Typographic playing cards

Here is a deck of cards with very expressive typographic treatment.
There seems to be a number of different typefaces; a mix of old style vs. ‘modern’ fonts; serif, sans serif, which is consistently used according to the suit of the card. In comparison to a regular deck of cards, which is static and consistent in layout, every card is different using typography to replace illustration (jack, queen and king) and words instead of just symbol and number.

I like how it’s so dynamic using a lot of different design elements; extreme sizing and cropping, a lot of layering, diagonal lines, and creative exchange between numbers and letter (i.e “6 of clovers”). It seems so chaotic, but at the same time it’s easy to identify.

I also like how typography is used in such manner that would go against the practical use of the cards; as you know official cards are very formal and simple in typographic treatment (which is crucial for its purpose), yet the designer has chosen this medium to experiment with type in a dynamic way yet achieving heirarchy and visual ease . Although, these cards probably wouldn’t be suitable for professional play, it can still be practical. Perhaps this kind of type can also be familiarized to the reader. At least cheating would be difficult for the new user.

Sally Kim