Description
For me, playing cards are miniature works of art, that deserve to be displayed in a properly curated museum. They are like little worlds contained within your palm. How fascinating! Now join me on this journey into the inspiration & creation of this particular deck!
————————-
– Launched Sep 2020 on Kickstarter, 518 backers pledged AUD $ 24,661, out of AUD $19,000 goal, to help bring this project to life
– Check out the YouTube review by
– From the KS page, in the designer’s own words:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jokerandthethief/wayfarers-playing-cards
“Hello and welcome to what may be considered one of our most important projects ever. This is the big one! Wayfarers Playing Cards is a project that has spent 2 years in development, and one that we consider to be the first TRUE spiritual successor to our now acclaimed, original Joker and the Thief design.
Join us as we move towards new horizons, as we remember where we were, recognise where we are and reveal where we are going. Allow Joker and the Thief’s Wayfarers Playing Cards to capture your spirit of adventure!
At the start of 2020, we retired the original Joker and the Thief design after it guided us through the first 5 years of our brand. We knew the time would come to put that design to rest. With this in mind, we knew we needed something to take its place. Something that could take up the “flagship” mantle, and carry that legacy forward. We contacted Pedro Oyarbide, our old friend, and the designer of the original decks and Dystopia. He was the only one who could carry the DNA of the original deck into the next chapter of our journey. With great love and care, he has been crafting this gorgeous new deck with same design language, but with all new stories to tell.
A Powerful and Commanding Presence
To us, Wayfarer’s job as a deck of playing cards is to embody the spirit of travel and adventure. As a traveller, when you move through the world, a sense of freedom ignites a fire in your soul. You feel it in your gut, and this light within you always guides the way forward. This feeling had to be translated into a straightforward, bold and commanding design. Wayfarers is for those who yearn to wander far and wide. We made sure this message is front and centre. Emblazoned at either end of the design are eagles – proud symbols of flying high and personal freedom.
A closer look at the back design will reveal footsteps within the ornate details, walking your eye to the central insignia. This design features heavy, grounded colours balanced with earthy sandstone and bronze metallic ink accents that instantly draw the eye to the deck in your hand.
The Continuation of Our Legacy.
Our history of iconic ace of spade designs continues here in Wayfarers. We are proud of the instantaneous impression this one makes. It’s effortlessly classic. Looking closer reveals some incredible details. At the base of the spade you will notice a fire. No adventure in the Great Outdoors is complete without a campfire. It embodies the spirit of travel, it represents warmth – a home away from home, and it appeals to our basic instinctual requirements as human beings.
Your eye is then led to the moon phases, shifting at the bulges of the spade, symbolising the phases of our life and our change in journey here on this terrestrial plane.
Following from the back of the cards, footsteps encircle the mountains waking to a perfect day in the centre of the design. A representation of new beginnings, scaling the challenges before us, and the beauty of this process. This is life’s constant journey. The new day is a privilege and an opportunity to conquer that “mountain”.
At One with the Wilderness.
As always, it is within the court cards of a Joker and the Thief deck that the main story unfolds. For Wayfarers we paid closer attention to the subtle details and the symbolic tale we wanted to tell. You will notice that each suit of the Wayfarer’s court cards represent nature’s elements, with each royal having dominion over that aspect of reality.
The Spades – To us, the Spades are the most powerful suit. Dominion over the sky belongs to these powerful royal cards. They represent travel by air. Eagles and Falcons gracefully accompany the King, Queen and Jack. The king wields a sceptre and holds the globe within his palm.
The Hearts – These court cards represent the earth and all that is mortal on it. Our Queen of Hearts lovingly holds a skull. And the Jack’s compass points south, tying deadly thematics into the deck as snakes coil around each character. These cards represent the journey beyond this world and into the next life.
The Clubs – Representing the element of fire and the woodlands. The foxes represent the guardians of these landscapes. Each court card is a carer for these fiery creatures, as they represent overland travel.
The Diamonds – This set of royalty are the powerful custodians of the oceans and are patrons of all those who are seafarers, loosely tying them to one of our previous decks, Seafarers Playing Cards.
The Joker and the Thief. Our signature set of Jokers. A recurring motif of our playing cards is substituting one of two jokers for Joker card and a Thief card. Always mischievous, always dangerous. Watch out for these two on your trail.
Masterfully crafted with exquisite detail.
One of the most well recognised and praised aspects of a Joker and the Thief deck, are the incredibly luxurious tuck boxes that we produce.
These are always 100% custom and feature manufacturing processes such as letterpress, embossing, interior printing and custom seals that make them effortlessly beautiful. It is a distinct quality of our brand that is now recognised worldwide, and is what sets a Joker and the Thief product apart from the rest.
Wayfarers is of no exception, and we expect it to be one of the most impressive pieces of packaging we’ve ever produced.
We’ve selected a premium imported matte black paper stock with an incredible texture to pair with foil stamping and embossing processes. Our letterpress studio in sunny California will be utilising Heidelberg Press machines that date back to the early 1900s to expertly craft these tuck boxes. One foil, an eggshell white pigment, will be stamped into the paper creating a light impression. To contrast, we’ve selected a gorgeous bronze satin foil that will be hot pressed both on the exterior and the interior of the box. Wayfarers will also feature heavy embossing elements, giving it a unique presence not only among our family of playing cards but also within your own collection.
To cap Wayfarers’ tuck box, we’ve selected a beautiful contrasting colour for the custom shaped seal. Each seal will come with a perforation that aligns with the opening flap of the deck. That means that every time you open a fresh deck, you can keep the seal in place and not have to use a sharp object to break it or remove it! Clean, ease of access!
Our Perforated Seals for Easy Access and Convenience. Break the seal quickly and cleanly with only your fingernail. Traditional Non-Perforated Seals leave residue and require a sharp object to break.
The Bells and Whistles!
Wayfarers has all the features that you could ever possibly want or need in a deck of playing cards!
100% Custom Design – Illustrated from Scratch!
Designed in Spain – Produced in Australia
Made in America!
Featuring Crush Paper Stock and Finish
Incredible Handling and Outstanding Durability – Designed to Handle like a Dream!
Thin Borders
Speciality Tuck Case – Masterfully crafted utilising Heidelberg machines at our letterpress studio in Southern California!
Foil. Embossing. Letterpress on both the Interior and Exterior of the Tuck
Premium Quality Imported Dyed Paper for Tuck Case
Perforated Custom Shaped Seal
In 2015, Joker and the Thief launched our very first deck right here on Kickstarter. Every major project that we have brought to life has been with the help of the generous and amazing community here on Kickstarter. We are so proud to be a part of the Kickstarter family and very happy to welcome you into the Joker and the Thief family.
We are now at a stepping off point with a deck that we feel is the natural continuation of the brand, and we say thank you to those who have continued to be on our journey with us.
Joker and the Thief is run by 22 year old, James Milaras. Who has an incredible passion for all things playing cards. You play poker? We have a deck for that. Are you a Cardist looking to stand out? Our cards are your cards. If you sit by a fire, with beer in hand and play cards with your pals, a Joker and the Thief decks is exactly what you need. Having fun, it’s all we’re about!
A huge thank you to our friend and artist of Wayfarers Playing Cards, Pedro. And another big thank you to one of our besties – the hugely talented Sean O. for producing the trailer for this project.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.