Some card games have managed to become much more than just a source of entertainment, leaving their mark on history thanks to the illustration and design features that bring them to life. Minimalism, meaning, a great illustrative load and even a tradition that lasts for centuries are just some of the aspects that give relevance to some of the most successful card games.
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Card games: charm, simplicity and adaptation to change
The design, rules, history, and influence that some card games have had on popular culture have become a key factor in their success over time.
One of those that stands out for its content and the design of its cards is Cards Against Humanity, a game in which a player chooses a question card from the deck and the other participants try to give the funniest answer with one of the cards they have. In his hand.
In addition to the simplicity of the rules of this game, its minimalist design, with black and white contrasting cards, has become its main feature and has helped make it easily recognizable within today’s popular culture.
For its part, Magic: The Gathering has made use of elaborate designs, fantastic creatures and magical spells to conquer a large audience from its first appearance as a board game in 1993, to become a global phenomenon that can be played online. and even competitively.
It is worth mentioning that the main eSports tournaments and events held around this game, such as the Mythic Championship, where more than two million dollars are distributed in prizes, are transmitted by live streaming through platforms such as Twitch, and bear witness of the great impact that a card game can have.
Card games often transcend the passage of time, as recounted by the website Relatos e Historias en México. An excellent example of this is Blackjack. The classic style that became famous around the world since the seventeenth century and has left its mark in various cultures due to the ease of its rules (the goal is to get as close to the value of 21 as possible, without exceeding it), today it is offered by live streaming. This allows players from all over the world to join the blackjack tables on platforms such as Betway anytime, anywhere.
The importance of design in printing and illustration of popular culture
It is popularly said that “love is born from sight,” and the ability to capture the public’s attention within a print medium such as card games makes this saying one of the principles of graphic design.
Beyond card games we find an example of the above in board games with the Bob Ross edition of Monopoly, which mixes the art style that made this popular painter famous with one of the most iconic board games of the world. last decades. By taking advantage of these two visual resources in the same space, we obtain a visually attractive game worthy of becoming a collector’s item.
For its part, the printed magazine La Perruque is a sample of the use of space and its potential to capture the attention of the public, since it only measures 1 cm x 90 cm and takes advantage of the surplus prints to create the curious and characteristic format that distinguishes it.
Finally, we can find a clear example of the impact that a print can have despite its size in a recent collection of stamps from the Finnish post. Each of them changes their images from clouds or birds to thunderstorms and skeletons when heated by the touch of the hand, in order to raise awareness about the negative effects of climate change.
Graphic design is a key tool for transmitting a message that can transcend the passage of time and reach as many people as possible. In this way, we find in card games a clear example of how their visual design is combined with the meaning of the illustrations and the rules of the games to create sources of entertainment capable of leaving their mark on history.