ABOUT

El Quinto Sol: The Mesoamerican Cosmos began with a personal realization: growing up in Mexico, I knew the stories of Zeus, Thor and other mythological traditions far better than I knew the gods, symbols and cosmological ideas that originated in my own cultural landscape.
I wanted to explore how that heritage could be translated into a contemporary object, something beautiful, functional and collectible, rather than something that felt like a museum souvenir or a historical reproduction.
The result is a fully custom 56-card playing-card deck inspired by Mesoamerican mythology, cosmology and the Tonalpohualli.

The project was developed over nearly two years through historical and visual research, drawing, watercolor illustration, typography, graphic design and packaging development.
Every element of the deck was created specifically for the project: court cards, number cards, Aces, Jokers, suit symbols, typography, card backs and tuck boxes.
The four suits form a broader symbolic system connected to directions, elements and mythological figures, allowing the deck to function both as a familiar set of playing cards and as a small cosmological map.
Three physical editions were developed, each interpreting the same visual system through different materials and finishes:
Core Edition: the brightest and most direct expression, with metallic green hot foil and embossing on the tuck.
Alebrije Edition: a more playful and iridescent interpretation, with metallic blue foil and embossing on the tuck and full-surface holographic transfer foil across the cards.
Mictlantecuhtli Edition: the darkest and most ceremonial version, combining black artwork, reflective gold foil, embossing and orange gilded edges.
The project also includes an original card game and a Digital Companion Codex explaining the mythology, symbols and calendrical ideas behind the artwork.

El Quinto Sol was launched independently through Kickstarter in September 2026 as the first major project under my creative practice, The Mythographer.
Beyond creating a collectible deck, the project became an exploration of how mythology, illustration, product design and cultural research can meet inside a single everyday object.
The goal was to create something that feels contemporary and desirable while still inviting people to discover the stories, symbols and cosmological ideas behind the artwork.