Alan Driscoll's Fascinating Deck of Cards

For my final body of work I have decided to produce unique designs based on my project and the themes in 'Drowning by Numbers' to create a pack of playing cards. Having figured out about half of the designs, I came to a mental block and found myself struggling to think of the rest of the designs. Therefore, I spoke to my tutor Ian Massey who gave me a link to a fantastic set of playing cards where 56 contemporary artists/ designers collaborated to make individual card designs. Included, there was a description of the cards:

THE DECK OF CARDS Fifty-six contemporary British artists have been especially commissioned to contribute to this unique interpretation of a pack of playing cards. Each cards represents the original work of a different artist, together with additional designs for the reverse and for the box. The cards have been printed on Superluxe board and have been produced in the traditional Old English size.
Although some of the artists are better knon than others, all have examples of their work in public collections in Britain or aborad. A list of the contributors involved and details of where their work can be seen in presented below. Numbers alongside each collection relate to the numbered alphabetical list of artists' names that follows.

From the abstract to the surrealist to the representative, this deck represents a fairly wide variety of modern art forms, media and technique. In the works depicted in this deck you'll find portraiture, pure color studies, primitive work almost cartoonish in its aesthetic, even photography, retouched and pure, and more. Most every modern school can be found here. And there is no lack of visual puns. Each of the artists represented here took their own particular inspiration from the card they were given in a strange and unique direction. No two paintings are more than superficially alike, and they are worth studying together as much as they are worth studying separately. In their similarities you can find the soul of playing cards, and in their differences you can find the soul of the artists.The box design is by Tim Whitmore, the back design is by Kenneth Martin, and the joker is by either Anthony Green or Anthony Donaldson (it's not clear from the documentation).


Here are some examples of the cards:

 

Some of the artists involved in this project are:

Artists include:
David HOCKNEY
John HOYLAND
Maggie HAMBLING
Patrick HERON
Howard HODGKIN
Patricki CAULFIELD
Sandra BLOW
Terry FROST
Philip SUTTONAllen JONES

Having seen the variations in the designs, it has given me more confidence in my own designs. Initially I was worried about my designs being too simple, but having seen the success in the simplicity of these creations I feel that sometimes simple can work better than complex artwork. From looking at this pack of playing cards, I feel that I can provide a wider variety of work in my own designs without worrying if they all link together stylistically and visually.