ABOUT

High Flyers is the new deck from Squiddle Ink that celebrates the featheriest of achievements. It is packed with illustrations of the most impressive birds that fly the highest and the fastest. The designer Stacey Jay Kelly (creator of Sardines Playing cards) wanted to create a deck that belongs in the gift shop of a fictional aviation society, owned by birds.

The Ace of Spades card features the owl’s watchful eyes, peering through special die-cut lens holes on the tuck box. The tuck has pearlescent shimmering paper stock, teal foil elements and embossed areas to give a luxurious texture. All this is combined with highly detailed leaf illustrations to frame the birds in the design.

The special feature on the card backs served as the initial inspiration for this deck. When the cards are fanned the feather along the edge of each card spreads out like a bird's wing opening. The pastel blue, mirrored, falcon design has intricate feather detail, that sits perfectly alongside the leaf detail. The flight feathers have a bright pop of yellow and cream so that when the cards are fanned the bird's wing is immediately apparent against the background. The wing fan adds a dramatic effect to cardistry flourishes.

The court cards depict incredible birds such as the Peregrine Falcon, the Anna's Hummingbird and the Alpine Chough wearing vintage aviator outfits, leather jackets, goggles and helmets. Each card is unique and champions the most incredible bird species and their achievements. The vintage-style pip cards are embellished with traditional airmail stamp designs. All the stamps for this project are custom-made and feature important dates in aviation history, along with fictional airlines such as Royal Albatross Airways and Swift Aviation Group. On the Joker card, there is an ornate Falcon hood with a feathered plume and Stacey reserved the second Joker card to create a classic airmail postcard design.

The deck is available on Kickstarter from October 14th and will be printed by Legends Playing Card Company using VIPER TM finish.