Ravn X Released as Kickstarter Campaign Hits 310% Funding Goal!

Just as we published the article for the RAVN IIII Kickstarter campaign last week, designer Stockholm17 and magician Caroline Ravn has hit the 310% funding goal in just 5 days. By achieving the stretched goal, backers have unlocked the exquisite Ravn X deck.



Not only does the deck sound cool.. it looks incredible! According to the backer update,

Finally, it is time to release RAVN X. X because it sounds cool, and X as 10 in roman numerals because it is the 10th variant of the Ravn series (including Ravn Summer Ale LTD).

Inside, the deck will have similar face cards to the two Ravn IIII decks. The card backs sport a red/black colorway giving it an elegant and edgy look. The tuck comes with embossing and 2 foil- red and black printed on black stock paper.

RAVN X is available as on add-on during the Kickstarter campaign for $18.50.

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7 Questions with Duane Cardinez of CLUB PITCH Playing Cards

CLUB PITCH Playing Cards are an intriguing deck. They are minimal, yet intricate. Bold, yet still traditional. Currently funding on Kickstarter, the deck is a collaboration between card enthusiast, Duane Cardinez, and Pitch, a full-service advertising agency in Culver City, CA. It started as an identity exploration, manifested into a passion project.

The card backs sports a distinct black colorway with broken borders on both sides, giving the deck a sense of mystery. Meanwhile, the faces are designed with bold & bright elements. Number cards hold more appeal with black or white text set against a vibrant green background. The Courts are framed in green and have a splash of white to set them apart from number cards and add impact to your royal hand.

Earlier this week, we had a quick chat with Duane about his design background, inspiration, and design process behind the CLUB PITCH deck.

For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
I’m originally a Brooklynite (BedStuy massive) and studied design at Northeastern in Boston. Growing up, I was making board games for my friends and me to play on the ride to school or creating comic books to distribute. Professionally, I’ve worked on converting warehouses into usable government buildings all over Massachusetts, made skate paraphernalia, and helped convince Burger King to partner with Iron Man. I got into cards a couple years back after seeing a Cardistry Wizards video on YouTube, featuring Jaspas and his crew. I was with my co-workers at the time and we all thought, “we are going to get good like this.” (Half joking) Well, that didn’t happen, but we did get into collecting. At the time we had a casino client that we came so close to creating a series of custom cards for and although it never came to fruition, I have made and kept some valuable connects with The United States Playing Card Company and Expert Playing Cards.

Can you describe the CLUB PITCH Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it?
I’m actually 10 minutes away from being the longest employee at PITCH (an LA-based ad agency). I’ve seen it evolve and mature from basically a startup to the successful business it is now. Safe to say I know the brand well and was excited to be involved in the company branding refresh last winter. What resulted was a more edgy take on the word mark and a simple color change. We have a lot of young blood at PITCH and I saw the new take on our brand identity like we were an up & coming rock band. The next step was fantasizing all the things we could see our branding on and one of those products was playing cards.

Design-wise, CLUB PITCH cards are based on our new signature green and takes cues from things found in our office. The back is a black on black rendition of a Culver-LA map found in our main conference room. It also relates to the mantra found on the jokers which state “Find Your Sound, Find Your Story.” We have always had a tree inside our building, which is where the focus on the suit of clubs is derived. The design the cards make when they fan, was inspired by patterns on folding fans that I’ve always loved.

Walk us through the process you took to design this unique deck. How did you come out with the idea and how did you get to this finished product?
My first inspiration was an Aroundsquare concept deck by Hubert Konicki which was a black and greyscale back with a rainbow front. When PITCH’s approved color palette was finalized, it was pared down to black, white and green. There weren’t enough colors to get the same effect going as Konicki’s deck, so I thought about how else to get the same color contrast. I still wanted a simple, almost all black backside that would scream color when you see the front. The green was the obvious choice and I built from there. The classic black and red became black and white. The white pips on the Black Tigers always looked sexy to me, so from there, things fell into place.

The courts cards and aces were next to get incorporated. My original plan was to give all the high cards a white backdrop so that when you were playing a game, you really felt like you got a hot hand. But I quickly realized you would probably see the edges and it would end up being a nightmare. Besides, I already established that red was white and that wouldn’t fly on a white background. So, I tried the court cards with a green border and I instantly loved it. The pips were something I had been playing around with for a while so that fell into place pretty easily. I always wanted to see an Ace of Spades where you can see his cousin club inside of it. The font was a narrow version our PITCH font.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
A design we have been playing with internally incorporates our company’s philosophy (“Find Your Sound, Find Your Story”) and it shows the two phrases interlocking in a 70s-style design that up close resembled a maze or map. I thought it was so clever to make a design out of the gridlines used to create said design and feature that as the back art. Just two simple “P” logos would don the top. It would further emphasize the fact that the card fronts were to be the hero, and now the Jokers are the main event. However, I just recently saw some video footage of the cards and I hated the backs. I think every designer comes to this point in the design process. I tried the obvious choice of adding the design of the tuck displaying the architecture of the pips, but it made it more ornate than desired. One day I was looking at our main conference room and the Culver-LA map from across the office and I had my “Eureka!” moment. It wasn’t as easy to incorporate as I thought, but I mulled it over for a few nights and I found that the intersection at Venice and Crenshaw makes an almost yin yang shape that I love. Incidentally, I was actually living around that area when I first discovered cardistry. More importantly, in reinforces the “Find Your Sound, Find Your Story” design on the Joker and it ties it all together. It was the last change I did, days before launch, but it was worth it.

From Kickstarter project page, what are a few of your favorite reward levels and why?
I figured the Early Bird 2 deck reward would be the most popular. You want one to break in and one to save. I think the price point is very fair as these are not meant to be highly ornate. They are simply a more stylish take on classic designs. But in a way, $9 cards are a steal for a custom run. The Care Package is similar to what we give new clients (minus the cards) so that’s pretty boss, too.

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future?
Professionally, we are already talking about sequels. There is nice momentum here after relocating into a new building, hosting an open house party and now this product launch. Personally, I would like to create my own 3-part series. One from USPCC, one from EPC and one from Cartamundi. The idea is that each design would utilize what makes each company great. Dreams.

Finally, what are your favorite playing cards?
My favorite cards of all time would probably be Dan & Dave Makers. They are the perfect deck for me. The pips, the tuck design, the long seal - all unique and inspiring elements. The National Playing Card Collection Day Deck from 2017 is pretty luxurious. I missed out on that year, but I was able to cop the one from last year. As far as favorites that I own, I have to give props to the Blood Kings. The simplicity and strong color pop of red were inspiring for the CLUB PITCH deck. Especially fond of the jokers which is a highly stylized ax and sword. I’m also quite fond of my Jimmy Fallon cards by Theory 11. The court cards have a high-class art deco style and the stamp is a unique shape that screams NYC in the 30s.

Thank you for your time, Duane! At the time of writing, the project is 42% funded with 20 days to go. If you want to support CLUB PITCH Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter here!


Pledge starts from $10 and the deck will be printed by the USPCC.

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Kickstarter: Devastation (Silver Edition) Playing Cards

The Devastation Silver Edition Playing Cards is an elegant set of playing cards that depict the men who invented weapons of devastation and famous nurses. The deck is based on Black Ink's most successful Kickstarter projects to date, the Devastation series, launched back in 2015.

The deck will have fully custom illustrated courts, aces, and jokers using predominately red/black colorway giving it an elegant, edgy and timeless look.

The artwork Aces and jokers are symbolic illustrations which remind us of the stark weight of war.

The Silver edition tuck box includes stunning hot foil stamping on a linen-textured specialty paper with crisp embossing.

Only 1000 will be printed by Legends Playing Card Co. on their Classic Finish card stock. Intricate details, beautiful composition, and a great theme... this deck is one that you will not want to pass up!

Available now on Kickstarter for $13. Upgrade such as the wrapped signature label (hand-signed and numbered), deluxe genuine leather case and wooden case is available.

News: People Are Talking About Mondrian Playing Cards. Here Are 5 Things To Know

You’ve probably seen this all over social media, the all-new Mondrian Playing Cards from Got Magic?. The deck combines simplicity and bold design and with cardists and magicians in mind. Here are 5 things we know about the deck,

1. The deck has been designed by Nicholas Earl, founder of Got Magic? and Toomas Pintson, an Estonian card magician.

2. As the name suggest, Mondrian Playing Cards are a modern rendition with direct inspiration taken from Piet Mondrian.
The design features an abstract of primary colors with horizontal and vertical lines. The simple and clean Mondrian design is distinctly recognizable.

3. The standard courts are enhanced with custom Mondrian blue, yellow and red.
The custom ace of spades features sharp angles with the Mondrian design inside the spade give it an edgy look while still being elegant.



4. The tuck case is made from synthetic soft-touch paper. 
The tuck comes complete with a sculpted matte silver foil of the original signature of Piet Mondrian, giving it a luxurious look and feel. Also, the interior of the tuck is lined with matte silver foil.

5. Manufactured by the United States Playing Card Company and printed on crushed Bee stock. Super smooth!

Card Radar: MADDECK Playing Cards

The MADDECK is a series of playing cards featuring illustrations by designer Ozlem Olcer. The deck was created for PAG, an Istanbul-based design company developing projects and manufacturing products in collaboration with graphic artists and illustrators.

The name MADDECK (short for ‘Magicians, Astronauts & Dancers’) was given after the first 3 dream jobs of the designer as a child. The deck combines unusual and edgy designs with an innocent feeling, much like the designer herself.

This is reflected on the deftly hand-drawn ornate but legible suits and also on the expressions of the beautiful cubistic styled rendered courts. The Joker of the deck is King Puhu, the famous and beloved drawing of Ozlem Olcer.

The deck was selected for the 'Destination Istanbul’ events, held in MOMA stores in NY and Hong Kong back in 2010.

MADDECK is sold in a box of two decks with different back colors: Red and Blue. The decks are printed on 330g black core paper imported from Germany.

Crowdfunding this Week: 11/1

Welcome to Crowdfunding this Week, where we select some of the best playing card projects on the various crowdfunding platforms this week. Three projects for you to check out this week:

Bicycle Middle Kingdom Playing Cards

China-inspired playing cards featuring all-custom line art, printed by USPCC.

Kickstarter project by: Doug Frye
Current Status:  73% Funded
Pledge Amount: $12 for single deck
Ends: November 25th, 2015

Bicycle Limited Edition Black Rose Playing Cards

The Bicycle Limited Edition Black Rose deck is a dark yet beautiful design with a cryptic message.

Kickstarter project by: Collectable Playing Cards
Current Status: 46% Funded
Pledge Amount: $15 for single deck
Ends: November 28th, 2015

Royal House Limited Edition Playing Cards

Relaunched. A USPCC made, Edgy Brothers designed deck of custom playing cards inspired by historic royal houses of Europe.

Kickstarter project by: Edgy Brothers
Current Status:  77% Funded
Pledge Amount: $11 for single deck
Ends: November 19th, 2015

Top 12: Playing Card Decks for Halloween 2015

With Halloween just a few days away, we've compiled the best playing cards for All Hallows' Eve just for you. Behold! The Kardify Top 12: Halloween 2015 Edition, with enough ghosts, pirates, killer jokers, villians and skulls to keep your spine tingling through the night.

Difficulty scale from easy (1) to difficult (5). If you have one that we haven't discovered. Do feel free to share.

12. Sleepy Hollow

Over a year in the making, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow Playing Cards were conceived by playing card designer Derek McKee and masterfully illustrated in France by J.C. Desevre. This incredibly intricate and detailed deck of playing cards depicts artwork and characters from the popular Sleepy Hollow legend including Ichabod Crane & the Headless Horseman.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

11. The Evil Deck

Captivated by villains and his love for drawing creatures, Giovanni Meroni decided to embark on a playing card project to create a fun, colorful and dynamic theme for a deck. After illustrating all 54 creatures by hand, the Evil deck is born. The deck features fully custom face cards, embossed tuck coated with UV supergloss, interior printed and neatly packaged with a custom seal. Definitely a fun deck for All Hallows' Eve.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $14.95

10. October Second Edition

Fulton's October Playing Cards is a frightfully fun and whimsically deck featuring the illustrated artwork of Steven Noble. Packaged inside the box you will find one tricked out deck of playing cards. Everything from the back design, ace of spades, jokers, and court cards were customized. The deck features a superior dark-charcoal and black box, while also incorporating an asymmetric design that proudly features the back illustration of the cards within.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

 9. Revelation

Revelation is an extraordinary deck of playing cards inspired by medieval cathedrals and their gothic style. This meticulously hand-illustrated deck features gothic details, symbolic carvings and stained glass ornamentations from the stunning Nidaros cathedral in Norway. Fully custom, the Revelation tuck box, jokers, Ace of Spades and the eye-catching backs features artwork inspired by the beautiful stained glass of the cathedral while the illustrated skeleton courts pays homage to the silent skeletons of Norwegian royalty still resting in Nidaros’ catacombs. A strangely beautiful, simple and visually stunning theme.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

8. Requiem

Requiem Playing Cards is a stunning deck masterfully crafted by Lorenzo Gaggiotti of Stockholm17. This unique deck is 100% custom and features darkness & 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 metallic ink on this blood red deck gives it a touch of elegance.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $20

7. Neverland

Here's a delightful deck! Designed by Nat Iwata, Neverland is a beautifully illustrated deck of playing cards based on J. M. Barrie's timeless classic Peter and Wendy. The deck is Bicycle branded and features fully custom courts, aces, pips jokers and rich full card backs.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $10

6. Steampunk Bandits

From the guys at Gambler's Warehouse, Steampunk Bandits is a beautiful designed deck based on contemporary artists’ depictions of the bandits themselves, oft portrayed as skeletons. Not just for fans of Steampunk, this exquisite deck features unique art for all four suits of court cards, incredible colours and beautifully embossed tuck.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $15

5. Venexiana Dark

Dark Venexiana Playing Cards is the follow-up to the original Venexiana deck. Designed by Lotrek of Half Moon Playing Cards, the story continues the journey to the dark heart of 18th century Venice. Venexiana Dark features a series of obscure and marginal characters who complete the picture of this haunting city from thieves, assassins, prostitutes to wicked noblemen and masters of deception.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $15

4. No. 17 (Bicycle Branded) Playing Card 

No.17 is a stylish deck of playing cards designed by Lorenzo Gaggiotti. This will be his second deck on our Halloween list. There is no specific theme in this deck, it´s quite eclectic. The deck is 100% custom and features a Bicycle branded tuck with subtle embossing,  the now familiar Jester on the front and a stunning back that carries a beautiful line work!

Difficulty: 1
Price: $20

3. Midnight Calaveras

Designed by Chris Ovdiyenko of Dead On Paper, the Midnight Calaveras playing cards are inspired by and pays homage to Jose Posada, a famous Mexican printmaker who worked at the time of the Mexican Revolution. All artwork is hand drawn and features metallic printing on the cards, foils and embossing on the tuck.

Difficulty: 1
Price: $16

2. Dia de los Muertos

Dia de Los Muertos Playing Cards is a Bicycle-branded deck inspired by the art and traditions of the Day of the Dead; it honors both death and the cycle of life. Created by the team at Edgy Brothers, this beautifully illustrated deck pays homage to the spiritual and cultural event: full of color, detail and character.

Difficulty: 2
Price: $28

1. Joker and the Thief Playing Cards

A truly impressive deck! The design invites attention while striking a balance between style and functionality. The back design is not only intricately beautiful but aesthetically and sentimentally appealing. The themes and connotation from back design continue throughout, you may even start to see a story forming as you look through them!

Difficulty: 1
Price: $15

The selection expressed in this top12 are solely those of the author. Images for Sleepy Hollow from whisperingimps.com, October Second Edition from dananddave.com, Steampunk Bandits from gamblerswarehouse.com, Midnight Calaveras from deadonpaper.com, Revelation, No17 and Joker & the Thief by Anthony Ingrassia. Evil deck, Requiem, Venexiana Dark and Dia de los Muertos by Ivan Choe.

Crowdfunding this Week: 10/18

Welcome to Crowdfunding this Week, where we select some of the best playing card projects on the various crowdfunding platforms this week. We have three projects for you to check out:

Triple Vision Playing Cards [First Look]

Playing cards with a retro 3D design for cardists, magicians and card collectors.

Kickstarter project by: One Widow Playing Cards
Current Status:  15% Funded
Pledge Amount: $12 for single deck
Ends: November 16th, 2015

Royal House Playing Cards

A USPCC produced, Edgy Brothers designed, limited edition deck of custom playing cards inspired by historic Royal Houses of Europe.

StartNext project by: Edgy Brothers
Current Status: 43% Funded
Pledge Amount: $11 for single deck
Ends: November 15th, 2015

PAGAN Otherworlds

The LE Blue Pagan deck on this project will share the same courts as the original deck, but with a new joker.

Kickstarter project by: Uusi
Current Status: 122% Funded
Pledge Amount: $40 for a tarot-playing card combo
Ends: November 17th, 2015

Usagi Playing Cards: Classic Dots

A modern deck of high-quality playing cards.

Kickstarter project by: Julian Stiber
Current Status: 21% Funded
Pledge Amount: $13 for single deck
Ends: November 12th, 2015

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Chris Staples of Fall of Troy Playing Cards

Inspired by ancient greek design and scenes from the legendary Greek mythology, Fall of Troy playing cards is the first playing card project from designer Chris Staples. This hand-illustrated deck tells the legendary story of the Trojan War, an epic tale of love, revenge, sorrow and bloodshed.

Fully custom, this deck features illustrated custom Faces, Courts, Aces, Jokers, Tuck and an eye-catching back design, striking the balance between ancient styles and modern layout. The deck puts you right in the middle of the Greek mythology!

We had the opportunity to chat with Chris about the new project, it's inspiration and design process. We hope you enjoy some of the background to the Fall of Troy deck.

For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
I’d be happy to tell you about myself and thanks Ivan, for sharing the Fall of Troy campaign with your readers.

Design has been a part of my professional life for nearly twenty years. I’ve worked in animation, advertising, music and film for some big studios such as Disney, Dreamworks, Warner Bros and Cartoon Network. I am currently the Creative Director for umigo.com, an animated, interactive project funded by the US Dept. of Education. More of my work can be seen on my website.

This is your first playing card project on Kickstarter. Why Kickstarter?
I have been funding projects over the years through Kickstarter. When I decided to launch my own campaign, Kickstarter was the crowdfunding resource with which I was most familiar. Kickstarter also supports the thriving custom playing card community that inspired my own project.

Can you describe the Fall of Troy Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it?
The Fall of Troy ][ Epic Playing Cards is a custom, poker-sized deck of playing cards. The backs and faces feature hand-illustrated artwork, inspired by ancient greek design. The court cards display characters and scenes from the legendary Trojan War.

Like so many people, I have been interested in ancient mythology for most of my life. I love these stories and hope that others will discover them through the Fall of Troy cards and love them too. Or, perhaps they will rediscover something that they used to know and love.

Walk us through the process you took to design Fall of Troy Playing Cards. How did you approach this project and get to this finished product?
Once I knew that I wanted to explore the Trojan War in the form of playing cards, the process went something like this… Research, research, research. Design. Trash. Research. Design. Trash. Drink. Research. Design. Hooray! 

This took a few months.

At that point, however, I was happy with the development of the style and ready for production. Production begins with finding inspiration in ancient art. My primary focus was on a particular form known as red-figure pottery, developed in Athens around 520 BC. I often combine aspects of multiple pieces in order to create an element that works in playing card form. This means considering elements of symmetry and the inclusion of the suit graphics. I also consider the story of the character being portrayed and how it relates to the story of the court card. I’ve written some short articles on that aspect that are posted as updates on the campaign page. The rest of the process is the meticulous work of laying out the artwork to function first as a playable deck of cards and second as a stack of mini canvasses. Following this is the printing stage which, in this day and age, is a dream come true for a kid who was designing Variety covers in the 90’s.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
My favorite breakthrough on this project has been connecting the King of Hearts with Ajax of Salamis. I wrote a short article about it as a campaign update. Check it out. And please hit the like button. :)

Were you aware of the different deck of playing cards out there and did any decks inspire you?
Yes, I’ve backed a few custom decks. Leonardo, by Dent-de-Lion du Midi and all of Uusi’s stuff have been a big source of inspiration. Of course, there are so many more great decks out there. I need to sell my cards just to support my custom card habit. Between me and you, I had to set up an KS account that is just for cards. That’s normal, right?

Haha... I think so. ;) Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
So many. Maybe it would be quicker to list a few of the amazing artists out there… As mentioned Dent-de-Lion du Midi and Uusi. Jackson Robinson, Alexander Chin, Steve Minty, the Edgy Brothers… and so many more. I’m also excited about the new technologies available as seen in the decks made by companies like MPC. Did I mentioned that I may have card collecting problem? Please support my habit by backing The Fall of Troy ][ Epic Playing Cards. Thanks again Ivan. Cheers!

No worries! Thank you for your time, Chris! At the time of writing, the project is only 49% funded with 21 days to go. If want to support Fall of Troy Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter here.


Pledge starts from $12 and the Fall of Troy Playing Cards will be printed by Make Playing Cards (MPC). Add-ons such as uncut sheets and art prints are available.

Kickstarter: Dia de los Muertos (Second Edition) Playing Cards

Edgy Brothers are back with the Second Edition of their popular Dia de los Muertos playing cards, inspired by the art and traditions of the Day of the Dead- a traditional Meso-American holiday dedicated to the ancestors. Already successfully funded on Kickstarter, this dynamic deck continues to gain support and is fast approaching its first stretched goal. We asked Chris Edgerly about the motivation behind the Second Edition,

Dia de los Muertos is a rich tradition, and from a design standpoint it's so full of color and detail. The response to the 2014 campaign was amazing but we decided to make those designs Limited Edition, so we restricted ourselves to the one order from USPCC to fulfill the pledges and promised to never make them again. As a result, the 7500 or so decks we printed of those three designs (USPCC never gives you an exact count, so we're a little over that total) represent the entirety of what exists in the marketplace. And at this point we're almost at the end of our inventory; in fact, we're down to literally the last two dozen available Painted Decks, and those are likely to be gone in the next week or so, and the Black and Original designs are probably not going to last much longer than a month. Aside from a few dozen decks we're keeping for ourselves, everything else has been sold to customers on our website, or bought by wholesalers for their sites.

With a new design and new illustrations, the Second Edition is a continuation of the themes explored in the first - the spirit, art and tradition of the Dia de los Muertos. Edgy Brothers have added more depth of field, vibrancy and detail to a design that is a true evolution from the previous edition.

If we wanted to do Dia de los Muertos again, it had to be new. And we wanted to revisit the concept because Dave, our artist, has really gotten comfortable with the playing card medium. He's brought a depth of field, level of detail and vibrancy that the First Edition honestly can't touch. In all likelihood, we just don't see how we can do another Dia de los Muertos campaign after this; never say never, but we'd have to really wrack our brains to top this one. We'd much rather let this be our statement on the concept. The initial response has been just as enthusiastic as last year, so we're pretty thrilled with that. We still have a few surprises left in the campaign, though. The Black deck is going to be a real step up from last year's. Not to mention another little surprise we've got cooking in the add on department. All in all, we've got a really fun campaign going, so we hope more people check us out.

Pledge starts from $12 and the Dia de Los Muertos Second Edition Playing Cards will be printed by the USPCC. There are also multiple rewards that are waiting to be unlocked once the project hits its stretched goals. The most notable is the Painted deck at $18k and the Black design deck at goal to be set during the campaign. Add-ons such as dealer coin and uncut sheets are also available.