Pattern Play Spielkarten, Kalender by Topys - Huimeng Li

Pattern Play Spielkarten, Kalender by Topys - Huimeng Li is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award in Bronze in Grafikdesign Competition Category.

BronzeGrafik· 2023

Pattern Play Spielkarten, Kalender

by Topys - Huimeng Li

Client: Topys

A' Design Award in Bronze Winner in Grafik Category

10,039

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #148121

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Pattern Play Spielkarten, Kalender

Pattern Play ist ein Spielkartenset mit dazugehörigem Kalender, das Farbe in den Alltag bringen soll. Die Spielkarten zeigen anstelle der üblichen Kartensymbole 54 einzigartige Illustrationen. Die Bildkarten sind von Kaleidoskopen inspiriert, während die Zahlenkarten unregelmäßige Muster und Formen aufweisen. Gedruckt sind die Karten auf wasserfestem Karton mit schwarzem Kern (310 g/m²) mit matter Veredelung und abgerundeten Ecken. Der Kalender präsentiert 12 der Illustrationen im Großformat auf Spezialpapier (250 g/m²) mit Perforationslinie, sodass jedes Blatt auch als Poster verwendet werden kann. Das Design möchte gewöhnlichen Tagen eine positive Note verleihen.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Bronze

Pattern Play Spielkarten, Kalender ist Gewinner des A' Design Award in Bronze, einer hochprestigeträchtigen Anerkennung für herausragende Designs, die sich durch Kreativität, Einfallsreichtum und Scharfsinn auszeichnen. Bronze-Gewinner sind reichlich geschickte und auffallend kreative Artefakte, die die große Erfahrung, Fantasie und Findigkeit ihrer Designer belegen. Von Pattern Play Spielkarten, Kalender wird erwartet, dass es ein hochgeschätztes, bewundertes und geliebtes Objekt ist, das bemerkenswert professionell und innovativ ist. Dieses mit dem A' Design Award in Bronze prämierte Design verkörpert bewährte Verfahren in Kunst, Wissenschaft, Design und Technologie und ist hervorragend in seiner Liebe zum Detail. Pattern Play Spielkarten, Kalender befriedigt Bedürfnisse auf großartige Weise, berührt Wünsche, bezaubert Gefühle und spricht die Neugier an.

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.