Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar by Topys - Huimeng Li is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Competition Category.
BronzeGraphic· 2023
Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar
Client: Topys
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Graphic Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #148121The Design
About Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar
Pattern Play is a set of playing cards and a calendar designed to bring color into daily life. The playing cards carry 54 unique illustrations in place of standard suits. The court cards are inspired by kaleidoscopes, while the number cards show irregular patterns and shapes. The cards are printed on 310 gsm waterproof black core stock with a matte finish and rounded corners. The calendar enlarges 12 of the artworks on 250 gsm specialty paper with a tear-off line, so each sheet can also be used as a poster. The design aims to add positivity to ordinary days.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Interviews
Grand Interview
Your innovative fusion of playing cards and calendar in Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar beautifully addresses pandemic-era isolation - could you elaborate on how this dual-purpose design evolved to meet both entertainment and decorative needs?
Launched at the end of 2022, this calendar welcomes the new year with a wish: whether you seek a kaleidoscopic life or aim to rewrite the rules, may you start with a good hand and a calendar that foreshadows good fortune.
The bold color choices and organic patterns in Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar seem to radiate positivity - what inspired your specific aesthetic decisions for each of the 54 unique illustrations, particularly for the kaleidoscope-inspired court cards?
Through constant experimentation and playful exploration of abstract, meaningful patterns, we reapproached the everyday with a renewed curiosity for beautiful living. Shaped by creativity and imagination, we created a textured and delightful surprise object. This time, by merging playing cards and a monthly calendar, we infused daily life with vivid color, sparking joy in the mundane and offering a poetic, aesthetic experience.
As the Bronze A' Design Award winner in Graphics and Visual Communication, how did Pattern Play Playing Cards Calendar's technical specifications - from the 310 gsm black core card to the matte finish - contribute to achieving both visual impact and practical durability?
The material of the cards largely determines their durability. Beyond practical considerations, we also pay close attention to the color performance of spot printing, as color plays a crucial role in this project.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Pattern Play! is Design For You’s newest series, a TOPYS project that aims to enliven daily objects with design power. The designer plays with patterns and colors, dots, and lines, and put them on playing cards and a calendar. 54 unique illustrations with unbridled imagination make one-of-a-kind playing cards. They can also be used as tarot cards, or bookmarks... 12 artworks are enlarged and paired with one-liners from editors to make the calendar. They can also be posters that light up your living room, office, favorite corner, and your 2023. The team hopes these two beautiful non-standard products will stir up a little splash in ordinary daily life and bring the most joy and inspiration to you. Pattern Play, Pattern Fun!
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Playing Cards: 63mm x 88mm x 19mm
Calendar: 270mm x 430mm - Tags
- product design, illustration, graphic design, playing cards, entertainment, recreational, home decoration, lifestyle
- Production Technology
- 'Pattern Play!'' Playing Cards was made with 310 gsm waterproof card stock paper, matte cover finish, and rounded corners, double-sided solid color printing. The calendar was made with 250 gsm specialty paper which was printed in solid color with a tear-off line.
- Design Challenge
- The main challenge in the creative process is to balance originality and practicality. The designer has to follow design rules for playing cards while trying to separate them from standard products. Instead of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs, 54 unique illustrations were created for each card. J, Q, and K are kaleidoscope-inspired. A to 10 are irregular patterns and shapes. Jokers are TOPYS's IP little ghost. The team also did several internal tests and spent a lot of time adjusting the size and colors of the letters and numbers to make sure they were easy to read and play with.
- Research
- As a first-timer, the team did a lot of research on different types, printing techniques, and materials of playing cards, wanting to make sure that it is a top-quality product with top designs. We studied many cases ranging from big companies like Art of Play, and Bicycle to small local labels. Then we compared many suppliers and paid factory visits. With in-depth research, the team decided to produce in poker size, which allows more visuals, and with international standard 310 gsm black core card, matte cover finishes to provide a premium playing experience, even for daily recreational activities.
- Inspiration
- People have taken unprecedented safety measures during COVID-19. Being socially isolated for so long makes everyone feel more or less lonely or depressed. And thus the designer wants to create designs with vivid, bold colors within organic patterns and shapes to inject positivity and hope into people's daily life. The team chose playing cards as the main product in hopes to provide a refreshing and special entertainment experience for family and friends, while a colorful eye-catching calendar can brighten up and energize any space as a nice decoration.
- Project Duration
- It was started in July 2022 in Shenzhen and went on sale in November 2022 in Shenzhen.
- Operation Flow
- Daily recreational activity and home decoration
- Team Members
- Illustrator & Motion Designer: Huimeng Li
Art Director: Silin Chen
Project Manager: Jing Lin
Planners: Jing Lin, Xiwen Wang
Photographer: Zichen Yang
Editor: Yun Ji
PR: Wanjun Xie - Image Credits
- IP / COPYRIGHT / IMAGE / PHOTO / SOUND / VIDEO CREDITS
Image #1-5: Photographer Zichen Yang, Pattern Play!, 2022.
Image #1-5: Creator Huimeng Li, Pattern Play!, 2022.
Video Credits:
Motion Graphics by Huimeng Li.
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