First Look: Apothecary by Seasons Playing Cards

Seasons Playing Cards and Alex Chin never disappoint. Always looking beyond the norm Seasons always brings something deep in its creation and cultivation.

Apothecary is the latest project coming from Seasons Playing Cards. Already shrouded in a bit of mystery, Apothecary is already showing the tell tale signs of the attention to detail and brilliant talent of Alex Chin.

The few things we do know is that Apothecary will be launching as a 2 deck set on Kickstarter some time in September and Alex Chin is hoping to bring something a little different to this campaign. According to Alex,

This campaign will have a bit more engagement than a typical KS and I'm hoping to really expand the collector experience with this one.

 As the release date and more details become available we'll do our very best to keep our readers informed of the progress that Apothecary is making.In the mean time, you can "Join the Journey" here and start to be a part of this "experience".

We're very excited about this project and looking forward to traveling the journey with the project and our readers. We leave you with one more little mystery in the form of a teaser trailer... what do YOU make of it?

We would like to thank Alex Chin and Seasons Playing cards for the opportunity to bring this new journey to you all. Here's looking forward to an interesting and exciting project!


You can visit Seasons Playing Cards on their official website and also follow them on Facebook to stay up to date on all the Seasons news and products.

Designers: Designing the 52 Plus Joker 2017 Club Deck with Alex Chin Part I

It's been awhile since we had a designers series article. This month, we are honoured to have a guest post by Alex Chin, creators behind the stunning 52 Plus Joker Club deck for 2017. In part one of this two-part series, Alex shares with us the inspiration and the design process behind creating the club deck. 

I designed this year's 52 Plus Joker Club deck with the concept of pulpwood in mind. The idea of paper creation as a starting point to create playing cards always intrigued me and this deck tells the story about it.

Inspiration
The running theme throughout the deck really emphasized texture so this entire deck goes above and beyond to highlight those aspects on the deck. The box design features a Mulberry bark tree covering through 3 of the four sides so that it looks unassuming. The fourth side that faces out reveals beautiful gold foiled lattice work and a representation of the designs inside.

I liked this because it helped tell the story of how people harvested the paper from Mulberry trees back then. The box design is the first of its kind to utilize a dual layer tuck box. There have been sleeves before but this was an actual two-layer tuck box.

This was important because we were able to create two different textures without using any embossing plates. The top layer texture features a bark/wood feel that is highlighted on the face with the gold foiling. The bottom layer features the offset detail.

The back design features Expert's Perfecta Foil which allowed me to do a two color foil on the back which turned out spectacular. The gold lattice work with the green shimmering leaves really helped highlight the hierarchy of the back design.

Design
Composition Study: I typically start with the back design and start out with sketching.  This is the composition item that I ended up using.

Depth Testing/ Contrast Models: The important part to note here is that this was based on landscape architecture- a bird's eye view. The idea is that you're looking down at a garden that supports the Mulberry Tree that is going to provide us with this paper. I'm playing for balance here because typically I'll do contrast models of what looks correct.  What is going to be light, what is going to be dark. Because we have plants, growth is a thing so depth became a big focus.

Join us next week for the second part of the designer series with Alex where we look at textures, vectorizing, face cards design and the tuck box of the 52 Plus Joker Club deck.


This exclusive guest post is written by Alex Chin for Kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can check out Alex's work at Seasons Playing Cards.

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Alex Chin on Magna Carta

UPDATE 08/05/15: Join the Magna Carta Launch Event on Facebook to guarantee you don't miss out!

Alex Chin and Seasons Playing Cards has always delivered elegance along with functionality. The design elements used in the four "Seasonal" Seasons projects are bold and beautiful in their detail.

This month Seasons Playing Cards adds to their line with Magna Carta, a slightly new direction from Alex Chin, but still featuring the look, feel and detail of Seasons Playing Cards. Scheduled to launch on Kickstarter August 11th the anticipation has already begun. 

We had an opportunity to chat with Alex about the new project and it's inspiration recently for our readers and we hope you enjoy some of the background to Magna Carta. 

With all four previous "Seasons" decks being so closely tied together, what inspired the change of direction?

I've always wanted to create a series with more traditional elements. I tend to prefer more conceptual themes and direction but it was really important to myself to demonstrate growth outside of that realm by trying out different styles and subject matter as long as the decks remained timeless. This year the Magna Carta turned 800 years old and when I saw that it became a great way to learn a new style while honoring such a momentous document.

With the Historical background of Magna Carta, how much research went into the concept of the project?

A LOT haha. I have a new found respect for decks based around actual historical events, especially those earlier than the 1800's. Usually when you pick a theme you do your due diligence in making sure the elements you pick are congruent with the subject, but that's about where any formal research ends. Having based this off of such a specific event made what was acceptable much stricter especially since the time period was 1200. The King wasn't exactly taking selfies back in the day so finding proper references of the people you picked, what they wore, and the elements that were seen back then were much harder. 

 Even the famous image of the Magna Carta signing we all know turned out to be improperly illustrated which surprised me. It shows the King signing the document when during that era Kings would use their official seals instead. Part of the storytelling in this series required me to recreate this famous scene. So when it was time to illustrate there were a few artist reinterpretations I took advantage of. I'm sure there will be a few details that some historians might call me out on, but the artwork was done with the highest integrity in mind and the overarching goal to make sense with the series as a whole. 

Did Magna Carta present any unexpected challenges, project related or as a designer?

Research and style were probably the two biggest challenges probably because the event dates so far back. As I said before figuring out the right symbolism, heritage, translations, etc, were all unexpected challenges.  

Learning how to marry the old illustration style of the 1200s with the clean elegance of what our supporters are used to getting with Seasons also took some fine tuning. At one point our Rebels deck had distressed texturing with the deck, but it turns out that was one line that went too authentic. I'm happy to say now though that the style I've ended on is high on detail with a polish of grace that I'm sure our supporters will love. 

What elements of Magna Carta excite you the most?

Physically I think the King's seal is pretty amazing. It's this wax stamp that was impressed on both sides to create a pendent that hung from any document. The idea that anything could be authenticated by this one coin instead of by signature was pretty exciting to learn about.  

Conceptually I think the timelessness of the Magna Carta really spoke to me. In reality the Magna Carta at the time was just this piece of paper that got annulled a couple months after signing. It shouldn't have been such a big thing. But over time it got picked up again and again and actually became the foundation of liberty and democracy today, not just overseas, but throughout the world.  The document evolved from a temporary fix into this timeless symbol of human rights that affects a lot of us today.

Will Magna Carta follow the path of your previous projects and be available in various versions?

Absolutely. I strongly believe in storytelling and it's extremely hard to do that with just one deck. Once you introduce a second comparison object, a relationship can occur between the two items where you're allowed a lot more depth.

Do you have any plans for any unique rewards once the project launches?

I want to try to keep this Kickstarter simple in the beginning until we at least reach our goal.  There's one or two rewards that I'm pretty excited for but don't want to announce them until partially into the campaign when I can see if we have the funding to do it. 

Is there any NEW tidbit or information you can share with us about the project?

Absolutely. Here's a first look at our Rebels deck.

EXCLUSIVE: Rebels back design

We want to thank Alex Chin for his time and the opportunity to reveal the Rebels Deck to our readers. Mark your calendars for the launch of Magna Carta on Kickstarter August 11th, you won't want to miss this project. 

You can follow the progress of not only Magna Carta, but all things Seasons Playing Card related by following them on their Facebook page and if your new to the Seasons Playing Cards in general, you can pick up some of the companies previous projects on their official web site here!

UPDATE: Join the Magna Carta Launch Event on Facebook to guarantee you don't miss out!

1-ON-1: Alexander Chin of Seasons Playing Cards

Seasons come and go, but two particular “Seasons” never made their way to the light of day, until now. In 2012, Chicago-based designer Alexander Chin introduced the world to his Season’s Playing cards. The 1st two decks released were the Seronda and Primavera decks representing Spring and Fall. The decks received high acclaim from collectors and enthusiast alike. Now, a few years later Alex will be completing the circle by releasing Verano and Inverno, Summer and Winter, on Kickstarter to the anticipation of many.

As designers go, Alex has a style all his own and the elegance and quality of his work is to be admired. At a young age Alex was a bit introverted and found a passion for drawing to help express himself. Along with drawing, Alex found other hobbies to occupy his time, such as swimming and piano and a few not so common hobbies such as contact juggling and later in junior High School, card magic. But of all of these interests, drawing was the one that made Alex feel truly creative.

“It's easy to get lost and flustered when you're at the defining age of social awkwardness, but when I sketched I was absorbed into a world where communication of myself was so easily captured on paper.”

Nearing the end of his junior High School years, Alex’s expression started transferring more and more to magic, specializing in card magic.

“The practicality of impromptu card magic was so much more vast than props. These cards were little pieces of artwork that I would carry around in my pocket. But when I took them out they would delight people everywhere I went. It amazed me and I became infatuated with them. To this day I have not found a simpler or cheaper way to spread joy than to delight someone with surprise. It had turned into an extension of who I was.”

In High School, like many young magicians, Alex came across the release of the Black Tiger deck by Ellusionist. It was the 1st custom deck Alex had seen…

“It opened a Pandora's box to the world of card collecting. I think this happened to a lot of people who were in the magic world at this time.”

Standard Edition

Limited Edition

At 14 Alex was met with an awkward confrontation with his mother at 1AM. What could a 14 year old boy possibly be doing on his computer at that time of the night?

“…my mom is a good hearted person, but she wasn’t born yesterday, so when she sees her teenage son up late at night using the computer she’s going to assume certain things. So Detective Mom storms over to see my screen to verify her worst fears. Instead of tantalizing women looking to hook up in my local area, I had actually stayed up to snipe on a card auction at the last minute for cheap. I was hooked to say the least.”

After completing High School, Alex attended the University of Illinois where he majored in architecture leveraging his passion for illustration and design with his desire to change the world.


“Freshmen usually tend to dream big don't they?”

During his college years Alex found his passion for drawing started creeping back into his life. Becoming more interested in the organic, abstract and kinetic, and with the sudden burden of school work off his plate with graduating college, Alex found himself with a window of opportunity before having to return home and venture out into the world and his career path…

“…before returning home and facing the scary reality of a job that would define the rest of my life. I decided that I would take this time to discover who I was.”

With soul searching at hand, Alex tried to commit himself to working on his art all day, every day. It helped express his emotions and discover the direction he wanted his life to take. He would create something and then abandon it, create some more and repeat, looking for something to click, which was the normal “Spirit” of each day. Of all the projects Alex started, there were two in particular that seemed to break the cycle of abandonment. One was a tea company called Mood Garden, the other was Seasons.

Mood Garden was a tea company that Alex had started with a friend that expanded his interest in package design. Mood Gardens, as Alex puts it, had mild success with two full product lines receiving incredible press both online and on Blogs like TrendHunter. Alex also found himself penning the forward of a book due to the exposure of Mood Gardens.

“ We tried launching a Kickstarter for it and never ended up getting funded. I think there was a culmination of inexperience on both our ends coupled with a fear of commitment to such an investing project having just graduated college with student debt. It sadly never came to fruition.”

With the lessons learned from the Mood Gardens experience, Alex’s other “Itch”, Seasons, started to develop and Alex finally found a concept and design that he was proud of and ready to be introduced to the world. Timing, as they say, is everything. During this time there was a bit of transition in the Playing Card industry, it was expanding and the larger companies, new to all this unexpected success of these pieces of paper, were in for a rude awakening. Like anything that meets unexpected success, the industry started developing a not so earnest approach to their products, delivering very little in terms of time spent truly creating custom decks and just “Marketing” tactics to gain profits. Alex was about to show what a lot of blood sweat and tears could translate to.

“I was lucky enough to have been in the game right when the market was starting to expand. I think I owe a lot of success to the court cards of that deck. It was at the height of when larger custom card companies were being called out for their efforts in deck creation. The biggest differentiators between the little guys and the big guys were the willing time investments into those faces. From there you know the rest. “

Standard Edition

Limited Edition

When asked about his current professional and personal goals Alex expressed how he returned to Seasons after such a long hiatus as well as his interest in running his own design studio specializing in interactive packaging design with a built in brand consulting service.

“For the longest time I was looking for a career which was the main reason why there has been such a gap between the first set of Seasons and now. I was working with a large holding company for about a year and a half designing and managing different brands and product lines for them. Eventually I quit after seeing an absence of creative fulfillment and made the jump to doing Seasons again, shifting my track in life from career to calling. I don't know if I'll do Seasons forever but for now it provides the type of autonomy that gets my creative juices flowing in an arena that I was born and bred in.”

As Alex concentrates and builds on his vision he does find himself missing magic, but is still an avid collector. The collector in him developed as his studies increased during his school days, causing the time he had to practice magic to decrease. Collecting gave Alex a way to stay connected to the world of playing cards without sacrificing his studies; it was a way to achieve a balance between the two. During this time Alex also dabbled in cardistry, but found the same pitfalls he came across with magic, not enough time to practice and as they say, practice makes perfect.


“I had a brief stint back in the heyday of D&D of cardistry but realized that it required a similar amount of practice as magic had with a less satisfying response from audiences. That kind of niche is something you truly have to love to get good at. As of now I am still a collector but I miss magic dearly. I hope that once I've created a stable enough environment that I can start investing some of my time back into learning how to delight people again.”

Verana Tri=Panel

Inverno Tri-Panel

So here we are the new Seasons decks on the horizon. Scheduled for release on Kickstarter on August 27th, the decks will be Black and White featuring an accent color to connect each deck to the Season it represents. The Tuck cases will also undergo some changes to support the more “Holistic” approach Alex is taking with these decks and satisfying both newcomers as well as the existing fans of the Seasons decks. Alex also has a few other playing card projects he’s been investing his time into, taking a more “Thematic” approach to these decks but striving to keep the mystery, intrigue and detail that Seasons supporters have come to expect.

“As a collector myself, it's those timeless decks that keep their spot on the shelves that make my collection complete. In everything this company does, it does with the mindset of raising the bar and changing design.”

Seasons Playing Cards have always been synonymous with quality and artistic design, I know I’m in the majority when I say I can’t wait to add the new Season decks to my collection and I’m also very excited to find out that there are new projects with new directions and concepts that we can all wait for with great anticipation. It was my complete pleasure to collaborate with a fellow Chicagoan, great designer and fantastic person on this piece, I strongly urge everyone to mark their calendars for August 27th so you don’t miss out on a sure to be amazing project. Alex was nice enough to give us some of his time during his busy schedule and was also nice enough to answer a few final questions.

What has been occupying your time and interest since the release of Primavera and Seronda?

My biggest current interest is this little social experiment I saw online called the 100 Days of Happy. I don't participate through social media but the gist is that once a day you call out something that you are grateful for and makes you happy. Over time it's proven to change your outlook on life. I took it to a physical medium and every day I'll do a 15 minute sketch of something. Over time this book has become a record of mundane little experiences that just make me grin like a child. It's one of the best things I've done for my personal well-being besides daily exercise. I'm also into branding books. Lots of them. A nerdy amount.


I’m sure you’ve seen the explosion in the industry, what are your thoughts on the recent boom?

I remember being on the UC forums before the renovation of the site and talking about this. It was during a time where the Brimstone had already come out and the Vortex was an upcoming Kickstarter I believe. At the time I think there was only 1 deck a month and the average for decks were around 25K. I predicted that with this social proof of success, there would be a large bubble in the market that would eventually burst causing people to choose and leaving only the good designers in the arena. I figured the increased competition would be good for the art.
Looking at the market now I think I was on the right track but the bubble grew much faster than I would have ever thought. I didn't anticipate the crossover of artists from other fields to begin participating. What also surprised me was the change in behavior of collectors. I had assumed the increased competition would force choice but instead I'm noticing that people will still usually back a project but just reduce quantity. It makes absolute sense for those trying to diversify their collections, but for me I'm usually a brick or two kind of guy which sets the investment a little higher.
The increased competition has made it near mandatory for court cards to be custom now (something that's even seen in the big companies today too). I'm glad for that. Competition pushes us to do better. I have a hall in my apartment that is full of uncut sheets by other companies. A lot of people ask why I don't display my own. Seeing my own work creates complacency of having done something while seeing the work of others make me feel motivated to do just as good, if not better.
There is an increased competition for crowdfunding decks now but I do anticipate a similar amount of deck projects in the next couple years before any drop. With the introduction of new production facilities that require a lower startup cost, having a successful deck funded isn't hard which will probably feed the momentum the next few years.

You’re a talented designer, do you have any projects, past, present or future, outside of the playing card industry that you’re proud of and enjoyed working on?

I mentioned Mood Garden earlier and I have a few international branding projects that I was pretty thrilled to create while under employment at my previous gig. I really do enjoy working on interactive package design and hope to start pursuing some new personal projects in the field of alcoholic beverage packaging soon.

Do you have any final thoughts or comments you would like to share?

Your interview was absolutely enjoyable. It got me to do a lot more self-evaluation than I'm used to which is a good thing! I hope to launch another deck soon to get an excuse to talk with you again haha. It was an honor to be here on Kardify.


I can’t thank Alex enough for his time and collaboration. Be sure to check out the NEW Seasons Kickstarter project launching on August 27th for Verano and Inverno, the next chapter in the Seasons decks. You can also keep up with any developments from Alex and Season’s playing cards on their Facebook Page and you can also visit the Seasons Playing Card website for products and information.


This exclusive 1-on-1 is written by Anthony Ingrassia for kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can check out Anthony's awesome collection on his Facebook Page Sparkz Collector.

Blind Tiger Playing Cards: Delayed Delivery and Apologies from Seasons

In a recent development, the Blind Tiger playing cards, a highly anticipated deck from Seasons, have faced unexpected delays, leaving card enthusiasts customers waiting and frustrated. In an official statement released late last week, Alex Chin has issued an apology for the lack of communication and the extended wait, expressing understanding for the inconvenience caused to supporters.

Alex’s absence from the project was a result of unforeseen medical issues within their family, which impacted their ability to provide timely updates. However, Alex is determined to rectify the situation and regain the trust of their loyal customers by ensuring the completion and delivery of the Blind Tiger decks, along with a committed continuation of the NPCCD series.

Initially, the Blind Tiger deck’s preorder offered an artistic take on the concept of a “Blind Tiger” from various perspectives, including the mystery associated with blind preorders and the visual presentation of the physical deck. However, given the recent lack of communication, Alex acknowledges that uncertainty surrounding the contents of the deck may feel more like a risk than an exciting mystery. In an effort to address this concern, Alex has decided to provide additional information about the deck’s themes and artwork, allowing customers to make an informed decision about continuing with their order.

Due to unforeseen challenges in plastics manufacturing for the main series and an extended assembly time required for the bonus deck, the estimated timeline for delivery has been pushed back to around October. This means customers will have waited a full year since placing their initial orders. Alex acknowledges the inconvenience caused by this delay and sincerely apologizes for any frustration it may have caused. In light of these circumstances, Alex is offering customers two options:

1. Those who feel the timeline or project no longer aligns with their expectations can request a full refund.
2. Customers who wish to continue with their order need not take any further action. Their orders will be maintained, and the decks will be shipped as soon as they are ready.

Alex aims to use his past work and commitment to delivery as evidence of his dedication and integrity in completing this project. He determined to make amends for the delays and regain the trust of his valued customers.

Card Radar: The 52 Plus Joker Club Deck 2017 by Alex Chin

The stunning 52 Plus Joker Club Deck was unveiled by Alex Chin at this year's 52 Plus Joker annual convention in Enlarger, Kentucky. Meticulously crafted, this club deck is the fourth in the annual deck series.

This limited edition deck has been designed with the concept of pulpwood in mind. The idea of paper creation as a starting point to create playing cards has always intrigued Alex and this deck tells the story about it.

The luxurious box design features a Mulberry bark tree covering through 3 of the four sides. The unassuming design references the need to peel bark to create paper. The fourth side that faces out reveals a beautiful gold foiled latticework and a representation of the designs inside.

The face cards are fully custom. with the Ace of Spades featuring the Mulberry leaf and the Joker, a wood block stamp. The court cards feature the classic Seasons court cards in a green color that matches the color palette and the theme of the deck.

The back design features Expert Playing Card Co's Perfecta Foil which allows for a two-color foil which turned out spectacular! The 2017 Club Deck is only available to members of the club. Previous club decks are almost impossible to find in the aftermarket and go for a substantial premium if available.

The 52 Plus Joker playing card collector's club has been around for over 30 years and the members hold some of the finest and complete collections of playing cards from every period of history. For more information about joining the 52 Plus Joker, click here!

Watch: Apothecary 2 Playing Cards by Alex Chin on Kardify Spotlight

We've partnered up with @thegentlemanwake on a series of 'spotlight' videos to give you the rundown on some of the latest and unique decks of playing cards around. We aim to publish the 1-minute spotlight video weekly on social media (Facebook: Kardify) and in addition, a link to @thegentlemanwake's full video if you want to have a more comprehensive look at a particular deck.

On this week's spotlight, we look at the Apothecary 2 playing cards meticulously designed by Alex Chin of Seasons Playing Cards. Both Verana Virtues, and Seronda Sentiment playing cards are based on the idea of capturing these invisible concepts like a feeling, or an idea, and then transforming them into very real items. Find out more in the video below and learn how you can win a copy of the deck. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE (YouTube: TheGentlemanWake)!

News: Apothecary 2 by Seasons Playing Cards Now LIVE on Kickstarter!

The beautiful Apothecary 2 Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter. Meticulously designed by Alex Chin of Seasons Playing Cards, both Verana Virtues, and Seronda Sentiment playing cards are based on the idea of capturing these invisible concepts like a feeling, or an idea, and then transforming them into very real items [First Look]. According to Alex,

There's nothing like holding a physical, tangible item of some concept like an Insight, or a Virtue and then giving it to someone just to see their reactions. It's probably one of my favorite decks because of this. People are caught off guard because they just don't know what it is, but the packaging makes it look so real.

Because of the subject matter and the design prompt of making something quite literally out of nothing, Alex needed to explore new venues of printmaking to create a product that really stands out as an out of this world item. The results of upgrading and adding all these print techniques into these art packs truly elevated the level of design on these decks.

We asked Alex about the design process for Verana Virtues and Seronda Sentiments,

In terms of the design process sometimes it's easier to follow up a collection because you have a basic framework of design. In this case, however (at least in terms of the back design) it ended up being more difficult than I had expected. The Verana Virtues was a pretty straightforward back design composition given that I had to implement the diamond shape into it, but because of the theme of summer, I ended up having to incorporate some sort of item that displayed a full bloom. This central flower arrangement on paper seemed easy at first, but once I realized that it needed to be a 2-way back design, it took several iterations to get it to look natural while still being legible both ways.

On the consistency of the design across all the packs, Alex said,

The Seronda Sentiments back is probably my favorite of the Apothecary line and literally took me the longest to design. Trying to come up with a unique composition that would compliment the other 3 packs in the collection was a nightmare using the heart since it resembles too much like a spade.

The iterations ended up looking too close to the other designs. Alex continued,

It was only until maybe my 100th go around that I discovered that I could split the heart to either end to get something new. I had to add a central element to it to really bind the two halves together but it worked out well. I call the design the Broken Heart.

If you like what you’ve read here and want to support the Apothecary 2 playing cards, you can find it on Kickstarter here. Pledge starts at $14 and both decks will be printed by the US Playing Card Co.

The Elixir Deck by Seasons Playing Cards Funded in 2 Minutes on Kickstarter!

Funded in just 2 minutes on Kickstarter, the Elixir Deck is the 5th and final deck of the Apothecary collection from Seasons Playing Cards. Designer Alex Chin continues to surprise with yet another breathtaking design and craft one of the most sophisticated yet classy deck of playing cards.

From hand gilding to Intaglio plate engravings, the hard and patient lessons learned from the past two projects are finally presented in full form. The Elixir deck is an elegant single deck offering representing the truest tribute to traditional handcrafted products. According to Alex,

Extremely limited and available at steep discounts only on Kickstarter, this campaign is made as a thank you tribute specifically with my previous backers in mind. Your voices were heard and this campaign is the result of your requests. The result is a simple, clear cut, no fuss campaign, with all your favorites, and none of the hassles. Gilded on all cards? Check. Engraving on Box? Check. Cellophane and Numbered Seals? Definite stretch goals. 

Each deck of the collection was represented through a visual system of colors and symbolism. The Elixir deck takes these items into account and turns it into its own. The back design shows the transformation moment of the climatic orb being formed. The flowing movement of the design hints to each of the previous 4 seasons telling of the full Apothecary story.

The deck pays homage to the previous decks before it by bringing in all 4 power aces into this single deck. Court cards feature different coloring in the consistent engraving style as before. The Joker features the elixir, captured in the incense flacon of legends.

Alex mentioned that the hardest development of this deck was the integration of the extreme engraving design on the tuck box. This was the reason why this deck almost didn’t happen. Alex explained,

I designed the deck specifically with the engraving process in mind. But instead of going for only the smallest details possible, I wanted to play with movement and went for extremely high coverage (which is typically unusual for this print process). To get this “movement” effect in the design the metallic ink coverage was pushed to the utter limit to what a plate would hold creating a meniscus mound of ink so that when drying occurred, it would create an undulating texture you don’t get with smaller details. 

The results are remarkable. The final product results in a striking “moving essence” of the golden Elixir design Alex tried so hard to achieve.

The Elixir decks will be printed by USPCC on Aristocrat stock and Magic finish. Pledge starts at $36 on Kickstarter and for the collector, a limited amount of exclusive cabinets of curiosity will be available featuring a black and burlwood dual tone finish and a rare white Elixir deck with holographic gilding that glimmers in the different colors of all 4 seasons. Comes with a certificate of Authenticity.

First Look: Check Out the 2019 NPCCD Playing Cards

This year’s 2019 National Playing Card Collection (NPCCD) was inspired by the beauty of Morocco. The country is commonly known for its mesmerizing architecture and its labyrinth-esque marketplaces- the two aspects of the culture that designer Alex Chin wanted to imbue into this series when designing it. This year’s theme was to encapsulate this culture into this year’s 2019 NPCCD Palace Edition.

On the deck design, Alex told Kardify,

I wanted the deck to feel like a journey that would adapt to the collector. The themes that came out from developing this journey were ACCESS and DISCOVERY mimicking the experience one has from getting lost in the central medina only to find something even greater. It’s a series about not just knowing where to look but also how to look. The tuck box exterior is where the journey begins. The 2-piece box is printed on premium linen and pearlescent stocks featuring golden and silver intaglio engravings inside and out. The face features intricate geometry mimicking the detailed plasterwork and textiles of Morocco. The 4 diamonds represent the 4 “gates” of the medina as an entry point for the journey.

The back features a small keyhole pattern revealing a peek towards the inside, which makes the deck really unique! Alex explains,

If you cannot look inside it represents the “locked” version while if you can see space behind the keyhole it represents an “unlocked” version. The box was made without any half-circle thumb flaps to make it difficult to open without access. To “unlock” the deck you use your thumb to slide out the inner box in the keyhole to reveal the gate. The inner box reveals the beautiful gate. The sides feature a SPADE (blue) and CLUB (copper) representing the spade and club gates. There are 3 completely separate decks that were printed to help better represent the 3 variations of each gate.

Inside, the face cards feature 4 indices to allow reading right to left connected by the archways Morocco is known for. Alex describes,

It was only because of the creative constraint of being unable to illustrate people that their complex architectural geometry was invented and embraced as a method of expression throughout culture. As an homage to that court cards are not represented and instead a custom plasterwork pattern featuring all the pips was created to be embedded in the background of all the cards. Based on the value of the card the pattern would “reveal” the appropriate pips in the plasterwork. The Palace Gate features the textured effect on the faces of the pips so that you can also feel the architecture as well.

Ace of Clubs is the featured ace of NPCCD. The Jokers are lights on and light off. The lights on feature the keyhole silhouette turning into a lantern exposing a genie inside. Lights off show the glimmer of the texture of the walls. Each joker is custom to their respective deck.

There are 6 decks in the series. 3 variations for both locked and unlocked gates versions of the deck. The decks are available in singles as well as in (3-Pack) Palace Packs or Secret Kingdom Set (6-Pack). The sixth deck features the cards gilded in gold and is ONLY available in the Secret Kingdom Set. It is numbered out of 250. All other decks are numbered out of 499. The sticker seal represents the oriental rug that you will see in the hidden corridor being repeated. Alex concludes,

This deck is hands down the most costly deck I’ve ever had to produce from the mirrors, to the secondary tuck, to the finish, to the gloss. But I hope people will enjoy the experience.

There will be a Special Supporter pricing for the first 48 hours. Head to NationalCardCollectionDay.com on October 17th to cop these stunning decks. Don't miss out!