The Kaiju Deck

During my upper division coursework in college, my classmates and I were tasked with creating 16 cards of a full set of Playing Cards based on a design system/theme of our choosing. We were originally told about this project months before our semester began, and right away I had the idea in my head of what I wanted to design. Given that I’m a huge fan of the Kaiju (giant monster) film genre, creating a deck of playing cards based on the Godzilla franchise was an idea I instantly fell in love with. I wanted to avoid using the traditional four Pip marks (diamond, hearts, etc.) and go a little more thematic with my concept; since a core theme of the Godzilla franchise has evolved from being about the dangers of humanity's use of nuclear weaponry, to humanity’s relationship with nature, I had my answer. Godzilla villains are often metaphorical representations of the forces of nature, so it’s only natural that the four Pip designs (fire, earth, water, air) should incorporate these elements. I decided to use photos of the Kaiju for the cards themselves as my royalty cards to really hammer home the concept, and borrowed some Japanese inspired design elements as a homage to the Kaiju franchise’s native country.