Gods of Mythology Bicycle deck. Thor and Isis dance together while Apollo plays the lyre

 

My readers know that I like to talk about dreams, and most of the dreams I talk about have the same end, a great deck of cards.

Working as a designer and illustrator, and drawing for as long as she can remember, Marci Brinker wanted to make something special, creative, different and, among all, her own project. The intricate details of the cards she remembered since she was a child carried her to the idea of designing a deck of playing cards.

She was reading “American Gods“, by Neil Gaiman, for a second time. The book concerns a number of supernatural beings, most of them gods from ancient cultures, living in the modern world. The novel gave Marci the inspiration for the Gods of Mythology Bicycle deck.

In this deck, the artist have featured characters from four different mythologies, one per suit. She depicts different gods and goddesses for the court cards having in mind any iconic elements and symbols each one might have and adapts everything to the style of standard face cards. This way, Zeus, the King of Hearts, is “committing suicide” with a bolt of lightning. Going deeper among gods and other elements has also be really useful for her to learn a lot about mythology.

Marci didn’t really expect to print the deck. She just wanted to see if she could meet the many challenges of designing a deck of playing cards. Nevertheless, after posting the designs in her website, she began getting inquiries from people about where they could buy it. Then, he started to investigate and work hard on the design to make a real deck and only after having everything finished, she created the project at Kickstarter (in fact, she has become a playing cards lover and backer of some projects there).

As said before, each suit represents one mythology. This way, hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades are related to Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythologies. There are 52 cards, completely customized plus two jokers, one double backed card and a gaff card for magic tricks.

If funded, the USPCC will print 2,500 decks on Bicycle stock and Magic Finish.

Find enclosed a wide gallery of images with every special card. You can find more info and raise your pledge on the project website.

Good luck!