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 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. As an illustrator and designer of playing cards, I take on commissions and can charge relatively high rates due to the hours spent hand-drawing and fine tuning everything. In order to offer something at a price point I anticipate you guys being interested in, I am removing the intricate, time-consuming bespoke illustration from my offer, and instead I am in the process of compiling a catalogue of proprietary Casino style designs that can be mix n matched, colours chosen, logos and phrases added etc. to create something unique and professional looking yet obtainable and affordable. It is still a work-in-progress at the time of writing, however I am looking to offer something roughly comparable with the customisation options you would get if you were a Casino placing a wholesale order with a company like Gemaco: backs, colours, logos, phrases, basic customisation to Ace of Spades etc.

A few examples I have created so far, that you can mix n match and choose from to create a unique set of Casino style playing cards:

1. Choose from full-bleed, bordered or feathered back designs in a pattern and colour of your choice

2. Furthermore, choose to have a logo, basic graphic or phrase "Tom's Poker Room" etc. onto the card back

3. Choose a set of faces from standard index, Blackjack index, or jumbo index. At this time I am not offering face/pip/Court customisation, as this is very time consuming and costly - face set used will be standard USPCC/Bicycle style as seen here (royalty free and used by many brands) - if you are interested in full customisation of elements like pips, Courts etc. please DM me for full bespoke commission rates

4. Customise a basic Casino style tuckbox and Ace of Spades - graphics, logos or phrases/words can be added or chosen (I won't do anything too controversial - sorry!)

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As I said this is a new service I am offering and something of a work-in-progress, as I have more content to show I will return and update this post to offer fuller explanations and a wider variety of graphics, ideally a full catalogue of examples to pick from and customise at point of contact. Fonts etc. can be chosen as desired. Everything I am offering here is in the style of classic Casino type decks, nothing that deviates too far from this aesthetic.

If you are interested in, for example, just a back design, but want something more bespoke and unique than a regular Casino back, again please DM me to arrange.

Disclaimer 1: I am an artist and designer, I am not a manufacturer of playing cards. I will provide print-ready artwork on a template of your choosing for you to take to a printer and have produced. I am happy to advise/liaise with the printer for a smooth process, but I would be acting as a customer here, I wouldn't have any special sway. Depending on the quantity of decks you wanted to order, and your printing budget, I can recommend manufacturers, but I probably don't know any more than you guys (for example, for very low order quantities MPC/Make Playing Cards will print you a single custom deck).

Disclaimer 2: If you are a large business or Casino interested in this service, please DM me to discuss, as this would undoubtedly take some extra processes & attention, and attract a different price. This particular service as described is being aimed at home-game organisers and card-room/poker-club organisers primarily.

Price all-in for this service, from DM to finished print templates for full deck being delivered (including a 2x deck setup with different colour backs if required) is 450USD. If you wanted just part/s of this service please DM me and we can arrange an appropriate rate.

I hope I have explained everything clearly! Any questions etc. just let me know. I look forward to hopefully hearing from some of you in the future

Cheers!

 

[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