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Inky-Dinky Playing Cards

Published November 03, 2010 Updated June 12, 2023

A series of four decks designed by John Littleboy.

2006 USA Inky-Dinky John Littleboy Art & Design Transformation

A series of four decks designed by John Littleboy in the spirit of playful surprise and visual delight. The pip cards in each deck have been transformed from the standard positions into a sequence of images which tell a story.

John Littleboy studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated from Stanford University. He lives in San Francisco.

Left: “Bag of Bones” Playing Cards, designed by John Littleboy, 2008, each card has a story to tell... among these elegantly twisted characters you'll find a sorcerer planting a dark garden which produces a sinister harvest, an unfortunate dinner guest who has to retrieve more than his hat and a most charming serpent.

John's Website.

Left: “Mermaid Queen” Playing Cards, 2008, from fierce sea-gods to enchanted mermaids, a visual story beautifully rendered to capture the allure of these mythical characters in a sequence of cards...

Left: “Kitten Club” Playing Cards, 2006. In this deck full of visual delight, an Empress guards her secrets, an Old King celebrates a birthday with a tuna fish cake and a cat-poet seeks the assistance of his muse...

Left: “Pack of Dogs” Playing Cards, designed by John Littleboy, 2006. Here are dogs as we imagine them to be: coy, heroic, aloof, comical and always lovable.

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By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.


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