Off with their heads - en uppdatering av kortlekens symbolik, hierarkier och formspråk

Abstract

This project was a collaboration with Kajsa Bergström. The projected was to develop the French/English deck of cards. We replaced the knight, queen and king with the numbers 11, 12 and 13. We worked with separate aesthetics and solutions after making that common change. I worked on an idea on how to make the cards look slim, by adapting a handcrafted look, full of details. I distinguished the playingcards index as the most important part when reading the cards values and symbols. I clarified this by adding a thin white frame on both longsides. The area between the frames worked as an identification of the different suits through elements of colour and form. My deck of cards aesthetics is complicated and full of details in comparison to playingcardsites on the internet (which have come to be a popular way to play cards). These computeraesthetics promotes function before form. I wanted to make a comment and a counterweight to this expression. If one looks at MP3files as a comparison to preceding argument, one can find a counterweight in limited records, with handcrafted exclusive sleeves. I choosed to discuss the expression "Sustainable development" with a feministic point of view. By excluding gender in the courtcards and replace them with numbers and a developed expression of the lower cards, I achieved a goal. In my opinion, I think every designer had a responsibility to be aware of the effects of ones work. Pictures and form tend to have enormous effects on people, direct and indirect, and should therefore be handled with care.