Rani Playing Cards
A card deck worth keeping on your coffee table.
Rani is a story of culture and connection. It blends my passions for travel and design into a product that brings people together. It's the kind of deck that makes you want to play cards.
Rani combines the rich details of traditional Indian patterns, textiles, and jewelry with a modern style to make a fun, clean new design. I wanted to make Rani as great to look at as it is to play with.
I drew inspiration from my Indian culture because it’s colorful, diverse, and playful. Each card has layered patterns and details that give you something new to appreciate every time you play.
It all started with a queen. I began designing her as a simple block printing exercise. But she wasn't satisfied. She wanted more detail. So I turned her into an illustration. I filled out her rich garments. But she still wasn’t satisfied. It turns out she had a whole story to tell me.
Over the course of a year, I continued to find inspiration and expand the project. I worked to make the full deck a reality. The queen kept pushing me, telling me it could be more, it could be better.
The word Rani means queen in nearly every Indian language. I chose to name the deck Rani because she was the muse and taskmaster behind the entire project.
My favorite part of the design was also my biggest challenge: illustrating each character to mimic the shape of the suit they represent. I really enjoyed the constant push and pull to find the balance between subtle and literal.
For information about purchasing a deck, check out
www.itstika.net
