NMG Design
Western Card Deck
Fall 2023
Bachelor's at Columbia College Chicago
The Brief
For a final project demonstrating our learned skills in Adobe Illustrator, we were tasked with creating a card deck using only vectors that we made ourselves. I chose the western theme because of the typical association with card games and the Wild West.
Go back
Problem
Our final project was to be centered around pretty much the sole use of Adobe Illustrator and self-constructed vector images. We had to be able to represent a clear theme through the iconography and typography used in the card deck
Design Intent
- Effectively utilize Adobe Illustrator for all parts of the project (artboards, vectors, sizing, etc.)
- Conceptualize a traditional card deck into something more visually interesting
- Apply all working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator to the creation of this project
Insight
This project strengthened my knowledge and confidence in Adobe Illustrator. I was able to create a full card deck with customized suits and face cards in a creative, but simple, way. This project enabled me to reach into a design medium that I am not familiar with, card design, and has since made me ponder if I want to combine the base design of this deck with illustrations to flesh out the theme a bit more.
Outcome
This is a fully realized, 52-card deck with customized suits and face cards, created with the intent of harnessing the classic perception of the Wild West and playing cards that pop culture knows very well.
Typography and Color Palette
The typography I chose for this project were strictly serif typefaces because of the popularity of the style at the time. This included the use of Cowboy Slang for the letter types of the face cards, and Alfa Slab One for the numbers of the suits.
The typography I chose for this project were strictly serif typefaces because of the popularity of the style at the time. This included the use of Cowboy Slang for the letter types of the face cards, and Alfa Slab One for the numbers of the suits.
The typography I chose for this project were strictly serif typefaces because of the popularity of the style at the time. This included the use of Cowboy Slang for the letter types of the face cards, and Alfa Slab One for the numbers of the suits.
The color palette was inspired by Native American patterns and colors that were present throughout the Wild West. These styles were then adopted by American cowboys, and spread into the Western aesthetic that many people know and love today. There wasn't so much room or a decorative color palette in this project, so the colors are mainly present on the cardback design.