Nautical has been a concept that the team at Joker and the Thief wanted to do since the start. The love of the sea comes from their childhood roots of sailing and fishing. SEAFARERS Playing Cards marks the start of a new era for Joker and the Thief.
Following the success of the Joker and the Thief reprints, founder James Milaras has decided to focus on more original designs heading into the future. James told Kardify,
Since the beginning of our brand, we have developed a list of themes that we’ve wanted to explore. Nautical is one of them, and the perfect opportunity arose when we began collaborating with Gustavo Magalhães. As a passionate artist hailing from Brazil, Gus was keen to bring the concept to life and carry the symbolism, characters, and vibe over to Seafarers.
They wanted to create a classic deck of cards reminiscent of vintage United States Playing Card Co. designs. James continued,
We intentionally went this route because of how classic designs survive the test of time. Gus was instrumental in striking the balance between classic design and our signature vibe.
Creating the back design is by far the most important element and shapes the rest of the deck. The SEAFARERS card back not only incorporate symbolically and thought-provoking imagery, they maintaining a timeless air. James explained,
To select the color of the back design, we traveled to the edges of the Great Barrier Reef here in our hometown Cairns, Australia. The water here shifts in color from a rich estuarine green to a deep oceanic blue. After much consideration, we were able to match a beautiful green Pantone to our sample photo of the sea.
The court cards are all completely custom – illustrated by hand, from scratch. Themes from the back design carry over and give life to these oceanic royals. They are unrestricted by borders, taking full advantage of the space of the card. As such, the intriguing Royals develop their own distinct and individualistic characteristics. Each suit tells its own story, with each jack, queen, and king being thematically and symbolically linked.
SEAFARERS are packaged in a premium imported, uncoated matte paper stock, in off-white. Clove Street will use vintage letter pressing techniques to stamp SEAFARERS’ signature Sea Green colored ink into the paper, both on the exterior of the box, and interior. James said,
With use, the tuck box’s ink will slightly wear and develop a unique patina, similar to a pair of your favorite denim jeans! This adds a huge amount of character to the deck you’re using and also perpetuates its classic feel. It also makes the deck you’re using deeply personal. So after use, no two SEAFARER decks will look the same. We are using a similar process to Dan and Dave’s Drifters Playing Cards.
SEAFARERS are available NOW on Kickstarter. Special early bird price of $10 is available! Don’t miss out.
