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by BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame Who is Giovanni Meroni? When I first stumbled across some of Giovanni Meroni's playing card designs online, I was just blown away. The classy and elegant appearance of the decks he has created made an immediate impression on me. I was also very impressed by the way he has drawn on mythology, literature, and art in the creation of his playing cards. So who is Giovanni Meroni? He's a freelance designer and art director in Italy, who has created the product brand Thirdway Industries. To underline his credentials as a designer, he's done work for big-name clients like...

by BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame What is the World of Playing Cards? If you're anything like me, you'll not only enjoy using playing cards, but also reading about them, and learning more about their history and background. There's a lot of sources online with information about the history of playing cards, but one of the very best that you'll find is the World of Playing Cards. Self-described as "a living encyclopaedia of the history and visual art of playing cards", the World of Playing Cards has as its mission "to make a contribution to the public awareness and appreciation of this fascinating...

by BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGameWho is Paul Carpenter?Graphic designer Paul Carpenter is the man behind Encarded Playing Card Company. He made a big splash in the custom playing card industry in 2012 with his original Tendril deck, which was produced with the help of crowdfunding, and broke the Kickstarter record for the highest funding for a playing card project at the time. These decks were originally priced at under $10 each, but since they are prized by collectors, they typically sell on the secondary market today for more than ten times that much! Why was the Tendril deck so successful? It had some...

by BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame Who is Lee McKenzie? British designer Lee McKenzie is a name that many people in the playing card industry might not immediately recognize, but that's only because most of the decks he has designed are more widely known for the brand they were published under: Ellusionist. Lee designed decks for Ellusionist for around five years, from 2008 to 2013, at a time when it was one of the biggest players in the industry, and just when custom decks were really starting to boom. You might recognize some of the decks he created, which include popular titles like Arcane, Artifice,...

BY LEE ASHER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF CARD CULTURE First Published in Card Culture Magazine Issue #47 December 2018 CARD CULTURE SPEAKS WITH THIS YEAR’S DECK OF THE YEAR WINNER ABOUT HIS FRENCH CARTOMANCY INFLUENCES, DESIGNING & KICKSTARTING HIS CARTOMANCER PACK AND MUCH MORE. Cards from the Cartomancer deck. CARD CULTURE: How did you start your foray into creating cards? BENOIT: As a graphic designer, a deck of cards has always been a fundamental example of what pure design is: symbols, letters, numbers, illustrations and a vast history from around the world -- all in the palm of your hand. So...