First Look: Omnia Magnifica Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries

This is the second part of our first look at the upcoming Omnia: The Golden Age series from Giovanni Meroni's Thirdway Industries. In the first part, we looked at the first, unlimited deck of the campaign - Omnia Antica. In this first look, we will focus on the Omnia Magnifica, the limited deck of Omnia: The Golden Age campaign.

The Omnia Magnifica represent the legendary, remote past of the Omnia Universe, full of God and Heroes. When everything started. The deck features the most ancient reincarnations of the Omnia courts, and will probably be the most baroque deck designed by Thirdway Industries.

In terms of the design, Omnia Magnifica will have a strong symbology inspired by Moon and Sun, probably one of the first things that the men idolized in their history. They will be very important in the Golden Age campaign. Like Omnia Antica, every suit represents an ancient civilization (Egyptian, Greeks, Babylonian, Roman) in their heroic and ancient form.

Omnia Magnifica will NOT be a color swap of Omnia Antica- everything is redesigned from scratch. The tuck features a double-layered foil, Red and gold, on a special dark paper that will be revealed during the campaign. The cards will have a very dark brown/black background and 2 metallic inks, golden and bronze.

Omnia Magnifica will be limited and mainly reserved for Kickstarter backers. According to Giovanni,

There will be a lot of "Magnifica" early birds available, so if you can try to catch it on day one ;)

Join us next week when we look at the third deck in the Omnia: The Golden Age series, the Omnia Suprema!

The provisional launch date for the campaign will be 6 Jan 2016. Stay tuned! Subscribe to the Thirdway Industries newsletter to keep up-to-date on the campaign launch date.

First Look: Final Teaser for Omnia

Here's the final reveal of the mysterious Omnia Playing Cards. For those who still don't know, the designer of this incredible deck is none other than...

Giovanni Meroni!

Giovanni's Evil deck won the Discourse Deck Design Contest and his Delirium Playing Cards was picked as United Cardists' 2014 deck. We are honoured to have Giovanni here to tell us more about this beautiful deck and how Omnia came to be.


I started designing a “Thirdway Industries standard deck”, in January 2015. The first inspiration was a classic Bicycle deck, re-designed with my modern vector style. I am very crazy and impulsive when I work, so I may start with an idea, and end up with another one. The biggest turning points on this project were when I decided to call the project “Omnia” and use Uroboros, the immortal God-snake who eats its own tail, for the back.

With a such sumptuous theme, I almost redesigned all the deck to adapt it (If you remember my Evil Deck interview, redesign decks from scratches is my favourite sport). I used a lot of gold (metallic inks and foil on the tuck), and made the courts baroque, enigmatic and epic. There are a lot of references to Egyptian, greek and Scandinavian mythology.

There will be 3 versions of Omnia Deck: Omnia Oscura (Black tuck box, gold foil-  unlimited), Omnia Suprema (Red Foil on black tuck box and black cards- Limited to 500) and Omnia Illumina (White tuck box, gold foil- unlimited but stretch goal).

The faces will be different in each versions (I mean, in dramatic way, not just a recolor). Aces and Jokers will be redesigned from scratches in the limited Omnia Suprema.

The Kickstarter is planned for June 2015, after Delirium and Evil Deck is delivered. Omnia will be proudly printed by Expert Playing Card Co. They worked closely with me for Delirium and Evil Deck, and gave me valuable printing and materials advise. They are already working with me to find the right stock, finish and foil for Omnia versions.

It's been a year since the Evil Deck. During this year,  I've gained a lot of experience, bought a lot of inspirational decks and made a lot of friends involved in playing cards world. Omnia is inspired by a lot of great decks, but I want mention the ones who inspired it most: Rick Davidson’s Origins (color scheme) and Lorenzo Gaggiotti’s Heretic (symbology, theme, style). Lorenzo gave me also a lot of hints and I asked his advice on Omnia from the start. I think you need to thank him a little too if you like Omnia as it is :) Hope you like Omnia, and Audentes Fortuna Iuvat.


Thank you Giovanni and Happy Birthday! :D

First Look: Omnia Antica Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries

Back in June 2015, Thirdway Industries, founded by Italian designer Giovanni Meroni, launched the Omnia Series on Kickstarter. Omnia had three decks, Oscura, Illumina and Suprema, and every deck represented a different dimensional plane: Oscura was the dark side, Illumina the bright one and Suprema was the plane where the Gods live.

Coming in January 2016, the ancient planes of the Omnia universe will be revealed, with a new campaign "Omnia: The Golden Age". Here's Giovanni to tell us more,

Accordingly to Omnia Mythology, the courts of this series will be the ancestors of the "classic" Omnia courts. The upcoming campaign will include three different decks again. This is an exclusive sneak peek of the first, unlimited deck of the campaign - Omnia Antica.

This deck represents an era of abundance and wealth, with emperors, conquerors, priestess, sultans and pharaohs. All the cards are designed from scratch, it won't be just a color swap.

Omnia Antica will be printed by Expert Playing Card Co. and features copper foil on a dark red / brown tuck box and a lot of metallic inks on faces and backs. Design will be intricate and fully-custom, with a new symbology based on the "classic" Omnia: the eternal return, Uroboros and a lot of new hidden symbols.

The suits are inspired by ancient cultures: Hearts are Egyptian, Clubs are Greek, Diamonds are Roman and Spades Babylonian/Persian. Some courts are inspired by some important personalities of the past, for example, the Queen of Hearts is inspired by Cleopatra.

You probably already saw the pictures, but I have to officially confirm this: the queens will be sexy and beautiful - and, in Thirdway Industries tradition, there will be a different female and a male joker in each deck.

The others two decks of the campaign, Magnifica and Perduta, will have completely different backs, tuck boxes, courts and aces.

Stay tuned for the second part where we reveal the limited edition Omnia Magnifica.... and Giovanni promised that it will be the most baroque deck ever produced by Thirdway Industries!

To find out more about OMNIA and anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

First Look: Omnia Perduta Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries

[Update] Omnia Golden Age now available on Kickstarter!

In the third and final part of our first look at the upcoming Omnia: The Golden Age series by Thirdway Industries, we will look at the Omnia Perduta, the third deck of the campaign. In the first part, we looked at the unlimited deck of the campaign - Omnia Antica and in the second part- Omnia Magnifica, the limited deck of Omnia: The Golden Age campaign.

Perduta means "Lost" and represents an era of war and destruction, when everything has collapsed. As this is the final deck of the campaign, it will only be available as a stretched goal. According to Giovanni Meroni, not much will be revealed until the stretched goal has been unlocked during the campaign. Here's what we know,

Perduta will have Green Foil on the new EPCC Dark "Stardust" paper. The cards will have light green and gold metallic inks. Green is the key color of Omnia Perduta, and the courts are be aggressive and malicious. You can consider it as the "dark side" of the Omnia past.

As mentioned in our previous first looks of Omnia: The Golden Age, all three decks will be different, no color swaps.

Here are the tuck boxes:

Omnia: The Golden Age will be launched on Kickstarter the 6 January 2016 - UTC 14:00 - EST 9:00 (New York) - CET 15:00 (Milan). You can subscribe the Thirdway Industries newsletter to recieve a notification.

Oh... Giovanni promised there will be a lot of early birds available and surprises planned! Don't miss out!

Kickstarter: Omnia Playing Cards Funded in under 4 hours!

This is what's trending in the playing cards industry this week: Omnia Playing Cards. Without surprise, the latest project by Thirdway Industries managed to get its initial funding goal of $10k in just under 4 hours!

Omnia starts with the Oscura deck, the limited edition Suprema deck and rounds off with the stunning Illumina deck which has been unlocked at $18k.

Omnia Oscura uses a deep black box printed with shiny gold foil and the faces uses a lot of gold metallic ink. Omnia Suprema uses red foil on the tuck box and metallic inks and black background on the faces. Only limited to 500 (approx). Finally, Omnia Illumina uses a bright white box, printed with shiny gold foil. Faces printed with metallic inks and the backs, gold metallic ink.

The deck is fully custom and the courts feature different artwork for all three editions. Also, the pips are 100% custom, with a subtle gold texture based on the suit's theme.

At the time of writing, the Omnia is currently sitting at $25k with no sign of stopping. There are several stretched goals yet to be unlocked – including embossing, interior print for the tucks and extra card. Pledge starts from $13 and will be printed by the Expert Playing Cards Co. Uncut sheets are available as an add-on.

Don't miss out!

Collections: Omnia by Thirdway Industries

Omnia by Giovanni Meroni and Thirdway Industries offers an eye catching package with a modern vision of traditional playing cards.

Omnia was the second project by Giovanni, and was offered in 3 versions. The Illumina (White), Oscura (Black) and the limited Suprema, which features a print run of just over 500 decks. All 3 decks feature matte tucks on a heavier card stock, each feature a unique and beautifully ornate front design, while the backs represent the design used on the card backs. The Illumina and Oscura decks are foiled in gold with a nice subtle embossing. The Suprema also features the embossing, but has a bright bold red foil that just pops off the dark tuck.

The thing I like most about these decks is the detail, I know it seems to be a running theme, but presenting details in a well thought out fashion is no small task and, for the most part, takes time and effort to accomplish........in other words, the decks aren't just slapped together. Those details continue to show on the tucks by the foiled interior design as well as the nice design elements on the tuck flap, no area of the tuck was left untouched.

The deck itself continues to show great detail in it's design, Givanni's style is evident and there is a great transition in offering a "Classic" look with the courts, but with a modern lines and design elements. It's really well balanced and keeps the familiarity of a traditional deck intact. The deck itself also featured metallic inks that just adds that nice depth to the design.

The spot cards have a smaller pip design which carries to the indices and also feature a subtle watermark on each card. The courts keep with the classic look but with modern lines and faces. Each deck features its own unique court design, they are subtle variations, but different non the less. The custom Ace of Spades features a smaller Spade surrounded by a spherical design element that carries through the deck and it's universe. Part of the element featured on the Ace of Spade is what's carried over as the watermark throughout the deck. The two custom Jokers have a great design that pulls it's look from the classics, but again, presents itself in modern line work. Both the Illumina and Oscura deck include a Bonus "Regina", which means Queen. Unlike the ladies we know and love, these two are Suicide Queens, each with it's own color pallet as well as unique wardrobe design. The Suprema deck received a Bonus Joker featuring a King and Queen and I have to say, it's a very striking image.

Omnia works in so many ways, in the most basic sense its a traditional deck that's familiar and functional. Giovanni's vision and skill gives the decks strong modern design and in a sharp presentation. While each deck isn't completely different from the other, the subtle differences are there and make each one stand out on it's own. There are plenty of "Custom" decks that come to the community, Omnia delivers a nice set full of the bells and whistles we love and while they are abundant in this project, they come off really well balanced in it's look and feel. The Suprema may put a strain on your wallet, if you can find one, but I would recommend adding Omnia to your collection, it really is a beautiful offering. 

If you like the Omnia decks, you'll be happy to know that that next chapter in the series is currently Live on Kickstarter. The Golden Age brings 3 new decks to the series, Antica, Perduta and the Limited Magnifica. The project launched yesterday and has already reached its funding goal. So if you don't want to miss out on the next chapter, head on over and toss in your pledge for what's sure to be another beautiful offering from Giovanni Meroni and Thirdway Industries. 

You can follow Giovanni and Thirdway Industries on Facebook as well as visit the Thirdway Industries Shop for any of there past and future products. 

The Collection segment is produced by Anthony Ingrassia of Kardify. No part of this article, images or video can be reproduced without written permission from the author and Kardify.com. 

Deck View: Illumina Playing Cards

Gold. Bright. Happy.

From Thirdway Industries the Omnia Illumina Playing Cards are meticulously designed by Italian graphic artist, Giovanni Meroni. Omnia Illumina was unlocked as a stretched goal during the Omnia Kickstarter campaign in 2015.

Omnia Illumina represents the bright side of the Omnia Universe. The gorgeous courts in Illumina are happy, brave, and generous. The tuck features a bright white box, printed with eye-catching gold foil. The face cards are printed with a lot of metallic inks and the backs use gold metallic ink.

Printed by Expert Playing Card Co. with Master Finish. Check out the other decks from the Omnia series on thirdway.it. For more cool playing cards, check out JP Games.

Deck VIew: Omnia Magnifica Playing Cards

Heroes. Legend. Ancient.

Designed by Giovanni Meroni of Thirdway Industries, Omnia Magnifica is the limited deck of Omnia: The Golden Age series. This exquisite deck represents the legendary, remote past of the Omnia Universe, full of God and Heroes. When everything started.

Fully custom, the deck features the most ancient reincarnations of the Omnia courts, and the most baroque deck designed by Thirdway Industries. The cards have a very dark brown/black background and 2 metallic inks, golden and bronze. Also, every suit represents an ancient civilization (Egyptian, Greeks, Babylonian, Roman) in their heroic and ancient form. The stunning tuck features a double-layered foil, Red and gold, on a special dark paper.

The deck is printed by Expert Playing Card Co. Available now from Thirdway Industries. For more cool playing cards, check out  JP Games.

Deck View: Omnia Suprema Playing Cards

Red. Ascendency. Divine.

From Thirdway Industries the Omnia Suprema Playing Cards are meticulously designed by Italian graphic artist, Giovanni Meroni. This stunning deck was recently listed on our Top12 Playing Cards of 2015.

Omnia Suprema represents the dimensional plane where Gods live in the Omnia Universe. The gorgeous courts in Suprema depict the ascendency to the divine and show their power with elaborate armors, jewel and wings. Also, the tuck features an elegant red foil plus embossing giving it a very luxurious look and feel.

Printed by Expert Playing Card Co. with Master Finish. Check out the other decks from the Omnia series on thirdway.it. For more cool playing cards, check out JP Games.

Top 12: Playing Cards of 2015

It's been another busy year for playing cards. From big magic companies to independent designers, 2015 has been filled with excellent new releases, and to celebrate we've compiled 12 of our favourite decks right here. Compiling the list has been a lot fun but really challenging as there are just so many amazing decks this year. If you think we left your favorite deck out, let us know in the comment section below. :)

Note that the selection expressed in this top 12 are solely those of the author and the list is in no particular order.

Avernum

Produced by Passiones Playing Cards and designed by Stefano Protino, Avernum is inspired by Italian poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri's eerie vision of the afterlife seven centuries ago. His vision has been included into one of the masterpieces of the Italian culture: the Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia). Fully custom, each court card is a work of art by itself and weaves metaphor into an intriguing visual that captures the imagination.

Draconian

Designed by Randy Butterfield, this mesmerizing deck of playing cards are inspired by a time of legendary dragons and features beautiful dragon scales, gorgeous colours and borderless back design. Also, the Faces incorporate a clean design that keeps them very functional and provides the highest level of playability. Draconians are available in 2 different edition, the Lightning (blue) and Spitfire (red) decks.

Omnia Suprema

From Thirdway Industries the Omnia Suprema Playing Cards are meticulously designed by Italian graphic artist, Giovanni Meroni. This stunning deck represents the dimensional plane where Gods live in the Omnia Universe. The gorgeous courts in Suprema depict the ascendency to the divine and show their power with elaborate armors, jewel and wings. Also, the tuck features an elegant red foil plus embossing giving it a very luxurious look and feel.

Heretic

Another incredible deck masterfully created by Stockholm17. Heretic Playing Cards features intricate design and artwork based on alchemy and the hermetic world. The deck is fully custom, from the pips, backs to the court cards. The back design is bright and embellished with intricate sphere's and ribbons in the negative space, making the back very eye-catching. The tuck has a subtle embossing on it with a unique long flap design that tucks into a lip on the tuck. A nice elongated Red seal wraps itself around the bottom of the tuck to secure the flap and features sequential serial numbers.

Scarlett Tally-Ho

Kings Wild Projects has brought us some of the most beautiful, collectible decks in the industry in the last few years. The Scarlett Tally-Ho does not disappoint! Inspired by the iconic brand as well as Jackson Robinson’s daughter (Scarlett), the deck is a beautiful reworking of the classic Tally Ho’s. The Tuck is a deep red with Gold Foil accents and embossing as well as a “Lattice” like pattern that embellishes the interior of the tuck to complete the custom case. The cards themselves have completely custom courts with 2 gold metallic ink accents on the face cards as well as 1 gold metallic ink accent on the back design presented in the bold, intricate design style that we’ve come to expect from KWP. The Ace of Spades as well as the Jokers design, are an homage to the original key card design and concept.

Contraband

A beautifully crafted deck by Theory11 and designed in the United Kingdom by Joe White, Contraband Playing Cards were inspired by secret societies, conspiracy theories, and everything unknown. Each card within the Contraband deck are custom, from the Aces, Jokers, to the court cards and the backs. The Contraband tuck case features gold and black foil and the interior, an elegant black foil design.

Hive Limited Edition

Stunning! The Limited Edition Hive 2 Playing Card is designed and illustrated by Brendan Hong. Hive 2 does a wonderful job in picking up where the original Hive decks left off. The style and design connects them without being the same. This gorgeous deck features all new custom courts in Brendan’s signature style as well as custom pips, Jokers and Ace of Spades. The tuck is fully embossed with Gold Foil accents and the interior features a gold foil, repeating, “Honeycomb” design that is very striking.

Arcana

One of the most funded deck of the year, Arcana Playing cards blend the traditions of standard playing cards with the secrets of the Tarot. This stunning deck is intricately illustrated by Chris Ovdiyenko. Each royal is illustrated with an unprecedented amount of detail in an engraved style. Elements in the deck includes 12 uniquely crafted Royals and Aces, 4 Major Arcana cards (The Fool, The Lovers, Death, and The Tower), and standard pip number cards. Also, Arcana features a natural pearlized tuck, with embossing and a luxurious blue foil on the tuck interior.

Superior Brand Classic Reserve

Recently available as a limited offering few weeks ago from the Expert Playing Card Co,  the Superior Brand features EPCC's new Robusto Finish and tucks designed by Jackson Robinson. What truly made this deck impressive is the full foil, shimmering back design. Truly eye-catching! Also, the tuck was stamped with a very expensive matte red foil followed by gold foil on top of that.

Tendril Ascendant Special Edition

From the mind of Paul Carpenter, the elegant Tendril: Ascendant playing cards incorporate all the refinements over the years and mixes those with the organic symmetry first seen in the original Tendril. The colors are bold, the borders are intense, the faces are dark and the level of detail has been increased. The Special Edition tucks are individually hand made with personalized die cut on a soft-touch black paper with gold foil.

Joker & the Thief

The Joker and the Thief playing cards is an impressive deck! The design invites attention while striking a balance between style and functionality. The tuck is peppered with lavish touches, and adorned with incredible silver foil. It is embossed on all sides and has a foil stamped interior. The back design is not only intricately beautiful but aesthetically and sentimentally appealing. The themes and connotation from back design continue throughout. The court cards are all fully custom and the Ace of Spades is unique, bold and iconic of this design.

LUXX Palme

From JP Playing Cards and designed by Rick Davidson, creator of the beautiful Origins Cards, Palme is a deck inspired by the beautiful Paisley pattern, which has roots and heritage across the globe. The Palme backs features full-bleed, borderless design, giving this deck a unique look and style which is carried through the deck and onto the tuck. The eye-catching tuck box features a wrap-around design and embossing complete with matte foiled LUXX logo.

Honorable mention: SEASONS by Alex Chin, Classic by UUSI, Antler by Dan & Dave, Kings of India by Humble Raja, Golden Spike Black Ink by Black Ink Playing Cards and Fuego! by Cellar Window.

The Art of Thirdway Industries' Giovanni Meroni

Wow...! Thirdway Industries is turning 5 this year. We've been following founder Giovanni Meroni since the Discourse Deck Design Competition (DDDC) back in 2014, when he first started designing playing cards. Since then, Giovanni has progressively improved his style with every deck he designed. Have an exclusive look at the evolution of Giovanni's work, from Evil Deck to Betrayers. Commentary by Giovanni.

The ones who know me as a playing cards designer probably don’t know that my “old” signature style was only vector shapes without lines (above). I’ve learned this style when I studied graphic design in the academy, and used it for a few years for illustration freelance jobs.

My first deck, The Evil Deck, was made with a minimal flat style - without lines. With all the cards illustrated, it was a tremendous effort.

During the production of The Evil Deck, I’ve learned a lot about playing cards world - I’ve met other designers, great people and awesome customers. I started collecting and I’ve seen some beautiful decks that inspired me a lot.



I’ve studied an old Modiano classic deck and, for the first time in my career, I’ve introduced lines in my illustrations. Welcome, Delirium Prism!



I absolutely loved the look of Delirium, and I wanted to try it on more human and realistic characters. I wanted a “classic” deck of cards, a sort of a standard of my newborn brand Thirdway Industries: Omnia.

During the design process, I’ve made it a little less classic than I was planning to do, especially because of the gorgeous Queens.



My “lines” style evolved a lot since Omnia: In Dedalo I wanted huge courts, more realistic and complex.



In SINS and Eva, I’ve reduced the figures a little, so I had more space for bodies. I’ve also improved the expressions of the courts.



After doing so many realistic and dark decks, I felt it was time to return doing something fun and colorful. Something with the same vibe of Delirium, designed after several years of experience in playing cards design. I’ve decided to call this deck Lunatica, and it’s probably one of the craziest ones I’ve designed.



Odissea is probably my most mature work with my signature style so far. I’ve merged the best part of SINS with Dedalo, adding details, expressions, and variety.



After Odissea, I wanted to take a break from my usual style, so I’ve checked my first works and decided to try to use a flat style again… after 5 years of experience. The result... Betrayers, a deck that uses flat shapes and gradient on realistic and complex figures.



Now I am designing a new deck, Monolith, with my usual style, but a completely different theme. I am a chaotic person, and I absolutely don’t have any idea about how my style will evolve in the next years - I always tried steadily to improve what I do, so hopefully, it will get better!

To keep up-to-date on anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

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