Custom Playing Cards

[Stefan H]

Greetings everyone,

Since I was always kinda amused by different designs of playing cards, I decided to try and create "my own" deck of cards.

Basically, I was wondering if there's anyway to check whether the design is unique?
I was also wondering if there's a website/video/something that can teach me how to draw Jacks, Queens and Kings, since I'm already done with back design, jokers and cards from A to 10?

Thank you in advance!

Sincerely,
Stefan

 

[Vilheim]

Hey Stefan, I am also currently working on a custom designed deck. I am a graphic designer by trade and really loved the idea of making a custom deck. I can't say that I know of a place that tells you how to draw the face cards but there are some options. You can get a vector file of the face cards and using a program like Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw you can tweak and edit every aspect of the cards. You can also use Photoshop or another photo editing program to add effects to an existing card. I wanted something totally non traditional for my deck so I am designing the face cards from scratch with different imagery. The other option would be to lay out a face card and just try to redraw it in a sketch book. If it's a concept right out of your head chances are it's not out there already and as soon as you are happy with your design it's automatically copyrighted. There's no paperwork or registering needed. Just make sure that if you use an existing design that you alter it a good amount to avoid copyright infringement. Hope this helps!

 

[Levent Suberk]

Stefan, try www.unitedcardists.com for this. They have a discussing thread for custom designed playing cards named Custom Deck Drafting Board.

 

[The Magic X]

Also, the guys over at PlayingCardForum should be able to help you. There are many talented card artists there who've gotten their projects printed.