Initial Research
History of Playing Cards
Playing Cards were invented by the Chinese before AD1000. They reached Europe around 1360, via the Mameluke empire of Egypt. The Mameluke suits were goblets, gold coins, swords and polo-sticks. Fifteenth century German card-makers opted for acorns, leaves, hearts and bells. Around 1480 the French started producing playing cards by means of stencils, and simplified the German shapes into clover, pike-heads, hearts and paving tiles. English card-makers varied the names but used these shapes. Spade may reflect the earlier use of Spanish suit marks, from espadas meaning swords, and clubs are what the Spanish suit of staves actually look like. Diamond is not only the shape of the paving tile, but may perpetuate connotations of wealth from the older suit of coins.
Modern Playing Card Sets
Style, layout and font all depend heavily on theme. There are more standard, classic layouts and fonts, but the softer, cuter style Gudetama cards have rounder fonts and less rigid shapes.
History of Mythical Creatures
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Mythical Creatures first emerged in the Classical era, especially in Greek mythologies which originated mythical creatures such as the Cyclops, Medusa, Minotaur and the Centaur. The original mythical creatures often served the purpose of showing the heroism of those who defeated them.
Mythical creatures are often Chimera, creatures composed of two or more other creatures, for example a Centaur being half human half horse, or a Minotaur half human half bull. |
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I could divide these up into 4 suits related to their physiology, water, land, flying and humanoid perhaps.
Or they could be divided by country/continent of origin:
I could create my own suits based on whichever themes I choose.
- Kraken, Merfolk/Siren, Hydra
- Centaur/Faun, Q)))ilin, Wendigo
- Valkyrie, Banshee, Chinese Dragon/Dragon
- Gnome, Goblin, Fairy
Or they could be divided by country/continent of origin:
- Europe: Gnome, Banshee
- Americas: Wendigo
- Asia: Dragon, Merfolk, Qilin
- Africa: Sphinx, Grootslang
I could create my own suits based on whichever themes I choose.
First Pinterest Board
I'd like the cards to feel rustic like they're straight out of a fantasy world.
Artist Research
John Tenniel
Original illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
Gustave Doré
Type
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Initial Ideas
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Back of Cards
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Printing Logistics
I can get these printed as business cards even though the dimensions are slightly off. They're 55x85mm. Since there's no difference in cost between 12 and 500 cards, I might get 52 printed so they can be held as a full pack of cards, though they won't function as one.
Potentially, I could design 13 cards, one for each card Ace through King, then just change the symbols and colours, though that would throw off the water/earth/humanoid/flying suits I planned.
I think I should probably just print these myself and cut them out.
Potentially, I could design 13 cards, one for each card Ace through King, then just change the symbols and colours, though that would throw off the water/earth/humanoid/flying suits I planned.
I think I should probably just print these myself and cut them out.
Development
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Siren
Digital experiments from my sketch - potential to include colour and incorporate pencil sketch - would need to redo sketch to be more accurate. Also exploring the potential to use watercolour for washes, large areas of shading etc.
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Faun
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Kraken
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Wendigo
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Using vivid light filter over a grey wash of watercolour to add a bit of texture and colour variation.
Bog Witch
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Hydra
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Troll
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Qilin
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Final Playing Cards
Water Set
Black and White Versions
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Mock-ups
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Formatting needs sorted, I'll probably remove the letters and symbols and use a font, ensuring the letters match and the symbols are the same shape and size. But I still have the original ink drawings and these can be used to reiterate and test different ideas. I need to make one uniform template outline and put all of these in there. I'm not sure how to present them since they're specifically physical objects. I think they'll need to be physically made to show their full potential and to present them at the degree show.
Colour Versions
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Mock-ups
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Humanoid Set
Black and White Versions
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Mock-ups
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Colour Versions
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Land Set
Black and White Versions
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Mock-ups
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Colour Versions
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Mock-ups
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Jokers
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Mock-ups
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REFLECTION:
I'm very happy with the outcomes for these cards. I think they look great, especially the water and humanoid sets, though I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get the amount done I'd planned to. My drawing quality has improved tenfold and I've found different, new ways to utilise digital effects to build layers of colour, tone and texture.
I had wanted to design some branding for the cards and card-backs, but ran low on time and prioritised my main project. I think that detracts from the project as a whole, as it works as less of a complete concept.
I had wanted to design some branding for the cards and card-backs, but ran low on time and prioritised my main project. I think that detracts from the project as a whole, as it works as less of a complete concept.