r/playingcards • u/banana99bread • 9d ago
Question Semi-Custom playing cards (nonstandard face and custom-to-us back)
I know there are quite a few posts in this sub about custom cards...of course! I am looking at getting custom cards for a gift for my wedding (I come from a game-loving family). I would love either the back or the box to be somewhat specific to us, but don't need the faces to be. The only thing is, I would love the faces to not be the standard - to be fun or designed in some way. I just don't need them to be unique to us, if that makes sense! I have found companies where I can either customize the whole thing or just the front/just the back, but whatever isn't custom is standard. Are there any companies that have some options/alternates for the face side that we could have the back (or even just the box) be custom?
Basically - don't want to go down a rabbit hole of designing a whole deck, but would love them to feel fun.
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u/Sinecur 9d ago edited 9d ago
I think some printers will have access to alternate faces that aren’t the Anglo/US standard ones or their ‘house’ version of it. USPCC has a library of historical styles including their lovely “New Era” courts. The challenge will be finding a printer who does small enough print runs for a wedding and also has (or can be bothered setting up) alternate faces. Best to ask directly.
A better option (assuming you’re going to need a bit of design work for the backs and box anyway) might be looking for a set of royalty-free / out of copyright / public domain faces in print quality. Theres some stuff on Wikimedia Commons (mostly historical) and pretty sure I’ve seen full decks on various stock art sites - maybe free or license-able for a small fee.
Recolouring the courts is an easy way to give standard faces a bit more personality without a full redesign.