Brothers are not always the best of friends. We are no exception. With one of us having hospitalised the other on two occasions, we were not the closest. Regularly fighting and rarely able to sit peacefully within a few meters of one another.

One was the golden child, and the other the black sheep. A bit cliché, but there you have it. One ended up living in Australia while the other was shipped to America.

But then, out of nowhere, when we were finally reunited, we were suddenly the best of friends. Goofy, silly, inseparable friends who had one another's back in a way we never had before.

And during that process, we not only developed as people but as artists in our own right. Nicholas became a very talented artist specialising in "Black Pen Art" (you should definitely check out his work!). Max became a full-time international magician who has now performed for celebrities and members of various royal families alike.

A piece of art created by nick

Just like that. And so, several years later, moving back to the UK, we decided to start a project together. A deck of cards was the best way to unite our two art forms, and so, we created the idea for The Battle of The Gods.

Rendall Magic Ink launches "Deck by N!ck"

That is how this project got started almost a year ago. Since then, one of us moved back to Australia, and the other got married. Our lives both shifted in unexpected and dramatic ways. Yet this project continued throughout all the turbulence.

We have hidden the letters "M" and "T" on three cards to commemorate the marriage between Max and Talulla. There is also a "Melanie" hidden on one card in honour of our mother; without her never-ending support, none of our achievements in life would have been possible.

Beyond that, they would be a literal business card for both of our talents; one can present as a demonstration of artistic skill. At the same time, the other could demonstrate their magical abilities with a unique and original deck of cards. 

 
 

We wanted the deck to contain as many different facets as possible, if nothing else, to aid in the design, creation, and style. Eventually, we settled on two major themes to link through the cards:

· Elements – Air, Water, Earth, and Fire

· Cultures – Norse, Greek, Egyptian, and Celtic

We chose to limit the colours of the deck to solely Red and Black, even in the royal cards. As these cards represent us, combining BlackPenArt's style with MagicianMaxRendall's flair, it is a style that portrays us both.


 With most playing cards, their faces are reversible, so it doesn't matter which way up the cards are. While we did consider falling in line with the other decks out there, we decided not to.

Since the royal cards would be uni-directional, we thought consistency throughout the deck was more critical, especially as it gave us more room to express Nick's artistic talent! You will notice that we have kept the pips in the corner to keep with the usual style, so while playing cards, there is no issue of knowing which card is which.

Choosing the font of the numbers took quite a bit of debating as we wanted to ensure they suited the feel we wanted the deck to portray while being legible. Eventually, we chose specific numbers from different fonts to create what you can see below—intertwining each element around their suit.

It was a challenge for us to decide which Gods to represent the classic positions of King, Queen and Jack. Initially, we wanted to use a familial structure across all the suits, but this proved too forced. We chose to use those we thought would be the most recognisable and best suited to their assigned roles.

The writing on each suit is in the native script of each civilisation. This is to give each suit a unique feeling. All the Royal Cards have two lines of writing in the top right corners. This is the name of God and the position they take in the deck. That was why we have referred to the Jacks as Knaves from here on out; it sounds cooler. Yet, we chose to keep the "J" in the pips to avoid confusion when playing card games, but that is why we decided that.

Some historical liberties have been taken and even more artistic ones, but we could not be happier with the results, and we hope you are too!

When it came to pairing up the suits, with an element and a suit, some decisions had already been made for us. Combining the Norse Vikings, famous for their longboats and raids, with water was a no brainer. 

Jack of Spades - Thor is the God of Thunder and Lightning associated with strength, storms, hallowing and fertility.

The Jokers represent something we judged to be quintessentially representative of that culture and something that could be considered a "place of power" for the Gods to launch their attacks from or must defend should a battle not go in their favour.

The jokers each have a quote on them related to playing cards. We assigned them to each culture and suit that we thought they best represented.

Joker - Viking Longboat, the most valued possession and a powerful navel weapon to launch or defend from an attack.

Greek Culture inspires the Hearts suit. Zeus holds the position of the King of Heart, ruling over God and Man alike, maintaining order and justice. The ancient Greek Goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite was our Queen and Athena, the Goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and strategy, was our Jack of Hearts.

Not using Hera as the queen was because she is not as recognisable or as well known as Aphrodite, and how could we not have Aphrodite, the God of love, represented in the suit of Hearts!?

Court Cards inspired by Greek Gods and Goddesses
Mount Olympus, regarded as the abode of the gods and the site of the throne of Zeus, was an easy choice for the Heart's Joker.

Dagda is often portrayed as a father figure in Celtic mythology, and given that he wields a club, it made sense to appoint him as the King of Clubs. The most recognisable female God we could find who might take the position of Queen was Morrigan, who has had a few dalliances with Dagda, combined with her affinity to war and fate made her a perfect fit.

Stonehenge took the place of Joker of the clubs as it is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world,

Ancient Egypt -- a land of mysteries took over the Diamond suit. No other civilisation has so captured the imagination of scholars and laypeople alike. Mystery surrounds its origins, religion, and monumental architecture: colossal temples, pyramids, and the enormous Sphinx.


The Card Back

Coming up with a suitable back design was one of the most straightforward steps in our creation process. Given Nick's back catalogue of art pieces, we decided to use one of his original designs.

With Nick's style, his pieces are often available in two formats, the original and a negative version. Based on the style of the cards, we felt the negative was the better option. The darker tones felt more appropriate to the war theme of the cards, and keeping cardistry in mind, was by far the easier choice!


The Tuck Box and custom seal

We wanted the tuck box to represent everything that is contained within.

Originally the deck was to say, "Rendall Magic Playing Cards", with one word on each side of the box, in each of the languages inside. However, and we bear no ill will as it makes complete sense, Bicycle Manufacturers have a requirement to include a bar code outside the box. We decided that if one side were to be covered, it would be the Egyptian side, the Diamonds. This would mean that the outside of the deck would read, "Rendall Magic Cards".

The face, back and tuck lid of the box is a conglomeration of all the suits, representing the war's clash.

The custom seal on the box is our very own magician's logo, designed by who else but the artist among us.

The face of the tuck represents all four elements (air, fire, earth and water) together.

ARTWORK- TREE OF THE SUITS ORIGINAL

We are also offering the original A2 art piece by N!ck Rendall as our special reward.

This tree is a combination of all four elements and a one of a kind art piece created especially for this launch.


Fulfilment

To manage the delivery of the cards as best we can, we will be using Deallez to manage the majority of overseas shipping, while deliveries in the UK and Australia will be handled individually by Nick and I.


To the future

We do not know what will come next as this project has already taken an enormous toll on both of us, but we have loved the process. It has been a serious labour of love.

If this project is successful enough, we will launch another deck with an inverted back but the same face designs (at least at the moment) to create a complete set of cards for our bridge players out there.


Giving Back/Charity

Aside from the incredible support we received from our Mother over the years, we were also incredibly fortunate to have our father. Sadly, he recently passed away just over a week before launch day.

He was an amazing human and a great father. He received a lot of notability because he raised a lion in Chelsea that went on to become an internet phenomenon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDZaWgf_bk0

In his honour, we are donating 5% of all proceeds to his favourite charity, the George Adamson Wildlife Protection Fund (GAWPT) for which he supported till the very end of his fascinating life.


Social Media

Instagram: @rendallmagicink, @freedivingbaboon, @magicianmaxrendall, @nickrendall.art

Facebook: @rendallmagicink, @blackpenart, @magicianmaxrendall


Risks and Challenges

As on any other project, obstacles can arise unexpectedly. Potential setbacks may include production delays, shipping, and sourcing problems. We are working closely with USPCC, who have provided generous support and insight at the project's evert turn, including technical details, delivery, etc. Please note that final designs may slightly vary from the renders shown in the project description.


Environmental commitments

The decision to have the cards produced by USPCC was made all the easier knowing their commitment to making their cards as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible.

They are printed using vegetable ink on sustainably harvested paper, the excess, and cut-offs, which are shredded, baled and sent off to be turned into tissues and loo roll.

The manufacturing area needs to be kept at a specific temperature and humidity level during the production process. This area is partitioned to prevent the entire warehouse from being kept at those levels and conserve energy. You can read more about this on their website:

https://bicyclecards.com/article/bicycle-cards-go-green/