Playing cards

This project focused on designing a custom set of playing cards, including the King, Queen, Jack, Ace, Joker, and a patterned back. The chosen theme was Ancient Egyptian Mythology, selected for its rich visual language and historical depth. Known for its majestic aesthetic—characterized by golds, browns, and yellows often seen in tapestries the initial colour palette reflected these tones. However, the palette was later refined to a two-tone scheme using a yellow-to-brown gradient to create a golden effect, paired with black for contrast and clarity.

The characters featured on the cards are drawn from Egyptian gods, royalty, and symbolic imagery. For the Jack, Anubis, the God of the Afterlife, often depicted as a jackal, was selected, fitting well with the card’s traditional association. The King card features Ra, the Sun God and symbol of kingship and order. For the Queen, Nefertiti was chosen due to her influence in promoting monotheism and worship of Ra, aligning her with power and transformation. The Ace card displays the Ankh, the symbol of life and immortality making it a fitting emblem of high value. The Joker, which was initially challenging to assign, was originally represented by the mask of King Tut. However, after further research, Apophis, the God of Chaos and Disorder, was chosen instead, perfectly aligning with the joker’s symbolic role.

The back of the cards features a repeated silhouette of Anubis with interlocking hands, inspired by the symmetrical patterns seen in Egyptian tapestries. All cards share a gradient background shifting from yellow to red, with character illustrations in black and subtle gradient highlights to create a metallic, embossed look. Each card also includes the corresponding letter in the top left and bottom right corners, paired with its equivalent hieroglyph beneath it tying together the theme both visually and symbolically.