Jack Brutus Penny Launches Sensu Playing Cards on Kickstarter

In 2019 Jack Brutus Penny released the limited-edition art deck, Culturae Animalis in a project that helped endangered mountain gorillas, planted trees, and more. Today, Jack launched his second deck on Kickstarter! Sensu (扇子) is a gorgeous deck of luxury hand-drawn art themed around Japan and the Japanese folding fan.



Designed completely from scratch, Jack has created a unique way to marry narrative-driven artwork and the medium of playing cards. The innovative card back design creates canvas from the playing card border, taking one card as a closed 扇子, but when held together in an open fan, revealing an explosion of colorful images - a narratively driven nonsensical display of anthropomorphic animals, beasts from Japanese folklore, through the seasons and across the landscape. 

The artwork is just gorgeous. The face cards and backs have elements in metallic ink to really catch the eye and the flawless and practical two-way design is so intricate you cleverly don’t even focus on the mirroring.



The unique pips are themed on the Japanese seasons, hearts are Spring, clubs and Summer, diamonds are Autumn and spades are Winter. When they fan together, they reveal the season in all its glory! Follow the link and support the project that also helps animal welfare. What can you identify here in Japanese Spring? 

The deck also comes with beautiful simplistic aces and the fabulous jokers of Sensu art playing cards take direct inspiration from Japanese traditional hanafuda cards. 

Sensu comes in two versions, the turquoise Winter Fan and the vermillion Spring Fan. There are integral differences between the two versions, from inserts to how they are even used. These playing cards take an original concept inspired by Japanese hanafuda for how to read the cards. Interesting. 

 

The deck is packaged in gorgeous recyclable tuck boxes that come with a special washi-like textured feel and luxurious foiling. Themed around Japanese folklore and whimsical animals, this playing card deck will be a displayable treasure. 

Printed by EPCC on classic stock with linen finish. Get this Japan-themed piece of art for your family. Pledge starts at $18 on Kickstarter and the deck is used to support animal welfare in various ways, including a portion of all proceeds used to rescue abandoned and displaced cats and dogs around Japan. 

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UC X Jack Brutus Penny- Nazo Nazo Playing Cards

After acquiring the United Cardists forum last year, Portfolio52 released the successful Odd Fellows playing cards series in collaboration with Stockholm17 as part of the UC annual deck. This year, the annual deck will be designed by Jack Brutus Penny. Based in Japan, Jack is known for his artwork inspired by animals and Japanese culture.

Nazo Nazo Playing Cards shows the fantastic Japanese inn crowded with anthropomorphized animals integrated into a large-scale mural. You would see all the cute characters doing some activities within the interiors of the inn done in large illustrations segmented as small pieces of cards. The name of the series, “Nazo Nazo” literally means “puzzles and riddles” in Japanese – this deck of cards has a lot to offer: jigsaw puzzles, word puns, proverbs, stories, and visual scavenger hunts.

There are three editions of Nazo Nazo available during the Kickstarter campaign – Guest House, Tatami Room, and Onsen. Each edition will have completely different artwork on both the cards and the tuck boxes, but everything is all Jack’s heart and soul.

The Guest House is the standard edition of the series, which is only printed on standard stock and finishes. The Tatami House is called the puzzle edition, promising a deck of cards fashioned to be full of puzzles and riddles. The Onsen House is the exclusive Kickstarter edition featuring cards gilded with beautiful gold foil.

The tuck boxes for the series themselves are masterpieces of their own. It is made with premium stock with the unique shape of a tongue flap and die-cut windows across faces and sides. These windows allow you to view the integration of the card back design with the artwork on the tuck box.

The artworks on the box are intricate and full of details, showing the beautiful rooms that represent the name of the edition. It does have customized embossing on the artwork, and most prominently, the holographic foiling for the clouds on the box. The artwork on the side creates an interesting display – getting one of each of the editions, you create half of the building; combining two sets altogether and you will have the full picture of the Nazo Nazo inn.

The characters who appeared within the large mural of the cards featured pets owned by various people who are experts in some of their fields in Japanese culture, like origami, pottery, horseback archery, calligraphy, and more. The profits from the project’s outcome will be given to Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) to help rescue and rehouse abandoned and displaced cats and dogs in Japan.

All of the cards will be printed with Expert Playing Cards Co. Pledge starts at $16 on Kickstarter.

Patternwork Playing Cards by Jack Brutus Penny

From nonsense writer and artist Jack Brutus Penny, winner of the 2024 52+Joker Artist of the Year, comes Patternwork. Patternwork is a deck of fully-custom art playing cards inspired by Renaissance tapestry (along with British textile designer William Morris designs) and Japanese fabric. Hand-drawn patterns like Chrysanthemums and Crickets and Dandelions and Dragonflies weave through whimsical court clothing.

Inside, courts depict Jack’s fantastic characters that thread through all of his projects, this time with elegant designs balancing function with storytelling. Card faces are foiled, with two unique designs, two unique backs and a set of custom and unique gilded and dyed edges with custom foiled sleeves.

Now funding on Kickstarter, two editions form the series: Dyed Patternwork and Gilded Patternwork. Each edition presented in three unique versions with custom tucks, laser-cut foiled sleeves, and patterned edges. Every deck includes 56 hand-illustrated cards, with four original jokers and fully customized courts and pips.

Dyed Patternwork bursts with color and life, its faces adorned in silver holographic cold foil. The artwork draws from the detailed textile work of William Morris, blending British craftsmanship with Japanese motifs of flora and insects, from chrysanthemums to crickets. Each carrying symbolic meaning.

Gilded Patternwork, by contrast, is an exercise in opulence. With golden cold-foil faces and luxurious gilded edges, it captures the radiance of traditional goldwork embroidery, known in medieval England as Opus Anglicanum. Each court card and motif glows with layered detail, turning every hand into a tapestry of light and line.

For collectors, the Limited Box Set pairs one of each deck with an exclusive 3D-engraved antique gold card, presented in a handcrafted sewing-box–inspired display case. The Petite Patternwork Set, a miniature edition measuring just 33.5 x 46mm, arrives in a carved wooden box crowned with its own engraved gold plate.

Only 550 decks of each version will ever be made, printed by King Star in collaboration with the artist. Pledge starts at $23 on Kickstarter.

7 Questions with Jack Brutus Penny of the Culturae Animalis Art Deck

The Culturae Animalis art playing cards is a deck of highly detailed, hand-drawn, luxury art playing cards with a beautiful message of cultural respect and environmental and animal protection currently funding on Kickstarter. This unique illustrated deck by Jack Brutus Penny took over six months, with every card, including all pip cards, having its own unique design bleeding to the edge.

Lots of creativity has gone into the deck and the artwork employs the imagery of animals, delivering a powerful and thought-provoking narrative. The theme is consistent across all cards, sticking to the black, white and red colors. Last week, we caught up with Jack to talk about his design background, the inspiration behind the Culturae Animalis art deck, the design evolution of the deck and future plans.

For those of us who don’t know, can you tell us about yourself and what is your design background?
I am a nonsense writer and illustrator, meaning I use spoken and visual language to play with our interpretation of its meaning. I consider all my work to be in the same universe, from my In Truth Stories publications on how animals came to be the way they are, and Riddle Me This original conundrum collections, to my illustrated animal series, Japanese clay mugs, men’s accessories and more.

I have years of experience as a freelance artist, and before that various internships and placements in design studios. But I decided to open my own studio/publishing house called JBPPublishing and focus my attention on the creative worlds swimming through a gateway whimsical place, I call Clocktown.

Can you describe the Calturae Animalis Art Playing Cards and why you’re passionate about it?
Culturae Animalis is a deck of art playing cards in which every single card has a detailed illustration, each telling its own story. The suits provide windows into four different realms inspired by four different historical cultures and animals.

It’s as illogical to say why I’m passionate about my work as is to say why I’m passionate about myself - because it’s an extension of me. It shows the curious world of words and images that pass through our minds as we let them wander. But I can say that I’m passionate about my causes. I feel strongly about cultural acceptance, about the environment, and about animal welfare. Culturae Animalis, in its design, its production, and its application, exemplifies these passions.

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? 
Well my cats themed in Japanese Edo period ukiyoe (woodblock prints) was a series I’d worked on for years before starting the deck. The series had expanded into different civilisations and I decided to collect them into a deck of gorgeous playing cards with details never seen before in the genre, partly because I’m a keen social card player, and partly because suits epitomise the hierarchy of a classic culture.

Each card was designed from scratch to reference the culture, the animal, the number (for instance the 8 of diamonds includes an octopus - though other number connections are more obtuse), and even relate between the suits. The planning and research, composing and illustrating of the deck took me over 6 months.

How did you get feedback? 
Because I have a community of followers on Instagram (@jack_brutus_penny) based on my animal illustrations - I am constantly getting feedback on design preferences and more popular themes. But I come from an artistic/creative background over a commercial/product design background - meaning I try to balance what feedback I gather with my visual inspirations and the message I want to tell.

As the campaign began I set out to involved my community in the whole process, constantly asking what they wanted to see and creating pieces based on their ideas but that still managed to surprise and enchant. So, in the end, Culturae Animalis art playing cards have a significant sense of the community within them.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
As with all my work, there is a lot to ‘discover’. I always hide details, some that can be found with a second or third look, some that will take hundreds until you glance while daydreaming and notice a message concealed across the background waves. I like how the aces subtly incorporate the suit marks into their compositional shapes. But perhaps the design feature I’m most proud of is the court cards.

Because each card had its own intricate detail I needed something to make the court cards more unique and impressive. In deciding to make the court cards a seamless panorama divided into a triptych, it allowed them to stand alone as a powerful set and added the impact I wanted to collect a court run as you see them line up in your hand.

What’s next? Can we expect more deck designs in the future?
I’m working on a full nonsense novel about a Japanese girl and English boy lost in their own ‘Wonderland’, in which a game is also heavily featured and I intend to make into a physical tabletop itself. What’s more, the book itself is written intently to be converted to video game media (think Alice and Oliver Twist in the world of The Witcher), so there are lots of projects on the go. But yes, I intend to continue my work in the playing cards field, to hone what I’ve learned, become stronger with my community, and bring more projects that excite the eyes in ways playing card designers without my eclectic, linguistically artistic approach may never have considered.

Finally, what are your favorite playing cards? 
So I am no cardist, no magician, not even a collector. I’m a professional creative of sorts, who also grew up playing kings, rummy, whist and betting pennies with his grandmother. I love playing cards but my favorite deck is any that is sumptuous to the eyes as I hold them with a cup of tea and a person I care about across the table.

That is why I created this deck to be luscious, to be art in itself, and collectible for that reason, but also for the casual player. I want to bring printing to a top tier printer (EPCC), using environmental processes (some they specially sourced for this deck), and the highest quality card stock - so that the (second) deck you get to open and use, can be enjoyed for a long time.

Thank you for your time Jack and congratulations on hitting the funding goal! 


The Culturae Animalis art Playing Cards just hit one of its stretched goals and the deck will be printed by Expert Playing Card Co. Pledge starts from $19 on Kickstarter.

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Winners of the 52 Plus Joker Diamond Award 2025 Announced!

The prestigious 52 Plus Joker Diamond Awards were revealed last weekend at the 2025 52 Plus Joker Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Artist of the Year went to Jack Brutus Penny. Jack created Nazo Nazo, Culturae Animalis, Sensu, Tales of Mischief and most recently, Castle In The Sky. 

DripDrop Sounds’ & ShuffleCut52’S UNITY took home the Deck of the Year award.  The deck is a  fusion of music and playing card artistry, envisioned by Dexter Amistad and his wife as a tribute to connection and creativity. This unique project unites the work of 28 renowned designers from around the globe, each contributing a distinct piece of the puzzle, harmonizing into one remarkable deck.

Congratulations to Jack, Dexter and all the nominees for their incredible work!

Final Week on Kickstarter, The Dapper Menagerie Playing Cards

Jack Brutus Penny returns with The Dapper Menagerie, a whimsical deck of playing cards that blends cultural storytelling, handcrafted artistry, and imagination. Building on his earlier project Culturae Animalis, this new release transforms his fantastical animal characters into a fully playable deck.

Inspired by four vibrant cultural legacies... medieval England, Edo-period Japan, nomadic and native communities such as the Ainu and Maasai, and the grandeur of the Arabic and Ottoman empires. Each card features hand-illustrated characters wrapped in historical charm. 

Personal storytelling weaves through the design. The jokers represent Jack’s own sons—a robin for Robin and a T. rex for King Arthur—while the ad cards combine into a diptych revealing the Dapper Menagerie emblem.

The back design, developed with input from fans on his Patreon page, subtly integrates the animal suits and reflects the structure of the Union flag, a nod to Jack’s English heritage.

Two editions are available. the Standard version features fully custom card faces, suits embedded with fur and feathers, and a beautifully designed tuck box with painted-effect gold foiling.

For collectors, the Signature Series elevates the experience with rose gold gilded edges, matching tuck foiling, and a refined aesthetic across every card.

The deck is printed in limited editions by King Star, with thoughtful production choices aimed at delivering a balance of elegance and whimsy. Pledge starts at $20 on Kickstarter.

Tails of Mischief Playing Cards

After three successful campaigns, Jack Brutus Penny is back with Tails of Mischief Playing Cards on Kickstarter. Tails of Mischief is somewhat of a stand-alone sequel to his previous release, Nazo Nazo. This series tells the story of the mice living underneath the Guest House: when the cats are away, they get to enjoy their life. The designs are inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e wood-block printing, historical culture, and Buddhist and Taoist philosophies.

There are four different editions of the series: The Whey of the Woods – The Whey of the House – The Whey of the Fields – The Whey of the Island. Every back design of the decks are different, yet they are all full-bleed artworks that will create very beautiful fanning artwork visuals! Each of them represents one of the Four Seasons, and also, the four virtues.

The tuck box features premium matte stock with excellent features. There is intricate laser cutting, and clear holographic foiling with embossing effect – creating the most beautiful tuck boxes for the series. The front side shows the title of the series with the stylized Japanese kanji letters – they represent the editions of the decks.

The card backs showcase Jack’s logo – a rabbit man walking the dog within the wavy pattern. Having all four decks displayed and aligned by the sides shows a special feature: they will form the illustration of the delicatessen.

The Number Cards are designed as semi-transformative cards: where the pips interact with the background. Also, they are designed to be puzzle cards – you get to align them to create a large illustration. The number cards from 2 to 9 from each suit are used – the 10s can be used to overlay the art to create a new scene!

The Aces all feature enlarged customized pips: a composition of mice doing their stuff. The courts are a special call-back to the classic royals we remember – it is a two-way illustration holding up banners in the form of the classic royals.

The series also comes with a very special wooden box that can store and display all four decks. Along with this, there is a folding album which is a long coloring book for adults. There is also a novella specially written for this decks series: the tale of the mouse wanderer going through the four Wheys.

The decks will be printed by Legends Playing Cards Company. Pledge starts from $29 for a single deck between the four available editions on Kickstarter.

FIrst Look: Culturae Animalis Art Playing Cards

[Update] Culturae Animalis Art Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter.

Scheduled to launch on Kickstarter on 29th July, the Culturae Animalis art playing cards is a deck of highly detailed, hand-drawn, luxury art playing cards with a beautiful message of cultural respect and environmental and animal protection.

The unique illustration by Jack Brutus Penny took over six months, with every card, including all pip cards, having its own unique design bleeding to the edge. Jack put all his experience and passion into this deck, and it shows.

Inside, each card is individually designed, making it truly unique! Lots of creativity has gone into the deck and the artwork employs the imagery of animals, delivering a powerful and thought-provoking narrative. The theme is consistent across all card, sticking to the black, white and red colors.

The cards are printed on recycled black core 330 gsm heavy paper with a linen texture. Completed with a gloss finish, gold gild edges and a custom tuck box with spot UV.

With soy ink, sugar cane wrapping, and a percentage of profits donated to help save abandoned pets and abused animals, there is no better playing card project to support and help achieve its goals. On Kickstarter from 29th July.

[Update] Culturae Animalis Art Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter.

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First Look: The Castle in the Sky Playing Cards

The Castle in the Sky playing cards launches tomorrow! Jack Brutus Penny has adapted and expanded over ten years of work into a really unique puzzle to reveal a whimsical race to the sky. Here are some cool images of the deck:

The campaign includes a unique set display case that creates an effect of a floating castle between the decks - with only 125 available each!  Also, those who become a backer in the first 15 minutes is entered for a chance to win a rare prototype (1 of 30)!

And as always, Jack's work supports various animal welfare and other causes. His last main project helped build a cattery in Japan for rescued cats. Head to the pre-launch Kickstarter page to be notified of the launch.

Who Art in Heaven Playing Cards

Who Art in Heaven is a whimsical hand-illustrated deck of playing cards that blends medieval astrology with storytelling, featuring anthropomorphic rabbits who dream of the stars. Designed by Jack Brutus Penny, the narrative follows a young scribe, the Kit, as he questions the cosmos under the guidance of a strict cleric in a world where rabbits ponder the universe's mysteries.

Inside, the deck invites you to explore a celestial journey through 100% custom art and innovative designs. The artwork's unique UV ink captures the playful musings of the Kit, designed in collaboration with children to reflect the innocent wonder of stargazing.

The deck’s aces form a black hole image, symbolizing the unknown from which the Kit's fantasies emerge, while the custom pip cards combine to reveal scenes that change between light and dark.

The tuck box showcases a full wrap-around celestial image with radiant glitter foiling, adding a touch of magic to the unboxing experience.

Who Art in Heaven is more than a card deck—it's a continuation of Jack's whimsical world, introduced in projects like Culturae Animalis and Tails of Mischief. Proceeds from the project also support animal welfare, helping to rescue and rehome animals.

Limited to 1,000 decks, the deck will be printed by King Star Playing Cards. Pledge starts at $27 on Kickstarter.