2014 project, Requiem is custom designed and features darkness and pain as a theme. The illustrations for the Courts, Jokers and Aces are very dark. The suits are made out of broken Hearts, Clubs with thorns, cracked Diamonds and dry leaves as Spades. Pips are unique and the gold metalic ink on this blood red deck gives it a touch of elegance.

Between his busy schedule, we were able to catch-up with Lorenzo for a quick Q&A on his design background, the story behind Requiem, the design evolution and on the topic of crowd-funding.

We are a big fan of your work. Can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
I am a graphic designer, product designer and illustrator. I started drawing since the age of 3, when I learned to keep a pencil in my hand. My mother is a painter so I grew up between colors, shapes and canvases. Drawing is a passion and I never get tired of it, but I mostly love deep concepts and the idea behind a design. "Honor the concept" is one my motto, followed by "quality over quantity". So every time I design something it starts from a concept that takes weeks or months to be defined and clear. Simplicity is easy to read, but very hard to make.

I am Italian and I moved to Stockholm 4 years ago to start a new life in the cold north, which I enjoy it. I’ve always been interested in card decks, and I've been always "annoyed" by the standard design of the courts. Then in 2011 I found out the custom-decks-world and I got extremely excited. I wanted to make my own deck. To be honest this is the second one; the first one is now in the pipeline of HOPC and - spoiler alert - is very different from Requiem.

Requiem is your first Kickstarter Project. What inspired you to launched your own kickstarter project?
Actually I wanted to find a producer to sell the project and avoid the production and the distribution processes. Nobody was interested in investing on Requiem. I tried the big company such as Theory11, Ellusionist and many more, but I didn't even get an answer. I got a few replies from others, but they were not interested to buy and produce this special deck. I know, it´s quite different and dark. Kickstarter is a very good platform to show the design and raise the funds, create the orders and start a successful project. There is a lot of work behind a KS campaign, I´ll do my best to listen and reply to everybody, and follow step by step the campaign.

What is your inspiration behind Requiem Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea? Oh...this is the key-question. Well, in a few words my soul has been maltreated as boyfriend, man and human being. You will read in the box and in the 55th card the sentence "chronicles of a lost love". So it´s a production of my suffering soul after my ex decided to end a relationship in a drastic and hectic way.

A classic broken-hearted story (see the pips). It´s a thing happened in June 2013. All the courts, the jokers and the aces describe a feeling (with a Latin name) and a specific date (day and month) with roman numerals. It´s a deck full of symbols and meanings (often untold or hidden). I just can say that the Queen of Spades is her. Art and creativity is a way for me to release and transform dark energy into beauty, shapes, colors and in this case a card deck. Somebody writes songs, I made Requiem.

Ok, Requiem is not as sexy as rock band member, but the creative process is often quite the same.

How much time was spend working on the deck?
The project started first with the joker Malum Ignavum the 5th of August 2013. Then I saw the potential for a deck and I decided to make all the 56 cards, using as concept the darkness of those days. The first “real” card I started drawing was the Ace of Clubs. It was the starting point for a structure, a template. The valve was finally open. It took 4 months drawing, changing, tweaking, redesigning and finalizing the cards, without counting the KS campaign and all the necessary graphics.

Wow! Can you briefly go through the design evolution for the Ace of Clubs?
About the Ace of Clubs, in the beginning I was not really sure of the final result, I tried some inked illustration and see how it could work. Then I noticed that was difficult to see the symbol and I did a club-shaped-bush with a flower on the top. In Italian we call clubs "fiori" and it means flowers.

The courts, as the standard bicycle decks, are inside a golden rectangle with simple horizontal symmetry. The red background was a choice inspired by my cheap ink-jet printer. One day I tried to print a black background, but the cartridge was almost empty and I got a maroon dark-blood-red color instead. It was a beautiful mistake that made me decide to use a deep red as background.

The courts are totally redesigned focusing on those bad feeling. The illustrations show darkness, blood and tears, sadness and pain. Sometimes they are quite creepy, or slightly gross. I wanted to avoid the copy-paste abuse and make all the pips different from each other. Of course I use copy-paste as working tool, but not to create an entire deck. Each heart has different cracks all over the deck, same for the rest of the pips through the 4 suites. I wanted the aces to be important, so they have an illustration.

What are your thoughts about the exponential increase of playing card projects on kickstarter?
I think it´s a win-win-win situation for designers, backers and Kickstarter itself. Often I see the tendency of ripping-off and copy-pasting an existing standard deck, just changing the color and sell it as the groundbreaking deck of the month. Seriously?

Someone sells a 5 minutes job as a big design piece. And the difference from a previous production is just the color of the backs. The faces are standard as the previous production. I just don't like it: poor, superficial, and boring. People use the word "minimalistic" instead of "copy-pasting". Minimalism is not that. Simplicity is hard to achieve. A review of such deck on Youtube should be 10 second long, saying: "take the old production and change the color from red to blue, or black, or purple". So you have 5 reviews in 10 seconds. Kickstarter offers a chance to make a real custom deck, where everything is redesigned.

Skilled designers know that it is a hard job. Months of work. Ok, they might be too artistic or too decorated. But why not? It's ART.

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
Sentinels by Theory11 (Designed by Hatch SF) and Federal 52 (Designed by Jackson Robinson) are my favourite. I love the design of both decks even if they are very different. Vector graphics for Sentinels on white background: neat. Ink detailed drawings and vector graphics on Federal 52: artistic, warm and full of details. Details make the difference in my opinion. After the quality of the illustrations of course. Both decks are consistent, beautifully designed and executed.

Thank you for your time Lorenzo. All the best!

Available in Beige and Light Blue tuck box, Requiem will be printed by the USPCC. Pledge starts from $13 and there are multiple add-ons available such as T-Shirts and Prints... printed in Sweden!

There are also multiple rewards that will be unlocked once the project hits their set stretch goals. Most notable is the Augmented Reality app (free download for iOS and Android). This App will show hidden details and symbolic meanings of the illustrated cards.

That.is.so.cool!

Requiem will be due out to backers on April 2014.

First Look of Untitled V2 Playing Cards by Adam Borderline

[Update] Pre-order now on at borderlineadam.com

Adam Borderline is set to release his second deck this year, Untitled V2 Playing Cards! The deck exposes the artists behind the art. On the surface its appearance seems somewhat similar to the popular V1's, however, on closer inspection, you'll see hidden meanings and messages within. Adam explained,

In order for me to share my art in a way that’s personal yet obtainable I wanted to create a raw deck with very few post processes. The original image as seen on the jokers is from a painting, then photographed and mirrored 4 times. Everyone sees something different which is why it’s so special

The front of the tuck leaves a blank space where the back design should be, this signifies the emptiness or rather the lack of understanding between the art and the viewer.

Inside, the mirrored back design signifies that art is a reflection of self, created from one's own perception of reality. For the face cards, the hearts 2-10 will have one pip enhanced to incorporate the back design, however, the AKQJ have been left unaltered. This signifies the untitled ones, born from nothing, with nothing. The court cards were often used to resemble royalty.

Finally, the Ace of spades has been enlarged and incorporates the back design, with a faint Untitled logo beneath it. To maintain a consistent color palette of the deck, the standard blue from USPCC has been removed, leaving just red, yellow and black.

[Update] Pre-order now on at borderlineadam.com

Untitled V2 Playing Cards will be available for pre-order on Friday, 27th July 2018 at borderlineadam.com

Sin City Playing Cards, Less Than a Week on Kickstarter!

Another stunning deck by the team at Riffle Shuffle funding on Kickstarter. Sin City Playing Cards takes inspiration from Las Vegas, a place that never sleeps, the city of thousands of lights and millions of fates, the place of endless thrill and bottomless pockets. Designer Alba Zapata (Instagram: @albazapata.design) invites you into the decadent realm of fancy cocktails, smoky rooms, and sultry jazz music with this fully custom deck of playing cards.

The atmosphere of the shiny city that comes alive by night is obvious right from the stunning tuck box. The hot-stamped gold and red foil on black paper evoke a starry evening on the famous strip. The front of the box features large red letters saying “Sin City” placed in the middle of a golden diamond, while the back and the sides are completely covered in a symmetrical design, which is repeated throughout the whole deck.



Inside, the card backs follow the design elements found on the box with a red-and-gold pattern, made up of two adjoining roulette wheels lined by diamonds, martini glasses, and other quintessential Las Vegas elements. Brilliant!

The court cards feature different types of characters one can encounter in Sin City. From cowboys, magicians, singers to contortionists, fortune tellers and intoxicated bar patron. The designer drew these all of these characters in a lovely geometrical style, which surprises with many hidden details. Each of the court cards has an indication of the suit in two corners, each of the shapes filled in with an elegant pattern.

The ace of spades is proudly dominated by a stylized spade with a lovely red rose detail in the middle. It is encircled by golden leaves, just like the ones that used to make up the crowns of Roman Emperors. At the very top of the card is a golden ribbon with black lettering letting you know, that you have officially entered the Sin City.

The Jokers are very special cards due to their use of the notoriously well-known road sign announcing: “Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas”.

Sin City Playing Card will be printed by the United States Playing Card Company, AIR CUSHION Finish with the legendary BEE CASINO STOCK. Limited Edition of 2500 Decks.

Don't miss out! Pledge starts at $13 on Kickstarter for a single deck.

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Kickstarter: 5 Things You Should Know About Western Tropic Playing Cards

Every once in awhile a card game comes out that makes you go... "why didn't I think of that??". This is one of those games. Conceptualized by Len Kendall and currently funding on Kickstarter, Western Tropic takes a standard game and evolves it into something greater. Brilliant!

Western Tropic is played with a deck of standard playing cards but it utilizes a set of custom components and symbols that give the game far more depth. The game includes a custom 52-card deck that can be used for any standard card game. In addition to the typical suits you see on a deck of cards, the Western Tropic deck includes suits that remind you of each suit's abilities.

The gameplay utilizes a 5x5 grid that acts as a communal, but ever-changing set of cards that players use to create the best possible poker hand. Much like Texas Hold'em, each player has hole cards that are unique to them. What makes it fun and challenging is the use of an extra (third) hole card each round that can be traded in, to grant various actions such as moving your character around the grid, or changing the grid, altogether.

Here are 5 things you should know about Western Tropic:

1. This deck of custom cards was originally designed for use with the upcoming tabletop game Western Tropic. The game takes the spirit of Texas Hold'em poker, but adds significantly more depth and strategy to the game by utilizing additional components and rules.

2. The playing cards that come with the deck, art by graphic designer Brooks Engel (Instagram: @nowherelandsupply), received so much attention. Len told Kardify," I decided to offer the deck on its own for those who were only interested in the playing cards. Since there is a strong community of playing card collectors, this has proven to be a very popular option for the Kickstarter campaign. The deck has also picked up quite a bit of attention on Reddit.

3. The theme of the game and the corresponding design is a juxtaposition of two genres that generally don't go together: The Wild West and Tropical/Jungle. The premise of the game is that an eccentric billionaire hosts an annual card game tournament on a remote island in the Pacific. Since he's a fan of Westerns, he has recreated an old west town in the middle of this island (think West World if you've seen that show). "The real-world island that actually inspired the game is called the Palmyra Atoll. I even had an artist sketch a fictionalized version of the island to add further detail to the world I'm building around this game (image below)".

4. While these two opposing themes are mixed in through-out the full game, you can also see the subtle combination of them solely in the card deck. "The tuck box focuses primarily on the island art (with hidden skull graphic created by the design) while the actual cards are a combination of the two themes. For example, the King card leans more into the cowboy feel, but the leaves surrounding him still tie back to the jungle elements. The overall color scheme also is meant to reference both desert and the jungle environments."

5. As of right now, Len is only going to produce/sell these cards via the Kickstarter campaign. It will be active until October 11th. The actual cards will then move into production and will be available by or before February.

Printed by AdMagic, the standalone Western Tropic Playing Cards is available on Kickstarter for $10 or get the full game for $25!

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