Cardistry: Broken Borders 2019 Playing Cards

NDO's popular Broken Borders Playing Cards has returned with a brand new colorway. The 2019 version of Broken Borders features the iconic stripes in contrasting deep green and fresh red colorway, with vintage-looking borders and faces reminiscent of a classic Victorian color palette.

Like its predecessor, Broken Borders features design elements that overlap the borders of the cards, these cards are dynamic and fun. It doesn't matter which side you're fanning with - the stripes that carry over from the backs onto the faces of the cards will give you that dazzling bullseye aesthetic.


Broken Borders 2019 Playing Cards brings an exciting new combination of stock and finish to the table. Jaspas brought back the finish from the Jaspas Deck Cardistry-con Edition. Available now from newdeckorder.com for $13.

Originally published on cardistrybeast.com

[post_ad]

Broken Borders Playing Cards Now in Radiant Pink

NDO‘s popular Broken Borders Playing Cards is back with a new striking colorway. The Broken Borders 2021 features the iconic stripes in eye-catching cosmic pink against midnight black, with a modern and cyberpunk-styled color palette.

Like its predecessor, Broken Borders features design elements that overlap the borders of the cards, these cards are dynamic and fun. It doesn’t matter which side you’re fanning with – the stripes that carry over from the backs onto the faces of the cards will give you that dazzling aesthetic.

Broken Borders 2021 Playing Cards brings an exciting new combination of stock and finish to the table. Jaspas has upgraded the finish to provide an exquisite handling experience, and new cutting technology means the edges are silky smooth. Available now from newdeckorder.com for $13.

Deck View: Broken Borders Playing Cards

Bold. Loud. Dangerous.

Broken Borders Playing Cards is Jaspas' vision for the next big thing in the mesmerizing art of Cardistry. The captivating deck is inspired by the industrial motifs of modern urban life and meticulously integrated into the design. These cards take the simplest Cardistry moves and transform them into something powerful.

Broken Borders features design elements that overlap the borders of the cards, these cards are dramatic and bold. The diagonal stripes make the card look outstanding in cuts and spins, making flourishes loud and hypnotizing. The face elements are more prominent and hence, more eye-catching. All these, tied together with a yellow and black colorway which is consistent throughout the cards, tuck case, seal and the brick box.

Available now from newdeckorder.com for $13 or get a brick at a $36 discount!

Cardistry: Broken Borders Playing Cards by Jaspas

Bold. Loud. Dangerous. Broken Borders Playing Cards is Jaspas' vision for the next big thing in the mesmerizing art of Cardistry. The captivating deck is inspired by the industrial motifs of modern urban life and meticulously integrated into the design. These cards take the simplest Cardistry moves and transform them into something powerful.

Broken Borders features design elements that overlap the borders of the cards, these cards are dramatic and bold. The diagonal stripes make the card look outstanding in cuts and spins, making flourishes loud and hypnotizing. The face elements are more prominent and hence, more eye-catching.

All these, tied together with a yellow and black colorway which, stretches from the cards to the tuck case, to the seal, to the brick box, and into the world around you.

Available now from newdeckorder.com for $13 or get a brick at a $36 discount!

5 Things You Should Know About Wild Garden Playing Cards

With less than 24 hours remaining on Kickstarter, Wild Garden is a botanically-themed deck with a sophisticated design. Produced by Rcards, the deck aims to capture the untameable, persistent, and timeless bloom of the natural world. Here are 5 things you should know about Wild Garden Playing Cards:

1. Broken borders. Wild Garden’s back design is vibrant and full of life. Using natural tones and an organic palette, the design features the deck’s signature butterfly nestled within the greenery. Designed by the talented Anjali Singh, foliage bursts from the surface with a broken border effect, reflecting the thriving bloom of a wild garden bursting to life.

2. Inverted tuck ‘Scenic’ edition. Wild Garden’s ‘Scenic Edition’ is available only as a limited run of 150 decks. The inverted tuck displays the full inner garden print and features an individually numbered seal.

3. Subtle flowers in courts. Standard faces are recolored to match the color palette of the back design and customized with a variety of small additions. 

4. Hidden card reveal on the tuck. Unnoticeable at first glance, there is a card reveal hidden on the beautiful tuck box. Perfect for the working magician!

5. Wild Garden will be printed and manufactured by Hanson Chien Production Co, on their premium Vintage stock with Legendary finish. 

The decks are available NOW on Kickstarter for $15.

All The Black Friday Deck Releases!

Black Friday 2020 is just a few hours away! Deals for savvy collectors, cardists and magicians have already started appearing. Click here for some of our picks. Shop for your friends or treat yourself, but don’t miss out on these NEW deck releases:

Theory11: James Bond Playing Cards

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by theory11 (@theory11)

Art of Play: Red Makers

Art of Play: Smokey Bear

Art of Play: Drifters

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Art of Play® (@artofplay)

Kings Wild: Holographic Legal Tender V2

Kings Wild: Brick Carat Case

Kings Wild: Arthurian Holy Grail Gilded and Limited Edition

Thirdway Industries: EVA Rose

Joker & the Thief: Seafarers- Submariner Edition

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JOKER AND THE THIEF® (@jokerandthethief)

Butterfly: Deck Sleeves

Butterfly: FUtterfly

SVNGALI: Deadeye

Fontaine: Fall Collection

BlackInk: Stonegarden

Expert: Jerry's Collector Box Set

CardCutz: SWISH

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CardCutz® | Playing Cards (@cardcutzshop)

NDO: Broken Borders V3

Riffle Shuffle: Secret Service

[post_ad]

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.

[post_ad]

Deck View: Albatross No. 5 Standard Playing Cards

Nautical. Mysterious. Timeless.

Albatross No. 5 Standard Playing Cards is a hand-illustrated deck that merges nautical beauty with a haunting mystery from the high seas. Created by A. Haines, every detail is drawn by hand inspired by antique design. Inside, the back design is bold and timeless, alive with nautical motifs. 

The courts are illustrated in the style of old French and Spanish decks... bold colors and broken borders. Spot cards carry chunky retro pips, water-stained as if used in late-night games aboard the ill-fated ship. The Ace of Spades features crossed marlin swords, while the two custom Jokers bring the myths of the sea to life: a fearsome Kraken in red and a beautiful yet treacherous Mermaid in green. 

The tuck case is a work of art: printed inside and out on premium matte stock with a weathered patina, accented in red foil, and sealed with a stamp that recalls antique postage. 

The deck is printed by Legends Playing Card Co. on pre-crushed stock with Classic Finish. The Albatross No. 5 is available now on A. Haines Playing Cards for $23.

Warrior of the Stars Playing Cards by Blue Moon Co.

After the success of their first deck, Akita Playing Cards, Blue Moon Co. is back with another interesting Kickstarter campaign- Warrior of the Stars Playing Cards, a deck inspired by the 12 Zodiacs.

The back design features a bordered design with four circular broken border corners. The corners show the four main elements of the world: Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind. The centre of the card is a sun cupped by two crescent moons surrounded by stars.

The pips are customized to look like small forms of constellations surrounded by stars. The Aces showcase the power pips showcase the elements with which it is associated.

The courts feature all of the 12 Zodiacs. They are illustrated as warriors that protect the sky from any lurking evil forces. You can see their respective stars’ constellations that are assigned to them. The Jokers feature an identical illustration of Galileo Galilei, the father of modern astronomy – he is illustrated as a man who observes the skies with his telescope.

There are three main editions for the deck. The Standard Edition has two variants: Night Blue and Morning Star. The illustrations of the cards are full of colors with a slight application of foiling on some of the details. The slight difference is within the colors of the frame borders: blue tint for Night Blue – yellow tint for Morning Star.

The Signature Edition is a collector’s edition in which the cards are tucked inside a book-box design tuck box, which will also include a custom engraved coin featuring the Zodiac warriors. Also, the cards for Signature Edition will be in black and white, BUT they will be holographic foil and holographic gilded.

All of the decks will be produced by RoomOne Playing Cards Co. Pledge starts from $19 on Kickstarter.

Kickstarter: Wiretap: Gag Order Playing Cards

Recently launched on Kickstarter, Wiretap: Gag Order is the successor to the NSA-themed Wiretap deck. The theme of Gag Order revolves around cyberpunk espionage. Set in the year 2261, governmental pervasion of intelligence law has deepened to the point of creating a totalitarian society, and voices are starting to speak out against the heavy-handed gathering tactics.

Expertly illustrated by Dave Boyd, the deck is inspired by the recent NSA scandals, Blade Runner, and cyberpunk media including Battle Angel Alita and the Matrix. The deck remains true to its espionage roots explored by the first Wiretap deck, but distinguishes itself from its predecessor through story setting and artwork changes.

No longer do the cards sport bright reds and blues adorned with NSA whisteblowers; Gag Order cards present muted tones and nameless spies working under either resistance or government efforts.

Court cards feature new borders, the back is a broken dual-actuator HDD, and the "cameras" in the pips of the original deck now have closed lenses to symbolise civilian efforts to jam government transmissions.

Though recognizable faces like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange are gone, the government intelligence agencies of the NSA, FBI, DIA, and CIA remain.

Gag Order was an absolute blast to draw, and I hope you'll enjoy slinging some spy tech at your next poker night!

Before Dave decided to go with Legends, Gag Order was intended to be a Bicycle branded deck.

Pledge starts from $9 and Wiretap: Gag Order Playing Cards will be printed by LPCC on their highest quality stock with 'Diamond Finish'. Add-ons such as uncut sheet and a 11x17" poster are also available.

Don't miss out and get immersed in the gritty cyberpunk world!

News: Cool Decks Announced by Expert Playing Card Co at the 52 Plus Joker Convention

At the 52 Plus Joker convention in Erlanger, Kentucky last weekend, Bill Kalush, founder of Expert Playing Card Company announced a slew of new decks: CHOSEN, Exquisite Bolder, and Skull & Bones Playing Cards. Image above by @benkolozsi.

CHOSEN Playing Cards is designed by Nick Vlow and features a colorful geometric design card back and standard card faces. Designed with the cardists in mind, the deck will be printed in China on EPCC's new Stud finish, which is flexible, softer and feels broken-in right off the box.

A post shared by Daniel Cabrera (@ume.playingcards.company) on Oct 13, 2017 at 10:44pm PDT

Three years in the making, Exquisite Bolder Playing Cards is eye-catching deck using Expert's brand new Perfecta Foil on the card backs and the tuck and 3d embossing on the side-way tuck. This amazing process creates foil with the illusion of depth built in. Also, the deck features standard courts, face cards, and incredibly thin (1mm) borders on the card back!

A post shared by Expert Playing Card Company (@expertpcc) on Oct 14, 2017 at 11:37am PDT

The Skull & Bones Playing Cards is a collaboration between EPCC and Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild Project. Beautiful presentation with 2 piece shell case with impressive spot UV, holographic foil, and magnet to keep your deck secure. The holographic foil on the card back is truly mesmerizing. Artwork of the Ace of Spades and Jokers by Jackson.

Pretty crazy

A post shared by Ben Kolozsi (@benkolozsi) on Oct 14, 2017 at 4:42pm PDT

Top 12: Playing Cards of 2017

What an amazing year for playing cards! To celebrate we've compiled 12 of our favorite decks right here. This IS the most challenging list we've ever had to put together to-date. So, if you think we've missed your favorite deck, 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.

Tally Ho Pearl Gilded

The Pearl Tally Ho is the final deck in a four deck series by Kings Wild Project. This beautiful deck includes an embossed, pearlescent paper stock, hot foil stamped tuck case and numbered seals. The cards themselves have completely custom courts with metallic ink accents on the face cards presented in a gorgeous pearl-pale off-white colorway and subtle metallic ink on the bold back design. The deck is gilded with a stunning Pearlescent foil.

Pantheon

Pantheon Playing Cards feature greek mythology focused on the Olympian Gods. Fully custom, from the Aces, Pips, Tuck Box and the card backs, which features the 6-pointed impossible star that is the main symbol of Pantheon. Also, the gold foil card backs are STUNNING! The Pantheon tuck is embossed, double foil on the exterior and red foil interior on premium soft-touch dark blue paper. Meticulously designed by Thirdway Industries and printed by Expert Playing Card Co with Classic Finish.

Exquisite Bolder

Three years in the making, Expert Playing Card Co's Exquisite Bolder Playing Cards is an eye-catching deck using Expert's brand new Perfecta Foil on the card backs and the tuck and 3d embossing on the side-way tuck. This amazing process creates foil with the illusion of depth built in. Also, the deck features standard courts, face cards, and incredibly thin (1mm) borders on the card back!

Cardistry Touch Origin

Crafted from scratch specifically for cardistry, the deck features a unique geometric design that accentuates spins, flourishes and large, multi-card displays. Also, a single design is repeated on each card for an enhanced cardistry experience. Printed by Cartamundi on a premium quality paper with a softer stock and coated in brand new "cardistry finish", which feels broken in right out of the box. All 51 cards are housed in a very unique swivel box. The team at Cardistry Touch won the Cardistry deck of the year at Cardistry-Con 2017 in Los Angeles.

Apothecary

This gorgeous deck is exactly what you come to expect from Seasons Playing Cards. Stunning foil, exquisite artwork, and entrancing design! Apothecary is an homage to old world illustrations. Reveling in the realm of true artisan craftsmanship, these cards embrace the engraving style intricacies and the custom illustrated courts elevate the experience with entrancing details.

Radia

A bold new vision in playing cards. Encarded's RADIA is the first modern deck to combine the finest traditional paper stock with a complete coating of metallic foil and the highest quality printed details. By printing an intricate design inspired by a 19th-century Spanish gold engraving right on the foil, RADIA has unparalleled shine and visual dimension, but with its high-performance coating it also handles like any modern playing card should, fanning and shuffling beautifully. The deck is housed in a beautiful tuck with pearlescent paper, purple ink, gold foil, embossing and a custom die-cut, RADIA is the perfect combination of simplicity and complexity.

Origins Shadow of History

The Origins Shadows of History deck by Rick Davidson is inspired by the elegance and charm of playing card history. The deck is beautifully crafted and features an ornate premium quality tuck case, embossed and hot stamped with stunning metallic foil. The face cards are entirely custom with vibrant gorgeous courts, diptych jokers and a bold Ace of Spades, printed with ornate metallic ink backs.

Winterberry

Beautifully designed by Estonian graphic designer Toomas Pintson and produced by Got Magic?. The enchanting deck is fully custom, and meticulously hand-illustrated from the ground up. The deck features a distinctive style of illustrations making it truly a unique piece of art inspired by the beautiful and cold Nordic winters. The goal was to create an elegant and beautiful deck of cards that card collectors would appreciate. The cards are housed in a gorgeous tuck case crafted by Clove St. Press on a deep-black soft-touch paper with silver foiling. Sealed by a tax-stamp style seal.

Golden Oath

This year, Lotrek's Golden Oath Playing Cards won Joker Plus 52's 'Deck of the Year' award for his painstaking work on this stunning deck. All the artwork are foiled including 2 foils (gold and red) on the card back and 3 foils (gold, silver and red) on the face cards. A tremendous technical challenge!

Dystopia

Dystopia Playing Cards by Joker and the Thief is a disturbed tribute to cult movie Mad Max, Muscle Car Culture, the Australian Film Industry and Outback. This blood and fuel injected deck features 100% custom illustrations by Pedro Oyarbide - a symbolic back design, a striking ace of spades, tyrannical court cards, insane jokers, and of course, a stunning tuck box from professional letterpress studio Clove St. Press, capped with a custom shaped seal.

Drifters

From Dan and Dave, Drifters Playing Cards is a gorgeous deck designed by Curtis Jenkins, illustrator of Monarchs playing cards. Born from the wilderness, a sense of adventure and the wonders of the unknown, the Drifters Playing Cards showcase the majestic beauty of the great outdoors. The deck features fully custom courts, jokers, beautifully illustrated aces, and gorgeous back with incredible line work. Every shuffle and cut of the cards is a reminder to never settle, to chase a life of freedom. The cards are housed in an eye-catching custom letter-pressed tuck case featuring intricate detail and incredible line work.

Gemini

Two years in the making, Gemini is a fascinating deck of playing cards designed by Lorenzo Gaggiotti of Stockholm17. The Gemini Playing Cards has been meticulously crafted to give it a classic medieval feel. The deck features aces that are depicted as axes and the royals of the court cards interact with their own pip, becoming part of the illustration. The number pips are bold and BIG. The striking Gemini tucks are adorned in gorgeous foil on thick black paper and feature beautiful calligraphic text.

Honorable mention: Butterfly Playing Cards by Ondrej Psenicka, Papilio by Kiran Kuruvithadam, Titans by Jody Eklund, RAVN Purple Haze by Stockholm17, Bharata by Sunish Chabba, The Confessions Series by Ellusionist, National Playing Cards by Harold Apples, Hocus Pocus 40th Anniversary deck by Edo Huang, Pearl Playing Cards by Hanson Chien Production Co, and Regalia deck by Shin Lim.


The selection expressed in this top12 are solely those of the author.