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necronomicon
Aspiring artists have customarily emphasized canvas and poster to display their talents, while co-opting the t-shirt as a medium starting in the 1950s and 1960s. Now, a new batch of designers are turning to a more venerable channel as an artistic outlet — the traditional deck of playing cards. And their use of 21st-century tools like Kickstarter are bringing a certain 19th-century company a new era of success.
Over 137 years, the United States Playing Card Company has grown from a four-person partnership into a globally recognized presence. The Erlanger, Kentucky-based company stocks casinos (and David Blaine) with its Bicycle, Hoyle, and Aviator-brand cards — some of which pre-date the company itself, having beginnings in the 1700s.
The company doesn't just make the same sets of cards over and over, though. Its printing presses are also able to create custom decks. The program has grown over the years with a small community of card artists producing limited editions — but new designers, taking advantage of Kickstarter's promotional power, have upped the ante. In just the last few months the crowdfunding site has fostered dozens of 52-card projects by these independent designers, raising over $600,000 in aggregate.
"I've definitely seen an increase in the past few months that has had us re-organize the structure of the custom team to designate me as the point of contact for Kickstarter customers," says Tiffany Mahan, the brand manager for custom projects. "It's very exciting for us."
Kickstarter has essentially become the front end that turns the USPCC into the Threadless of playing cards. Instead of having a website that allows creators to submit and vote on designs, Kickstarter draws fans in and lets the marketplace decide which hands to hold and which to fold.
It's also an exciting development for creators. A successful Kickstarter project leaves the creator flush with cash, but their projects often flop because they're blind to the complexities of manufacturing. This leaves the artist with a busted bank account and sends backers up a river.
The USPCC provides a flexible, but nearly foolproof, structure on which designers can build a unique product that reflects their style. Most importantly it gives them the confidence to go all in on a project and know they won't bust — the art may be ugly, but the cards will be produced properly.
The process to create a custom deck is straightforward. "A project begins when an artist contacts me for pricing and with questions about artwork specifications, print guidelines, and custom options to get the layout for their Kickstarter project," says Mahan. "When the Kickstarter project is fully funded and they are ready to start the process of printing a custom deck with us, they send us their art files in our designated templates." From there it takes the prepress group a week to prep them and send proofs to customers. A contract is signed and a month later the project creator has a full house of custom decks.
The USPCC also offers custom boxes, premium paper, embossing, foil stamping, gilding, and other options. The Bicycle brand and logo can even be used on a custom deck for an upcharge, and pending a rigorous review process.
The ten following projects were all funded on Kickstarter, manufactured by the USPCC, and show how a dose of crowdfunding can reinvigorate a low tech company. Designers have just begun to scratch the surface of partnerships like this one and there is no limit on how big they could become.
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Photos: 4PM Designs
Necronomicon and Mythos by 4PM Designs
Mythos: Necronomicon Playing Cards — $42,660 pledged The Grid: A Playing Card Deck — $47,444 pledged The sheer number of options available to creators can be a bit overwhelming. "On my first deck 'The Grid' I didn't even know how many options I could have when it came to the overall deck," says 4PM Design's Pablo M., the mysterious creative director of the project. "On my second deck 'Mythos: Necronomicon' I wanted to explore more of the features and quality the USPCC provided. I also experimented with their tuck box options and had a type of foil that they no longer produced in mass quantity anymore. It was overall a bit more expensive to produce, almost double the cost of 'The Grid', but it produced a great product that I'm extremely proud of." The extra time and effort paid off. The first production run of 5,000 deck sold out quickly at retail and a second edition of 1,500 decks was commissioned immediately.
Photos: 4PM Designs
