The Lepidopterist Playing Cards by Kowaleski & Co.

Every once a while comes a deck of playing cards that stirs you to stand up and take notice. One such is "The Lepidopterist", a strangely beautiful deck of playing cards with inspiration coming from two main sources. The first, being the Chrysiridia rhipheus which is better known as the Sunset Moth. It is a beautiful and brightly colored day-flying moth, found all throughout Madagascar. The second source of inspiration is the ornamental Art Nouveau era that flourished through Europe and the United States between 1890 and 1910.



Both are so unique and so beautiful. Art Nouveau brought an elegant, almost psychedelic, look to the end of the Victorian era and the Sunset Moth has such vibrant, iridescent colors, it almost doesn't seem real. Their special appeal combined to inspire this project. According to designer Ethan Kowaleski,

I wanted to make a deck of cards that would represent the beautiful architecture of Art Nouveau conservatories and butterfly gardens.

The elegance and beauty of "The Lepidopterist" begin with the tuck box. Every detail was carefully crafted and strategically placed. The tuck box features colored and metallic foils, letterpressed and embossed.

Inside, the deck is semi-custom with special attention was given to the beautiful ace and joker cards. All were meticulously hand-illustrated to, not only go with the theme but elevate the deck as well.

The face cards are standard but come with rearranged pips and recolored courts to match the color palette of the deck. The intricate card backs are printed with metallic brass ink!

"The Lepidopterist" playing cards are available in three beautiful editions: the standard edition and two special editions that were created specifically for the Kickstarter release.



The standard edition tuck box features a green paper stock with black and off-white foils as well as embossing. The RELEASE edition features a green paper stock with black, off-white, and brass metallic foils as well as embossing. Limited to 1000 decks. Finally, the DELUXE edition is the most limited and features a burgundy paper stock with black, off-white, and holographic foils as well as embossing. Limited to 500 decks.

"The Lepidopterist" will be printed by the USPCC and pledge starts at $13 on Kickstarter. Check it out!

[post_ad]

The Lepidopterist (Pink Edition) Playing Cards

Nature. Beauty. Elegance.

The Lepidopterist by Kowaleski & Co. is a strangely beautiful deck of playing cards with inspiration coming from the Sunset Moth, a beautiful and brightly colored day-flying moth, found all throughout Madagascar. In collaboration with Art of Play, the limited edition pink Lepidopterist deck combines the natural beauty of nature with architectural details inspired by the elegant Art Nouveau era of the early 1900s.

The elegance and beauty begin with the tuck box featuring gold foil accents, letter-pressed and embossed. Inside, the deck is semi-custom with special attention being given to the beautiful ace and joker cards. The face cards are standard but come with rearranged pips and recolored courts to match the color palette of the deck. 

Printed by The United States Playing Card Company and available NOW from artofplay for $20.

The Lepidopterist Playing Cards Now in PINK

Originally funded on Kickstarter last year, the Lepidopterist by Kowaleski & Co. is a strangely beautiful deck of playing cards with inspiration coming from the Sunset Moth, a beautiful and brightly colored day-flying moth, found all throughout Madagascar.

 
In collaboration with Art of Play, a brand new limited edition Lepidopterist deck in Pink was released last week. The highly collectible deck combines the natural beauty of nature with architectural details inspired by the elegant Art Nouveau era of the early 1900s.



The elegance and beauty of "The Lepidopterist" begin with the tuck box. Every detail was carefully crafted and strategically placed. The tuck box features colored and gold foil accents, letter-pressed and embossed.

Inside, the deck is semi-custom with special attention was given to the beautiful ace and joker cards. All were meticulously hand-illustrated to, not only go with the theme but elevate the deck as well. The face cards are standard but come with rearranged pips and recolored courts to match the color palette of the deck.

Printed by The United States Playing Card Company and available NOW from artofplay for $20.

[post_ad]

Smoke & Mirrors (15th Anniversary Edition) Playing Cards

To commemorate the fifteen-anniversary release of Smoke & Mirrors playing cards, Dan and Dave worked with their longtime friend and collaborator Brad Fulton to design an all-new edition inspired by 19th-century typography- a homage to the original Smoke & Mirrors design featuring intricate details in black and white for a sophisticated look.

With artwork by Ethan Kowaleski, the cards feature the iconic D&D monogram in a new typeset surrounded by a mosaic pattern on the backs along with a custom ace of spades, joker, and suits for the number cards. Packaged inside a letterpress-printed tuck box sealed with a stamp. Available in White (Smoke) and Black (Mirrors) colorways along with a limited edition twin pack signed and numbered by the artists 1 through 500.

Printed by the U.S. Playing Cards Co. on thin stock using classic Arrco-style court cards. Available on fultonsplayingcards.com for $18.