ACES HIGH
ACES HIGH
ACES This collection is done to celebrate the history of playing cards but to also show the vast iterations and styles that have been created. Playing cards are one example of how things can spread from area to are and be adapted to each area. By knowing the history of playing cards you can begin to appreciate more how each card’s design and style has evolved over the years. While cards have a rich history they also have a strong standing in the present and future. They allow people to experiment and create through typography, painting, hand drawing or even computer drawing to create a system that can be enjoyed by many others. The decks in this collection show how far cards have come and displays how much time is put into each deck.
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History
Find the lady 13
9 Suicide King
About Face 19
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Talk On Modern Decks
The Queens Garden
29 Box Design 27 Pips
31 Conspiracy
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HISTORY
Origins While the history of playing cards is somewhat mysterious with some areas up for debate most people agree that playing cards originated from china. There are examples of playing cards form china that can be traced dating all the way back to 1294. It is possible that the first deck was a 32-card Chinese domino pack. It has also been suggested that the earliest cards could have been used as currency. Due to the risk of playing with money the cards were substituted for play money. The earliest reference to card games has also been linked to china.
A Chinese printed playing card
Early Persian and Indian style playing cards
Early Egypt style playing cards
Early French style playing card
Spread From China, the cards spread to Persia mostly likely through the silk road or brought by conquerors in the 13th century. The Persian cards were referred to as Ganjifeh or Ganjafa and had only eight suit. From there they were brought to India by conquerors and were referred to as Ganjifa and had at one point 32 dierent suits that existed. The Indians converted the original rectangular cards into circular cards. By the 11th century is when the cards spread to Egypt. From Egypt playing cards spread first to southern Europe in the 14th century and then spread quickly to other parts of Europe. They were able to spread so quickly due to their small size and portability. Aer spreading through Europe they were brought to America by soldiers and explorers.
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Find the lady
Find the Lady is another name for a game called three card monte. In this game three cards, a queen and two other cards, are faced down and shued and the player has to follow and choose the queen. In early decks there were no queens which was a reflection of the male dominated courts. Early decks had a king and to marshal cards which are now our Jack card. While in the French design which we know has a queen some Italian, German, and Spanish decks still have no queen.
To raise money government used to impose a stamp of duty (a tax that is levied on documents) on playing cards. Since the ace card has the most room on it it was chosen to have the stamp. This is the reason why ace cards tend to have elaborate and ornate designs on them. In England it was the ace of spades, in France it was the ace of clubs, and in Russia it was the ace of diamonds that would bear the stamp. Although no longer used to hold the stamp the ace card is usually still highly stylized today.
Fredericks & Mae Playing Cards Created by the art/design team of Jolie Mae Signorile and Gabriel Fredericks Cohen. They share a love for materials and founded their studio in 2007.
These cards display a full spectrum of colors and are housed in a strong box with a foil stamp design on the front.
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ABOUT FACE
While most of the face cards in a deck face the leſt, four of them face the right. These cards are the King of spades, Queen of spades, Jack of spades, and Jack of clubs. While there currently isn’t much reason given as to why this happens. The only small explanation for this was that the suit sign was moved to be always top leſt and bottom right on cards to make them easier to hold and read. As a result of this some court cards were “turned” to face the other way.
The early French decks illustrated their cards with historical or mythological figures. The King of Spades was King David, the king of clubs as a stylized Charlemagne , the king of diamonds as Julius Caesar, and the king of hearts as Alexander the Great. As for the Jacks the jack of spades was based on Ogier, the jack of diamonds on Hector of Troy, the jack of hearts on the proto-feminist Etienne de Vignoles, and the jack of clubs Judas Macabeus.
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Suicide King
The king of hearts design has change from is orgginal look. The king of hearts originally wielded an ax but this was later changed during one of its re-designs to a swords. Now he is depicted holding a sword which some people believe he is using to kill himself. This minor detail is what gave this card its nickname of suicide king. There is no confirmation of whether the sword is through or behind his head which allows the mystery to grow.
Cards of Legend
Tim Burton Playing Cards
Third Man Records
Designed by Nelde Printed by the US Playing Card Co.
Approved by Tim Burton Created by Dark Horse Delux Printed by the US Playing Card Co.
Collaboration with Third Man Records & Art of Play Printed by the US Playing Card Co.
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Absinthe V2 Designed by Ellusionist in the USA and was originally meant to be part of a prohibition box set.
This deck combines intricate artwork, text, silver foil, and heavy embossing to emanate the Green Fairy Drink of bohemian artists like Picasso, Van Gogh, Hemingway, Oscar Wilde and Toulouse-Lautrec.
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The Queens Garden
Each of the queen cards are depicted holding a rose in their hand. While each rose is dierent in its design the queen of spades is the only one holding rose with red leaves. The early French decks illustrated their cards with historical or mythological figures. The Queen of Spades was Athena, the Queen of clubs as a stylized Argine, the Queen of diamonds as Rachel, and the Queen of hearts as Judith.
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TALK ON MODERN DECKS
Decks have changed a lot from their days of not having a queen,using full head to toe portraits for the face cards, and no corner indices’s. Now, with capabilities of modern printers it is possible to create intricate patterns and implement a larger range of printing techniques. Cards are also no longer their bright blue,red,yellow and black color pallets. The colors now change to adapt to the deck along with other things like the pips and the font used.
Ultimate Universe Playing Cards Designed by Junichi Tsuneoka Printed by the US Playing Card Co. Bee Playing Cards Printed by the US Playing Card Co.
Blood Kings Playing Cards Designed by Daniel Madison & Peter McKinnon Printed by the US Playing Card Co. DKNG Playing Cards Collaboration between Art of Play and DKNG Studio Printed by the US Playing Card Co.
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Box Design
Camp Cards Illustrated by 1924US in collaboration with Bradley Mountain. Printed by the US Playing Card Co. The camp cards box combines small illustrations on the inside of the box and a coarse striking surface on the side of the box that can be used to light a match.
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Box Intricacies
The boxes playing cards have come in have changed and evolved just as much as the playing cards themselves. Some features that can be seen o n playing cards today are gold foil, different paper stock, and even relief printing. Some boxes even have designs or patterns done on the inside of the box.
Conceived by Geraint Clark & designed by Oban Jones, Aurelian playing cards are based on the leaders of the Roman Empire. The box is coated in gold foil, with layers of embossing. On the inside of the box there is an oak leaf detailing that resembles the Emperor’s Civic Crown. The cards are smooth-cut and with an extensive amount of detail put into each card in the deck.
Aurelian Deck
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Black Book Manifesto Gold Designed by Uncommon Beat Printed by the US Playing Card Co.
52 Proof Designed by Ellusionist Made in the USA
Misc. Goods Co. Playing Cards Designed by Tyler Deeb self made and printed
Mailchimp Collaboration between Theory11, MailChimp, and Fuzzco Proceeds donated to the Fugees Family
Goat Deco Playing Cards Designed and printed by US Playing Card Co.
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PIPS
On playing cards, pips refer to the small symbols that identify the cards suit and rank. Each card that is not a face card is revered to as a pip card. Dierent decks of cards stylize their pips to fit the style of the deck they are associated with.
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Pips from around the world
While in America the most known pips are the spade, club, diamond and heart which come from the French styled decks. Some example from pips from other areas of the world are acorns, bells , coins and swords. These pips can be found in decks that originate from Spain, Italy, and Germany.
German Cards from a German deck of playing cards. Suits picture are bells, leafs and acorns.
Italian Cards from an Italian deck of playing cards. Suits picture are swords, cups, and clubs
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CONSPIRACY
Some People Believe that the Freemasons would conceal messages within the playing cards. An example of this would be the Jack of Spades holding a sprig of Acacia or the queens holding roses. There is no hard evidence connecting the Freemasons to these symbols as they are not exclusive to the Freemasons.
Another connection is made between the cards and the world. There are two colors connecting to day and night, four suits for the four seasons, thirteen cards in a suit for the thirteen cycles of the moon, and 52 cards for each week of the year. The most shocking connection is that if you add up all the values sing the Aces as one, and the Jacks, Queens and Kings as eleven, twelve and thirteen respectively, you arrive at a total of 364. Adding the first Joker as another one gets you to 365.
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Sources “Design Shack - Web Design Gallery, Articles & Community.” Design History: The Art of Playing Cards | Design Shack. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. “The English Pattern.” The English Pattern, Playing Cards. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. “Playing Card History.” House Of Playing Cards RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition Aces High The Design Center at Philadelphia University 4201 Henry Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19144 A215-951-2863 www.philau.edu/designcenter Editor/Designer/Photographer: Stephen Andreo Paper: Epson Matte Single Weight Printing: Epson stylus Pro 9890 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system) without prior permission in writing from the publisher. © 2017 The Design Center at Philadelphia University
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ACES HIGH