Poker aficionados, design freaks, passionate collectors, behold! Some of the world’s most creative minds were put to work in order to realize this ultra exquisite project, meant to enchant quite a few. The launch of the second limited edition of ’52 Aces’ is one of the most anticipated events in the design field.

54 hot illustrators were each asked to come up with their own version for one of the cards in a typical poker deck- which comprises 52 cards and 2 jokers, and go as far as their imagination would stretch. As expected, the result was an eccentric mélange of styles and approaches. Each card is wildly different from the others, but some, go a fabulous distance even from the original versions we’re accustomed to. Hence, to some people, the mere sight of the designs could be a bit confusing if it weren’t for the explicit symbols on the cards!

This deck, a fantastic cocktail made up of crazy dreams and elusive chimeras, reunites tens of impressive illustration styles. From ingenious pencil drawings, to juicily juxtaposed collages, to intricate fractals and elaborated cartoons, the cards do offer a real feast for the eyes of each viewer. Due to the rich diversity, it’s impossible to tell which card is better; they’re all truly unique.

At a closer look, there are noticeable differences among the styles and ideas employed by the artists, based also on cultural and tradition differences. Many of the illustrators chose to exploit national themes, or enhance their designs with subtle motifs from various decades or currents, or religious symbols.

Perhaps the best part about this project is how inspiring it achieves to be! On the website of 52 Aces, each card offers a short description about the artist who designed it. This is definitely a great way for all design lovers to learn about great, emerging artists. It is also a challenge for everybody involved in the project, or aspiring, for the future editions.

For those interested in acquiring one of these magnificent decks, the treat is double: there will be a limited printed edition of only 999 decks, which means that every happy possessor can be even more thrilled about his deck. The number was chosen so as to ensure that only the real lovers of design (and of course, poker!) will get a copy.

Have you ever imagined how a letter of the alphabet would look like if it exploded?
This is probably what Hussain Almossawi of the studio “Skyrill design”, located in Bahrain, asked himself when he decided to ‘emerge’ in the “fluid type” project. His ‘flowing style’ creation is conceptualized as a dynamic typeface, in which each character, in addition to being usable as a static letter has its own, is a singular exploding animation.

It’s looks are deceiving. What may in fact seem like mere computer-work, is instead a process of great accuracy and patience.
Almossawi elaborates:
‘Each letter required its own process based on what it looked like, [including] a lot of trial and error, sometimes using more that one emitter, at different directions and speeds, and experimenting with how they would collide with each other.’
The determination of the precise moment in which the movement of the letter reaches it’s peak of beauty is what makes the “fluid type” experiment so intriguing and unique.

The three-dimensional letters, at first created in 3D max, were filled in with virtual fluid as a “real flow fluid” dynamics simulator. While the character was charging color, Almossawi adjusted the gravity and pressure levels. Afterwards, he released the original shape, although still holding on to the fluid, and allowed the letter to explode and spill all over. Once Almossawi achieved a satisfying look for each animation, he ultimated each figure by adjusting the letter mesh, import it back to 3D max to shade it and finally render it.

A complete view of the experiment including videos and images can be found on www.skyrill.com.
The ‘fluid type’ is a stunning typeface design, that could definitely be considered as modern art. The creative transformation of a solid figure into a flowing liquid leaves the viewer speechless for its fluidity and perfection.

New York based photographer, Massimo Gammacurta, seems to be causing quite a stir in the design world lately. As it often happens in this field, in art and fashion specifically, (re)discovering something, be it not-that-new, but undeniably chic, is an event worth sharing (see Lana del Rey). Serendipity is one thing we hold dear, so when we come across these great images, we knew we had to showcase them.

The Italian born conceptual artist brought all the sugar and spice to the table with his quirky ‘Lolli-POP’ project, back in 2010. As most conceptual photographers and multimedia artists, Massimo is on a tireless quest to reinterpret and redefine the borders of reality. Or, as he likes to put it: ‘I strive to reveal the hidden facets of mundane objects and circumstances. Like actors in a play, my still life subjects act out the daily struggle for emotional balance within the frame and lens’. How did the rainbow craze get started? It could be safe to say that a sweet tooth and a fervent imagination got the ball rolling. Part of a personal experiment, deliciously colored and insanely shaped candy simply happened…

First, the artist molded juicy Nike, Chanel and Apple logos. To the excitement of IT-girls and design aficionados, soon all the posh brands found their way into the crafty hands of Massimo. His sugar realm expanded quickly, drawing the attention of numerous publications, including Wired magazine. Cutting the story short, the magazine was so bedazzeled by the lush sweets that they asked their creator to collaborate with them for a special project: he had to shape 20 lollipops for their gift guide, using a special font they had provided. The result was an epic bunch of mouth-watering pieces .

The aesthetics achieved are almost mind-blowing. I would go that far so as to even say there’s poetry in the motion captured. There’s energy and a fantastic allure stemming from those daring caramelized edges. The colors are those to give vibrancy and make the biggest visual impact. Palette- wise, it is as if the wholeness of a tropical island, with its palm trees and unearthly sunsets were captured and melted into intense degrades.

Our eyes certainly popped at the mere sight of these lollies. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately enough, they’re now available for collection only in print (as a book), and not hard candy.

Digital illustrator and photographer Albert Seveso’s world is so lush and color-saturated that each of his works of art seems to introduce the viewer to a new mode of sensory perception. This thirty-six year old artist hails from Portoscuso, Italy, but his artwork originates from a world of synesthesia.

His online portfolio, which can be found at www.burdu976.com, shows a wide range of projects, from commercial works for Olmeca Tequila Fusion, to advertisements for rounderwear. Despite the variety of commissions, his style is visceral and unique. Unlike the typical photoshop-happy illustrator, Seveso utilizes both a finely-honed eye for photographic composition and a surrealist approach to image manipulation, to create works that are simultaneously startling and deeply gratifying.

For example, his piece titled “The Man Who Would Stop Time,” a photo-illustration of scientist Bill Andrews for Popular Science magazine, takes a flash photograph of Bill and turns it into a rich, layered illustration that combines pencil-and-paper illustration and oil-paint, for a look that suggests Da Vinci-meets-Dali. Seveso also creates photographic works where the manipulation and illusion is done during pre-production. Check out his series titled “a due Colori” for mind-bending sculptures of pure color–and get ready to be blown away once more when you realize that they are just photographs of ink in water.

Adriana Gerasimova, professional stylist since 2002, has a vivid artistic vision that results in a wide range of creative activities: photography, video, body art, hair dressing, visual effects, etc.  Her portfolio includes the covers of lifestyle and fashion magazines and several international awards such as second place in The Max Mara Coat contest. For Adriana taking part in competitions is the most exciting and challenging aspect of her job because it frees her mind from the rules and boundaries. She loves to experience and enforce a provocative personal point of view in her art and puts maximum effort and dedication for every new project. Perfectionist in her work, Adriana follows up every small detail of the process as to keep control of the final result.

Adriana is the founder of Addminimal Creative Studio, located in Sofia, Bulgaria. The studio works as a flexible structure, covering all the creative processes – from the blink of an idea, to art-direction, styling, hairdressing, make up and postproduction. One of the aesthetic intentions of Addminimal is a synthesis of two seemingly quite opposite artistic tendencies – cyber culture and ethnical aesthetic. In one of their projects- a series of photographs taken in fluorescent light- special costumes were chosen, combining traditional folk elements of different Bulgarian regions and geometric abstractions. So far Addminimal worked mainly for the print market. However, with the expansion of social networking, the studio goes further into the capturing world of video production, film industry and flexible online issues.

“We love to experiment and to be flexible as the market itself. Media for us is just a mean of expression. We search for the right expression every time we start a project. We don’t create design just for the sake of it. For us less is more, and the good design is much more than a visual – it is a state of mind, status, and attitude. ”

Conceptual artist, teacher for character animation and modeling and nowadays head of 3D CUBOCC / Island, a successful Brazilian advertising and branding agency specialized in graphic designs, are only a few examples of André Holzmeister’s recent career path.
Indeed, the variety of the in Saõ Paulo, Brazil based artists’ work is enormous. From fancy 3D illustrations to funny short movies, one can basically find anything in his portfolio. Shortly after finishing his studies in Social Communications for Radio & TV in 2000, André Holzmeister has been part of various advertising campaigns for well-known Corporations like Nike ID, Rexona Men and Axe.
So that diversity will not be neglected, the young artist models, shades and animates hilarious characters for the opening of TV shows as well as computer games. It is simply joyful for the viewer to examine his very detail orientated graphical drawings, of which many were featured in and awarded by specialist magazines.
So let’s hope that we can very soon enjoy some of André Holzmeister’s refreshing art in Europe.

A picture, a drawing tablet and Photoshop: that is all it takes to create these wonderful illustrations to the Swedish Johan Thörnkvist.
After some years as a web creator for an advertising agency, he decided to go it alone and study drawing on his own. He chose art as his career, even if still now he isn’t sure it is really a career: “The paintings I make are just for and from me and I don’t really care if I make any money on them”.
It takes a long time to create these whimsical cities, in which the picture comes to life, hosting small and micro stories. The idea behind these illustrations is reminding the viewer to see the world with a child-like imagination, this idea may be simple, but his execution yields a fantastic perspective.
His inspiration comes by looking everyday scenes and trying to imagine what could exist in that space instead, the result are magnificent landscapes that tell a story and tickle imagination.
From now on you just can’t deny the existence of this imaginary creatures in our world.

Serge Birault is a French digital painter from Toulouse with a stunning portfolio. Amazing and iper-realistic, the drawings of Birault share the same leitmotiv, the female universe.

In his portfolio we find pin-up, vampires, and other women with a gothic flavor that share the fact of being almost all femme fatales. Sometimes works are done for commercial purposes, like, for example, in the case of “Miss VandeCramps”, created for a website, or the case of “Poker Repla mascotte”, especially thought for a poker website, while, some other times, works are just the result of the experiences and travels of the artist, like in “White Chapel”, where the subject of the digital piece is a revisitation of Thomas Lawrence’s paintings, seen by Birault during a travel to London.

The artist usually draw with a real model in mind, that then is translated in the artwork, using an impeccable  technique, an amazing color palette and always keeping a particular attention for the eyes of the subject, which are able to instantly express the essence of the character. The drawings are exhibited in the artist website and they are also available for purchase.