Fuyu-no-Sensu - art playing cards (Winter)
Fuyu-no-Sensu - art playing cards (Winter)
Foiled, intricate, hand-drawn tuck box with textured paper
Embossed, delicate tuck sleeve
Limited edition print run of 1000, numbered seal
Unique, hand-drawn, full-bleed art on all pip and court cards
Metallic ink on card faces and backs
Comes with hand-made miniature Japanese folding screen, wrapped in recycled kimono material and tied with a red mizuhiki band
A deck of hand-drawn art playing cards inspired by the Japanese folding fan (Sensu). Printed by Expert Playing Card Company (EPCC).
Taking over one year to design and illustrate, every card has a unique, full-bleed and detailed illustration. The pip cards contain a tilted floral design representing each season, that grows and blossoms as the pips rise. Around the edges of each pip card is a colourful border, that when aligned and held in a fan, reveals the hidden artwork - making a canvas from the frame. Hold the suits in sequence to display seasonal scenes of Japanese culture. Hold the number cards in sets to reveal characters and animals such as the nine-tailed fox. The court cards fan together so that each piece stands alone but also builds the rest of its courts up into a larger scene.
As court cards have no indices, inspired by Japanese games such as hanafuda - which are purely pictoral, a miniature Japanese folding screen made by hand in Kyoto in included as a standing reference sheet.
Funded on Kickstarter, this project was nominated for various awards for custom pips, innovative design and more, winning Portfolio52 2022 Best Fan, and leading to 52 Plus Joker 2022 Diamond Award Artist of the Year nomination. Through the project, we adopted an endangered Amur Leopard working with the World Wildlife Fund, helped fight against illegal poaching, planted trees, and much more. The 100% paper cards are made from sustainable forest sources and special soy ink was used. Packaging makes use of recycled and recyclable materials as well as bubble wrapping made locally from sugar cane.
What’s more, a portion of all profit is donated to ARK, a charity that helps rescue, care for, foster and rehouse abandoned and displaced animals across Japan.