ART OF PLAY: Playful Decks

As far as a source for creative playing cards goes, you won't really find a better place than the Art of Play website (artofplay.com). I've recently been scouring the internet to research some of the places you can get beautiful playing cards, and When I first discovered the Art of Play website I was blown away by the variety, creativity, quality, and beauty of the decks of playing cards they have available. Their catalogue of Playing Cards is self-described as "A collection of the absolute finest playing cards in the world. Featuring hand-painted works of art, award-winning design and luxury packaging." And they're not far wrong - it contains over 130 different decks, including some stunningly creative and artistic designs. Owned and managed by magicians and cardists Dan & Dave Buck, Art of Play carries some of the most beautiful decks of playing cards I've ever seen. In this review, I will show you some of what I consider to be their playful decks that I own myself and have first-hand experience with, and I will give you a pictorial overview of them.



ODD BODS DECK

This Odd Bods deck is exactly that - odd, but artistic!



The artist is Jonathan Burton, who was commissioned to design these cards in 2012 by the Folio Society.



The deck was later re-released by Art of Play with a new back design, and that's the version you see here.



It's definitely one of my favourite decks, because Jonathan Burton has given each character its own unique and quirky personality.



The number cards feature pips that show a range of activity and movement. The Joker also clearly shows that one never knows what to expect in this imaginative world!



People quickly fell in love with this quirky deck when it first came out, and it's not hard to see why!



FLOURISH DECK

The Flourish deck is a brand new deck that was the result of a collaboration with Column Five, and is Art of Play's first 2017 release.



This baby looks sweet from the moment that you open the box!

The tuck box says "Maker of Delicious Donut and Pie Charts", and is embossed with gold foil and shiny red foil that looks even far more glamorous than how it appears in the photo above!



The sweetness of this deck comes because it has a bakery theme, and the cards immediately charm you with this theme, which is conveyed with cute colours and novel artwork.



The number cards are fairly standard, albeit with some customization of the font and pips, but the Joker is again in keeping with the bakery theme.



The court cards have unique illustrations, and all the face cards also feature a custom look.



CONCLUSION

If you're in the market for something creative, unique, unusual, memorable, and hard to find or duplicate, it's hard to think of a better place to look than artofplay.com. Whether you're looking for that one-of-a-kind high end deck for your own enjoyment, or a gift for another gamer, Art of Play has something that will suit, and the decks you see here are fine examples.

To see more, head here: artofplay.com

Odd Bods deck: https://www.artofplay.com/products/odd-bods
Flourish deck: https://www.artofplay.com/products/flourish