Misc. Goods Co. Playing Cards

Misc. Goods Co. Playing Cards were first published in 2012 following a successful Kickstarter campaign by American graphic designer Tyler Deeb, and printed by the United States Playing Card Company. This review looks at the third edition, released in 2014, by which time the deck had become the flagship product of the growing Misc. Goods Co. design studio.

The Misc. Goods Co. Playing Cards were designed by Tyler Deeb during a period when he was establishing himself as a freelance designer. After arriving at his studio one morning to find no client work waiting, he began designing a single playing card. He repeated the exercise each day and, within three months, had completed an entire deck.

Looking back, Deeb recalled:

One day I showed up to my office and there was no work to do... I began designing a single playing card... After three feverish months of this pattern, still workless, I had to my surprise finish designing an entire deck of playing cards.

Deeb later described the project as a “purely creative exercise”, adding that he wanted to try “branding something” with “a lot of components”, “a deep heritage” and “practical use”.

Above: The Jack of Spades appears pierced by an arrow, the King of Diamonds is drawn as the “Suicide King”, normally the King of Hearts, and the Jack of Clubs holds a mug of beer.

With limited funds available for manufacture, the project was launched on Kickstarter with a funding goal of US$6,250. The campaign reached its target within twenty four hours and ultimately raised more than US$146,000, providing the capital to publish the deck and establish Misc. Goods Co. as an independent design business. Looking back on the response, Deeb said: “I never thought people would care this much.”

Kickstarter launched publicly in 2009, and playing card projects began to appear on the platform from around 2011. Deeb's campaign, listed under the title A Deck of Playing Cards, became the first playing card project on Kickstarter to raise over US$100,000.

Six months later, Jackson Robinson's Federal 52 campaign raised almost US$150,000 and became the basis for Kings Wild Project. The two projects sit close together in the early history of Kickstarter funded custom playing cards, but led to different kinds of businesses. Robinson built a company centred on luxury collectable playing cards, while Deeb developed Misc. Goods Co. into a wider design studio producing leather goods, stationery, fragrances and other products alongside its card designs.

Above: Examples of Misc. Goods Co. products beyond playing cards, including fragrances, incense, leather goods and card related packaging. The images show how the original deck became part of a wider product line rather than a one-off playing card project.

By the time the third edition appeared in 2014, the design had been revised from the original Kickstarter release. The court cards were given additional line work and detail.

The pack keeps the normal 52 card poker structure, with recognisable courts, suits and values. Deeb redrew the artwork in his own style, including the court cards, Aces, suit symbols, pip layouts, indices and small corner notches.

Above: Misc. Goods Co. Playing Cards, third edition tuck box, 2014, designed by Tyler Deeb.

A notable variation appears on the King of Diamonds. The “Suicide King” is normally the King of Hearts, shown with a sword behind his head, but in this deck the motif appears on the King of Diamonds. Deeb later described the King of Diamonds as his favourite card.

The darker wording on the Aces and box was noted by Michael Borys of Boing Boing, who described the deck's messaging as something that “may seem grim” while also being “a celebration of life”. This can be seen in phrases such as “You’re going to die”, “All that you own will one day vanish” and “Here today gone today”.

The artwork is ornate and typographic, with dense line work, banners and geometric borders. Mark Wilson, writing in Fast Company, described the effect as “borderline antique without feeling retro”. The card back follows the same approach, using a symmetrical arrangement of suit symbols, banners, borders and fine ornamental detail.

The deck remains closely tied to the early Kickstarter period, when independent designers were beginning to use crowdfunding to publish professionally printed custom playing cards. For Deeb, it also became the starting point for Misc. Goods Co. as a wider design business.