Post colonial playing cards

These initial sketches immediately set the tone for how these cards would end up looking, the face cards each had their own identity, and represented the different core states of India, the brief was to create the post-colonialism playing cards, and thats what we designed from start to finish, even when it came to the jokers, and the shapes!

As we began the process of custom design from scratch, alot of design research lead me to realise the structure of how the kings, queens, and jacks were presented, in terms of expression, facing position and colour combinations.

Keeping those nuances as authentic as possible with some culturally adapted aspects like patternwork, and the outfits to match the north, south, east and western parts of India.

We ended up deciding the following -
Spades: South India/ Tamil Nadu/ Kolkata.
Hearts: Islamic/Muslim/Pakistani.
Clubs: Hindu/Delhi/Gujurat.
Diamonds: North Panjab, Panjabi Sikh.

What started as a single illustration evolved into a full deck that now lives in the hands of families, artists, collectors, and card players around the world. The thought of these cards being shuffled, played with, gifted, or simply displayed in South Asian households across continents is something I’ll never take for granted.

To know that the artwork resonates — that people feel seen, represented, and proud of their heritage through something so familiar yet reimagined — is the real reward. This project reminded me how far design can go when it's done with intention, and how visual storytelling, even through something as simple as playing cards, has the power to preserve, honour and redefine tradition.