Left: three cards from Tell No. 3306 based on the Traditional Hungarian "Tell" or "Four Seasons" pattern.

Below Left: two cards from "66" No. 3307, four-colour offset print in two limited and numbered editions,? 20 cards: A, 10, J, Q, K in each suit.

Below Right: 7 cards from "Miniature" No. 3310.

In 1983 I become a college teacher, majoring in math and art. During the years I have created many graphic designs using several printmaking techniques. Later on in 1988 I truly discovered my deep affection for playing cards and started to collect them.

I developed the idea of designing and constructing my own decks and creating other card related art. I took time to research the trade, history, tradition, ethnicity and customs of cards, and only began work on my own designs 3 years ago. These were initially produced with silkscreen techniques, then I started to craft blockprinted and silkscreen coloured cards. In 2003, with the help of a friend in the printing business, my first offset-printed cards were born. The card face designs of these packs were hand drawn illustrations, and for the pre-press and press segments of the work I applied modern and professional techniques.

In the future I will specialise in manufacturing purely handmade playing cards. I am trying to rekindle old traditional practices - like blockprinting (woodcut) and intaglio printing (copper engraving) techniques.

Designing and constructing these playing cards is not my day job, and I do not want to get rich off of it - strange it might sound. Every week I go to work to teach the next generation of animators and graphic designers in a well-known art school in Kecskemét, Hungary. Working on my playing cards is strictly something I do in my free time.

Now I have decided to have my works available to fellow collectors. So, my web site is especially designed for serious collectors to visit and purchase limited and numbered editions of playing card decks and other card art.

Cards courtesy Balázs Pál Nagy.
Packs can be ordered directly from www.3palnagy.com