Services Custom Playing Card Design (1 Viewer)

[AHPC]

Hey everyone! I am an illustrator, designer and creator of playing cards from the UK. I am here to offer my services to people who may wish to have their own set of custom playing cards designed, potentially for a home game, group, card room or even casino. I can tailor a package to suit what it is that you're after, and offer a classic casino poker style, traditional design & illustration (think Kem Arrows, Bee Casino, Fournier 818, Bicycle etc.) Disclaimer if you are after something "out there", weird & wacky, I am probably not your guy

I specialise in hand-drawn, vintage style, classic playing cards printed onto high-grade paper stock, and my previous decks can be seen here and here, for those who are interested. I anticipate toning down the theme and illustration elements when designing casino/poker cards, making everything bolder and cleaner, and that most of you will prefer a plastic stock, but I just wanted to show you what I am about.

I am new to the forum so I may have got things wrong but please feel free to DM me or reply to this thread if you are interested and we can start a dialogue.

Thanks for reading

 

[ekricket]

You’d get business here if you also did inlay design work.

 

[inapinch]

Very cool! Welcome!

Can you tell us a little about your process for selecting your card stock? Was that a long process (years?) or do you have history with a specific provider.

How long have you been doing this work? Do you mostly do work for home groups in the UK?

Curious to know more

 

[Cratty]

You’d get business here if you also did inlay design work.

 

[dpeks13]

Beautiful work. Lets find you some plastic to work with! lol

 

[AHPC]

Very cool! Welcome!

Can you tell us a little about your process for selecting your card stock? Was that a long process (years?) or do you have history with a specific provider.

How long have you been doing this work? Do you mostly do work for home groups in the UK?

Curious to know more

Hey! Thanks

Yes I put a lot of time and testing into selecting my stock, and eventually chose Legends, who I've printed all my projects with so far. I would say there's a small group of printers producing tier 1 quality (paper) cards and Legends is one of them. Having a background in card magic helped me with choosing stock that fanned, shuffled etc well and held up to use.

I've been doing this for the past 2 to 3yrs, everything so far has been paper-based stock, custom vintage style or ornate/luxury, and have produced my own decks and worked commissions for several well-known brands in the playing card sector (including Legends).

I haven't yet branched out into the plastic/poker/casino card world yet... this is me arriving! Always wanted to do it, alongside my other projects, and always loved poker (used to play a lot) so... here I am

I hope that answers some questions!

 

[Okku]

Just wanted to say as a designer myself that I really love the stuff that you've done! I've done plenty of custom decks for customers through work, generally for special events, parties, birthdays, business decks etc, but have never gotten to dive into the vintage/full deck style before and it's something that I want to start doing here in the near future.

I look forward to seeing more of your work here and what else you come up with!

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

 

[SwissChip]

Would PP, PE, PET or ABS not better perform than PVC for cards?
Best would be organic base, but water resistant and no memory.

 

[Cratty]

Would PP, PE, PET or ABS not better perform than PVC for cards?
Best would be organic base, but water resistant and no memory.

Was curious, asked chat GPT to weigh the stock options.

Plastic playing cards are typically made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride) rather than PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), or ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) because PVC offers the best balance of durability, flexibility, printability, and cost. Here's why:

1. Durability and Flexibility​

• PVC: Has the ideal mix of flexibility and stiffness, allowing cards to bend slightly without creasing and return to their original shape.
• PP & PE: More flexible and softer, making them too flimsy for proper card handling.
• PET: Strong and flexible but more prone to cracking over time.
• ABS: Rigid and impact-resistant but lacks flexibility, making it unsuitable for shuffling and dealing.

2. Printability & Surface Finish​

• PVC: Provides a smooth, printable surface that holds ink well, allowing for high-quality graphics and a professional finish.
• PP & PE: Have low surface energy, making it difficult for ink to adhere properly without special coatings.
• PET: Accepts printing well but is more expensive and has a different texture.
• ABS: Not ideal for fine printing; mostly used in rigid plastic parts.

3. Texture & Feel​

• PVC: Offers the slightly textured, glossy or matte feel that mimics traditional paper cards.
• PP & PE: Often feel too slippery or waxy.
• PET: Feels slick but can be too stiff.
• ABS: Feels hard and brittle, unsuitable for handling like playing cards.

4. Cost & Availability​

• PVC is widely available and cost-effective for mass production.
• PET & ABS are generally more expensive.
• PP & PE are cheaper but unsuitable due to flexibility issues.

Conclusion​

PVC is the ideal material because it provides the right balance of durability, flexibility, printability, and feel. Other plastics either lack flexibility, don't hold ink well, or are too costly for practical playing card production.


That all said, if not PVC.. definitely should try to get into acetates.. but know fairly expensive and not sure on manufacturing there/availability.

 

[RocAFella1]

PCF materials science class