Fill your game nights with modern art, the Art & Machine Playing Cards is rich with visual representation of the history of modern art, design, and machine technology. Designed by Ryan Hewlett and produced by our friends at Art of Play, Art & Machine takes a closer look at four moments in the history of art and design: the Bauhaus era, mid-century, the late 20th-century and the age of mobile.
The idea of the deck was to create something centered around ephemera or art in general but evolved into a focus on art and design and its relationship with modern technology.
Each suit in the deck focuses on one of these four moments in art history – the new typography of the Bauhaus era represented by Spades, mid-century book cover design by Hearts, the late 20th-century silkscreen poster aesthetic by Clubs, and the Diamonds represents the contemporary art and design in the age of mobile.
The artwork for each of the time periods was inspired by Piet Zwart, Alvin Lustig, Aesthetic Apparatus, and Jesus Perea. The face card feels like a little poster or piece of ephemera- like an eclectic collection, that gives the impression that each of the cards could have been gathered one-by-one and curated into a set.
The back design features a minimal x-logo on a striking contemporary orange background with thin white borders. Packaged inside a gorgeous letterpress-printed tuck box. The deck is a unique blend of vintage aesthetics and contemporary feel. Somehow, it feels familiar… yet new.
Printed by the US Playing Card Co. on Dan and Dave’s trademark thin-stock preferred by cardists. Available now from Art of Play for $15.
