The Crying Child Italian playing Cards
Author —
Bruce McAllister
Deliverables —
Design
Packaging
Illustration
Product development
Award —
3x3 Illustration, honorable mention
About —
41 playing cards, each with a distinct illustration and common illustrated back.
This Italian deck of cards with Latinate suits illustrates the short horror story "The Crying Child" by Bruce McAllister, in which an American teenager grows up in Cold War Italy against a backdrop of sinister magic, a horrific fountain of youth, and dogs that are both predators and prey. The joker card is an American invention (based on the Tarot's "The Fool" card) and isn't used in Italian decks or games, so the Crying Child joker card appropriately features the naïve American protagonist, and shuffling him into the deck moves him through the Italian story depicted in the rest of the cards.
