United States Playing Card Company
Spring 2025, Fall 2025
A pixel art playing card deck that stands out against other produced pixel art decks. Engaging players with a deck that blends storytelling and nostalgia.
Research
Concept
At USPC, the main focus of co-op was on designing non-IP playing cards. Within the global market, there was a notable difference between customers in the States and Europe. Rather than the highest consumers being moms and collectors, Bicycle found that in Europe, “Kidults” were the highest reported consumers.Understand
To better understand what the “kidult” looks for in a deck of cards, research on 90’s and 80’s nostalgia was conducted. Pixel art was a classic style that brought warm and bright colors to video games.Target Audience
Bicicyle wanted to focus on two audiences for Spring 2027. Gen Z and Kidult. Kidult was classified as a category of adults in their European market. The deck that I created needed to appeal to Gen Z and Kidults.Kingdom aims to appeal to the Kidults and the Gen z audience. Bringing both the vibes of nostalgia and the unique storytelling through pixel art.
Deck Design
Court
Explored a pixel art style to design the court cards in. Avoided looking like other pixel art decks by utilizing Bicycle's reimagined court called “New Era” to create a unique and dynamic court.Mini Court
Added a storytelling element by designing some number cards to be “scenes” in a side-scrolling video game. Developed mini versions of the court cards.Card Back
Took inspiration from various technological trends during the 90s, like translucent cases, arcade maze games, and game console button layouts.Tuck Design
Explored package design of the 90’s and combined it with the traditional playing card tuck.Final designs
What started as a simple concept design became a fully built-out deck with engaging storytelling, a style inspired by nostalgic 90’s video games, and a creative reimagining of the company's assets.Final Products
Fully developed decks that reached the production line.GenCon exclusive product