Dan and Dave Buck are sleight-of-hand magicians and design lovers turned designers themselves. A decade ago the California-based brothers founded Art of Play, a company that produces playing cards, games, puzzles and toys of their own design.
In honor of the classical industrial designers, the brothers designed these Eames-inspired "Starburst" Playing Cards, intended as "tribute to the timeless sensibilities of Charles & Ray Eames" and done in collaboration with The Eames Office.
"Our first edition of Eames Playing Cards showcases the Eames Office Starburst Logo on the backs. This iconic emblem was a recurring motif in the work of both Charles and Ray. Here it signifies their boundless creative energy—an explosion of light reaching for the outer limits of design's true purpose."
"The unique numbering system on the faces of the cards enables acts of cardistry to function as subtle homages to the Eameses' classic film 'Powers of Ten.'"
"The court cards honor the natural majesty they found in elemental geometric shapes. Mathematics, form, and the critical role of constraints in design are threads woven throughout the Eameses' life and work."
"The design of the box references the famous home built by Charles and Ray, a creative base where they lived for many years."
With that last one, they are of course referring to the Eames' Case Study House #8.
While the $18 set of cards would obviously make a great gift for the industrial designer in your life, if you know someone from a lesser specialty like architecture or graphic design, Art of Play has them covered too: They offer an $18 set of Just Type Playing Cards, inspired by graphic designer Paula Scher and designed in collaboration with Pentagram, and a $25 set of Imperial Hotel Playing Cards done in collaboration with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
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