The Royal Court
NBA themed playing cards featuring past and present stars, the Royal Court.
Client: Liph Project
Studio: Liph
Capabilities: Art Direction, Illustration, Print
Studio: Liph
Capabilities: Art Direction, Illustration, Print
Case study
The Cards
The Royal Court project was inspired by the love for the game, the players, and the details of the game. A deck of cards seemed like a perfect match to bring it all together.
First, it features the legends of past and present for each NBA team. The face cards pay homage to these players with illustrations, each matched with a different jersey style. Nike unveiled the jersey styles when they recently took over design duties. Moving away from the Home/Away jersey tradition, and into a rotation of 4 jersey styles. In the background, a number of subtle details of the court were added. The color palette stays true to the team colors, which really brought it all together. The colors really bringing the tones of each team. The back design used a different take of the court with more details.
Random fact: King James seemed like the perfect fit for the initial design.
The Players
Four iconic players from each team. A strong, simple illustration style for the players.
The Design
Basketball related details were added in every part of the design to keep the aesthetic true to the feel of a deck of cards. Inspiration was taken from the custom playing cards seen on Theory11 and also other designers. Creating these made me really appreciate the details that make each set of playing cards special and unique. Giving every deck a feel of a collector's item.
The Set
The full set plus a few Jokers.
