Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ > Design & Development
Links to the top playing card designer’s sites
RandCo:
Here is a reference list of the best playing card designers. All of the designers listed here have successfully Kickstarted multiple decks or produced multiple decks for playing card publishers.
If you are working on or considering designing your own custom playing card deck, look at the work of these artists first. Really analyze what you like most about each designer’s work.
One thing all of these designers have in common is a professional level of illustration. Playing card “design” is almost a misnomer, there is more “illustration” involved in a good custom playing card design. You don't have to be a professional illustrator to create a successful card design, but you should refine your artwork to as high a level as possible.
Some of the common aspects of their design and illustration are consistency in style, consistency of line weight, use of the entire card surface without weak areas, and proper use of the indices.
Here is the list of links to the designer’s and studio’s sites in alphabetic order. There are a few others I wanted to include, but they didn’t have a functioning website.
Designers:
Valentina Badeanu - https://dribbble.com/valentinabadeanu
Blackout Brother - http://www.blackoutbrother.com
Randy Butterfield - http://midnight-cards.myshopify.com
Paul Carpenter - http://encarded.com
Alvin Cheung - http://www.sishouplayingcards.com
Alexander Chin - https://www.seasonsplayingcards.com
Lai Ching Pua - https://www.instagram.com/thebocopoplayingcardco
Tyler Deeb - http://tylerdeeb.com
Jody Eklund - http://www.blackinkplayingcards.com
Billy French - https://www.billyfrench.com
Lorenzo Gaggiotti - http://www.stockholm17.com
Jason Goldklang - https://vandacards.com
Sam Hayles - http://www.dose-productions.com/playing-cards
Brendan Hong - http://www.brendanhong.com
Ben Jones - https://elephantplayingcards.com
Emmanuel José - http://emmanueljose.com
Scott King - http://www.crookedkingscards.com
Roman Kotiv - http://noir-arts.com
Mike Lambert - http://www.metropolcards.com
Marianne Larsen - http://isolatedthunderstorm.com
Vince Lepera - https://eliteplayingcards.com
Lotrek - oathplayingcards.com
Lee McKenzie - http://cargocollective.com/kenzii
Giovanni Meroni - http://www.thirdway.it
Steve Minty - http://www.steveminty.com
Chris Ovdiyenko - http://deadonpaper.com
Jackson Robinson - http://kingswildproject.com
Nathan Schipul - http://www.emberwaves.net
Natalia Silva - https://nataliasilva.net
Mark Stutzman - https://www.behance.net/markstutzman
RJ Tomlinson - http://www.barclaymountain.com
Emmanuel Valtierra - http://emmanuelvaltierraillustrator.com
Joe White - https://www.behance.net/yeoldestudio
Karin Yan - https://bonafideplayingcards.com
Studios:
4PM Designs - https://4pmdesigns.webs.com
Brain Vessel Studios - http://www.bvcargo.com
Edgy Brothers - http://edgybrothers.com
Joker and the Thief - http://jokerandthethief.net
Erik Mana & Alvin Campana - http://www.manaplayingcards.com
Passione - http://www.passioneplayingcards.com
Pocono Modern - http://shop.poconomodern.com
Uusi - http://uusi.us
Of course there are many very good designers who have created one custom deck, these designers have produced multiple decks. If you think I missed someone, post a link to their site.
Don Boyer:
Lovely job you've done on this topic - I'm going to make it sticky so it stays around a while!
Sarah F:
Below are a couple of designers who've done 2+ playing cards that I've admired:
Jay Fletcher - designed the recent Union deck, and Rarebit (http://www.jfletcherdesign.com/)
Valentina Badeanu is another designer who does amazing work and has collaborated on several decks. It seems that she specializes in back designs and aces, where her intricate work really shines. (https://dribbble.com/valentinabadeanu)
Don Boyer:
--- Quote from: Sarah F on January 25, 2016, 10:31:27 AM ---Below are a couple of designers who've done 2+ playing cards that I've admired:
Jay Fletcher - designed the recent Union deck, and Rarebit (http://www.jfletcherdesign.com/)
Valentina Badeanu is another designer who does amazing work and has collaborated on several decks. It seems that she specializes in back designs and aces, where her intricate work really shines. (https://dribbble.com/valentinabadeanu)
--- End quote ---
It appears that Valentina has done a number of designs for Ellusionist as well - the Bumblebee, Moonshine and Absinthe decks were done by her, possibly others as well. Her site even has a sketch of a lovely Ace of Spades from an unreleased Ellusionist deck with a nautical theme.
ecNate:
RandCo's list is certainly more direct, but just a reminder that Portfolio52 has decks grouped by Artist and (Production/Creation)Company, plus brand and manufacturer. Each with a URL entry at the bottom (bug prevents it from being clickable) when displaying all decks under that group.
http://www.portfolio52.com/collect
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