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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The Superior Rainbow Deck is Finally Here!

First spotted at the 52+Joker Convention in Ohio, Cleveland last year, the highly anticipated Superior Rainbow Deck is finally here! The deck features rainbow cold foil on the card backs and tuck.

The card backs showcase Expert's Classic design and the courts in a retro-style hand-drawn face resembling the faces used on many standard decks today but have their own Art Nouveau style.

This latest addition to the popular Superior line is another game changer and a must have for every card collection. Available now from conjuringarts.org for $9.95.

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Kickstarter: Grid Series Three Typographic Playing Cards

Currently on Kickstarter, Grid Series Three is the third and final deck of playing cards in a trilogy designed by Luke Wadey based on the ‘Swiss Design Style’ principles. The deck series focus on how each face card can be displayed through text and focuses on readability, cleanliness and the use of grids.

Whilst the first two decks embraced a more conservative approach, Grid. Series Three aims to stand out with its use of negative space and color combinations to create real graphic impact.

The deck sports a green/red/black colorway and features enlarged letter/number in the background of the face cards using negative space to form the shape. The color and white combination creates dynamic patterns with unique and ambitious aesthetics. From this background, the rest of the card is formed, crafted to ensure the invisible alignment works for every card in every suit.

The tuck takes its style from the back of the card design as well as traditional features found on the other Grid decks. Although minimal and simplistic, the deck has visually pleasing aesthetics, plenty of typography, and the absence of any unnecessary details give Grid series a timeless look of refinement and elegance.

Printed by the United States Playing Card Co. and pledge starts at £8 on Kickstarter.

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Card Chat #4

Welcome to Card Chat! It's a place to hang out, chat about cards, cardistry, games, movies, comics, anything you want, every Monday. It's the unofficial forum for Kardify. Comment below: