Diva Playing Cards is an upcoming deck with one goal in mind, making your cardistry flourishes as eye-popping as possible. Okay, it also has a Kickstarter goal of, like, eight-and-a-half grand, but it’s mostly just the eye-popping thing.
Launched on Saturday by designer, UI developer, and cardistry enthusiast Alex Matencio, the Diva Kickstarter is already just shy of half way to its US$8,590 goal with 90+ backers thus far.
Matencio’s background UI is a pretty obvious influence on Diva. The deck design is strongly reminiscent of the “material design” design language used by the likes of Google and Microsoft, but also draws from Parisian street art and even classic sculpture Featuring bold colors, sharp squares and precision curves in an exact grid layout, the card backs are organized chaos and really pop from a distance. The royals and aces use the same principles to make shapes that are abstract, but instantly recognizable. The pips on the number cards are tight and centered, giving the fronts a lot of white space for contrast against the colorful backs.
Similar attention to detail is employed in the printing. Assuming the deck reaches its Kickstarter goal (which is more than likely), it’ll be printed on B9 True Linen Finish by Cartamundi. A stretch goal of roughly $11,000 will unlock a fancier Touch finish. The deck will also come in a matte tuck case.
The Diva Kickstarter ends on April 17th. The cheapest pledge that includes a deck is about $13 plus shipping. A pledge of $20 will get you an uncut sheet, but no regular deck.