Wanderer
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Wanderer is a company I created in my final year of college during a capstone class. This project was near and dear to my heart for many reasons, first being the concept behind the company is unique and my own. Secondly, I love playing cards. From playing card games at family functions to seeing the beautiful designs on the back of each cards, I love it all.
Wanderer is an entertainment company that specializes in making playing cards and material intended to educate consumers on a certain topic. The idea behind it is creating a learning experience through playing cards. Each deck has a different theme that contains 52 different illustrations, one for each card. A book or educational component comes with each deck explaining the history or significance of each card. The decks of cards could range from animals in the rain forest to the most important planes made throughout history. Each deck aims to establish a different illustration style that accents each new topic. The name Wanderer comes from the nature of the variety of topics that are covered in each deck. We tend to wander from one subject to another, not knowing what’s further down the road.
LOGO DEVELOPMENT
Research
For the logo I looked at other card companies for inspiration, unfortunately I didn’t find anything that piqued my interest outside of the Theory 11 logo. Traditional playing card companies also invoke an old world feeling in their logos, which is a road that might be wise to go down. Logos related to education also didn’t bring forth any great ideas, I wanted the company’s branding to look somewhat high end and have a “mysterious” feel to it. I felt that very ornate or “western” looking logos were the best place to find some guidance. I feel like the name Wanderer invokes a sense of old wonder. I thought maybe keep the ornate, cut the frills. Simplicity is key, pack light for a trip on the road.
Sketches
When doing sketches for this logo I first tried making a unique W that could capture the mysterious virtue of the company. I sketched out a ton of W’s in a serif style trying to capture the old time feeling. Later I worked with incorporating symbols that could be associated with Wanderer like lanterns, traveling hats or the shapes of roads. I also did lots of sketching where I experimented with types of floral elements and swirly lines.
Doing the sketches for this company I tried to keep them slightly ornate but cut down on the frills. I mostly enjoyed the sketches that were simple uses of the name and the letter W.
Doing the sketches for this company I tried to keep them slightly ornate but cut down on the frills. I mostly enjoyed the sketches that were simple uses of the name and the letter W.
Iterations
When I started to do iterations, I did lots of working with combinations of a circle and a W that I made based off a serif typeface I like. The idea being the circle could be a subtle representation of the globe and traversing it. In most of the iterations I did a combo of the name “Wanderer” and the “W”. In some I added the tagline “Playing Cards”. I also continued to work with the idea of a traveling hat. Lastly, I tried working with a banner shape that has the name inside of it. I also used lines with the banners to create a sense of motion. From doing the sketches I wanted to keep the logo iterations as simple as possible, must pack light for this journey!
Final Logo
The end of the journey I decided keep it simple. The old iconic trilby hat sits on top of the sharp “W”. The overall feel of the logo is supposed to invoke a sense of moving forward, intended to compliment the name Wanderer. It does this by using the forward slant in the name Wanderer. The word wanderer has distinct western typeface attributes like the slab serif elements. It’s a simple, effective logo.
Color Pallete
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The secondary logo features just the “W” with the hat on. The illustration of the hat is meant to bring something of an icon to the company. It is based off of a rather standard “travel” hat, commonly used in the early 1930’s.
Typography
The logo is to be featured in either pure black or pure white. This is an attempt to make sure that the logo doesn’t standout too much on the deck related pieces. This makes the designs and colors of the deck stand out. The main brand uses two different typefaces, as a heading typeface. The brand also uses the typeface Acumin for most body copy. The secondary typeface has a very western vibe to it, found in the slab serif nature of it.
AIRBORNE
Playing Cards
At Wanderer we strive to bring together entertainment, casual learning, and design. This special package does all three. This package called Airborne will bring you all three. All 54 cards in the deck have a separate illustration; every card has a different plane or figure associated with the topic of aviation. To accompany each deck is a book that provides the educational value. The book informs the reader about the story behind each card. There is also a package that I designed and created that would hold one of these books and a deck as well as an “Unfinished History of Aviation” poster. To round out the experience of the first deck is a pair or digital companions. The website is an interactive timeline that features the info found in the card book. Lastly is a fun augmented reality experience that brings the static cards of the deck to life on your phone.
Research
The deck of cards is the primary source of entertainment in this packaged product. The first topic I wanted Wanderer to cover is the history of Aviation a topic I was already somewhat familiar with. Nonetheless I did have to research Aviation, but I also had to investigate standard playing card practices. Both being gigantically deep rabbit holes. Going with traditions of other popular playing card decks I wanted mine to feel ornate, but fun. The world of playing cards has some of the most beautiful, intricate designs I’ve ever seen. The level of detail in the packaging of the cards is unmatched in another medium or product. I found the company Theory 11 to be an enormous reference point.
Sketches
I decided all the plane illustrations will be in a simple black and white style with intricate line work. This would create a great sense of unity for the deck. Obviously, the tuck box that the cards go into should share similar design aspects. This means continuing the color scheme and layout of the cards but with a stylistically similar design. Also important to the tuck box is the incorporating of the Wanderer logo and branding into it. In my sketches I tried replicating some ornate patterns that I had saw other high ends deck use. I wanted to create some type of curly pattern that could be used as some type of clouds or vapor trails that could be coming out of the planes.
Back Interations
When trying to create the design for the back of the cards I decided giving it a black base would help give a mysterious feeling like the Wanderer logo. I enjoyed the way the white and black clash, it also matches the same color scheme the illustrations are in. In some iterations I used the name of the deck, Airborne, but in all the versions I used lots of ornate line work to cushion the elements in the middle. My intention was these ornate lines would look like some fuzzy clouds the planes are flying through or creating.
In most of the designs I did I used iconic aviation features that people would easily recognize. I included things like propellers and planes. I also decided that I would use the blue and red accent colors to complement the other black and white features on the cards. I decided it wouldn’t be bad to add some color to the backs of the cards because I also use the same red and blues on the face cards of the deck. One thing I noticed form other high-end decks are how they use lines and rectangles to frame the contents in the middle of the card.
In most of the designs I did I used iconic aviation features that people would easily recognize. I included things like propellers and planes. I also decided that I would use the blue and red accent colors to complement the other black and white features on the cards. I decided it wouldn’t be bad to add some color to the backs of the cards because I also use the same red and blues on the face cards of the deck. One thing I noticed form other high-end decks are how they use lines and rectangles to frame the contents in the middle of the card.
Final Designs
For the number cards I decided to use ribbons with the name of the plane to inform the viewer which card is which. It is also important that the cards are symmetrical, like other card decks are. I also used some vertical lines and overlapped the planes above them to create a sense of depth on the cards. The face cards also have the ribbons and feature similar white and black style illustration that match the planes, just added the reds and blues to make the face cards stand out more. The face cards certainty has a simplistic playing card feel meant to add a fun element to the deck.
Hearts
Clubs
Diamonds
Spades
Tuckbox Dieline
As all playing card decks have tuckboxes that are similar to their back card design, I wanted mine to follow suit (pun intended). I continued to utilize the red and blue line work from the backs of the cards. I think this color scheme screams “Flight”. Like the backs of the cards, I thought it would be necessary to include other aviation related iconography to aviation I continued to make use of the Spitfire, an iconic plane, that let’s be honest, just looks really dang cool. The front of the box also features a front profile of the Spitfire. I also made use of the variations of the Wanderer logo, keeping them in white as to contrast with the base of black.
I used the website MakePlayingCards.com to actually produce the deck, they were helpful in supplying the dieline for the tuckbox. I also added a high gloss effect to some parts of the box to give it a nice touch and feel aspect. The high gloss makes some parts shinier. The gloss gives off a slight high-end feeling.
I used the website MakePlayingCards.com to actually produce the deck, they were helpful in supplying the dieline for the tuckbox. I also added a high gloss effect to some parts of the box to give it a nice touch and feel aspect. The high gloss makes some parts shinier. The gloss gives off a slight high-end feeling.
Final Deck
The tuck box has similar style to the backs of the deck of cards with the implementation of the ornate line work. The “Airborne” banner found on the front has been turned into a re-occurring asset found throughout the entire project. It has ultimately achieved a logo style for the rest of the Airborne side of the project. On the sides of the box are Wanderer branding assets. The Bottom of the box has the Wanderer logo with the name of the person who designed the deck (Me, Dylan Zimmerman). I also created some other assets that I ended up associating with the Wanderer brand, the flower illustration. I also created some banners with the words “Wanderer” & “Playing Cards”. I continued the use of red and blue lines on the front of the box to create a sense of motion. The front also makes use of different views of an airplane, a top-down view and a straight on view.
Card Book
The card book is intended to be the main source of education in this package. It does the job of telling the reader what each card is and its importance. I want the book to standout from the deck but keep with the style that the other items establish. For the card book I printed all of the pages on 8.5 x 11 cardstock paper and trimmed the down to a 6x8in. I printed the cover on and used a perfect binding machine to assemble the card book. I used chipboard for the cover to give the book a heavier feel. The perfect bind also helps it feel more high-class. Seeing as this was the first book I’ve ever made by hand, there were a few noticeable flaws in the production of this book. The spine was a little bit too short resulting in the top cover not closing all the way; to remedy this I added a little latch feature with some Velcro materials. Not to mention I put in the pages upside down. Whoops.
The final book, despite its flaws turned out nice and certainty demonstrates the way the medium can be used to educate someone about the topic. The cover has all of the illustrations of the aircrafts throughout it. Each spread is dedicated to a card. The left page displays the card on a black background. The right page contains a bigger illustration of the subject and a detailed list of other stats about the planes. Also Included is a 200-word paragraph about the history and significance of the plane or aviator. The plane pages also list things like, top speed, cost per unit, date it was made & who designed the plane. The sections are arranged by card suits and each section has an intro spread with the illustrations laid out. In the end I had the books made by Lulu.com in a hardcover version and a paperback version. However, all the features from the book I made myself are present in the books I had printed by Lulu.com.
The final book, despite its flaws turned out nice and certainty demonstrates the way the medium can be used to educate someone about the topic. The cover has all of the illustrations of the aircrafts throughout it. Each spread is dedicated to a card. The left page displays the card on a black background. The right page contains a bigger illustration of the subject and a detailed list of other stats about the planes. Also Included is a 200-word paragraph about the history and significance of the plane or aviator. The plane pages also list things like, top speed, cost per unit, date it was made & who designed the plane. The sections are arranged by card suits and each section has an intro spread with the illustrations laid out. In the end I had the books made by Lulu.com in a hardcover version and a paperback version. However, all the features from the book I made myself are present in the books I had printed by Lulu.com.
Airborne Package Design
Research
The “Package” as I call it, is the piece of packaging that is designed to hold the three things this project includes. (Deck of cards, Card Book and Poster) Because this package needs to hold these three things it’s going to end up being a bit complicated. I looked at other multi faceted packages to find some inspiration and found some pretty interesting examples of packages that held different types of products in one package. I particularly liked the bottle in the middle of the book, really screams the wanderer brand. I ultimately wanted to create some novel piece that would have a timeless feeling.
Sketches
Important things to include in the design are the Wanderer branding because this is the first thing that will be seen by the person who purchases it. I want the shape of the whole package to resemble the style of the Airborne deck because it’s something that ideally would be kept on a shelf and be part of a collection. Ideally this would be the first installment in a line of products meant to resemble this one. I did a ton of sketching for this piece, made a plethora of small and to size mock ups of this piece.
Dielines
Because I wanted the packaging to resemble a book, I decided that the inside of the book would have cavities where each item was stored. To build the mockups I used lots of cardstock paper, had things printed at my college on a large format printer and spray glued them together to build them. Learning from each iteration, of which there were about 5, I figured out the best way to build these packages. To build the final one I used poster board for all of the interior pieces and the cover. I mounted graphics that I printed on a large format printer to one side of the poster board with spray glue. I used other red poster paper on the interior of the cover to add a little color and elegance to the package. Lots of spray glue cutting shapes out of the paper and creasing and folding pieces.
Final Packaging
The final design of this package ended up being very dark, but the uses of red in the liner paper, the white cover of the book and white poster certainty complimented it well. I used a red paper for the bottom part of the box to contrast the black top. The poster ended up being folded three times so it could adequately be placed inside the box. For the designs on the outside cover, I used similar line work that is found on the backs of the cards. It makes an extreme use of the ornate lines that were found there and fills the space well. Overall, the construction of the actual package had some defects that I tried my best to remedy. Some things didn’t fold the best and there were parts that things didn’t stay flush. If I had to do it again, I would’ve used a heavier paper stock, would be nice to have the graphics printed on a thin cardboard stock. Also, would have liked for the things I glued down to stay glued down.
Airborne Timeline
Research & Sketches
This site will chronicle the illustrations made for the Wanderer Aviation deck of playing cards. Wanderer being a company that specializes in making interesting playing cards as well as informational pieces to go with them. The project will be an interactive website that is mobile friendly. It will include information for all of the 52 different illustrations found in the deck. The illustrations will be organized on a timeline that is intended to inform the audience about the planes and encourage the user to buy one of the decks or packages with other info about the illustrations found on the website. The end goal for the user is to purchase one of the decks of cards. However, the site will act as a data index. The interactive timeline will house all of the illustrations and when one peaks the users interest the user can click on it to find out more information about the illustration. This will act as a component to the main Wanderer website. In doing some research I found other sites that work as databases and showcase the info in an engaging format.
Airborne Timeline
After an immense amount of hard work, I finished coding this interactive timeline site. You simply navigate the main page and when an illustration piques your interest you click on it and when you’ve read enough you can click out of the page to bring you back home to view another topic. There is no conceivable way you could get lost on this site. The overall page layouts have a very modular feeling and info is given lots of space to stand on its own. The info isn’t crowded by other elements of the page. There is a nice balance achieved throughout the site. The info for each plane and aviator is laid out in a way that is very similar to the card books.
Airborne Augmented Reality
Research
I knew from the beginning of this project I wanted to create an interactive AR component to act as a companion experience to the deck of cards. This component is intended to do a similar thing as the card book and timeline site. Not knowing anything of the limitations of AR I had to do lots of researching as to what the best route would be for this experiment. Lots of the research I came across had 3D models appear once something was scanned. Most of the examples had an educational tie to them and were used to deliver information. One piece I was very impressed with was the “19 Crimes” wine, when the label is scanned with a phone, the person on the front of the label comes to life and talks to you. I don’t even like wine, but I knew I had to have a bottle of this!
Final Overlays
In the end I decided to use black and white photos in the overlays, the real photos contrast well with the style of illustration used in the cards. I think people would enjoy seeing what the planes and aviators actually look like. I used a red banner with the name of the card at the top, so it sticks out against the black and white photo. For the face cards I included their birth, death and nickname or what their know for on the overlay. To accompany that info is a shorter version of the bio included in the book. As for the number cards I included the same stats from the book onto the overlay. This level of info helps balance the view of the overlays.
NORTH AMERICAN ANIMALS
Playing Cards
North American Animals is the second playing card deck made under the Wanderer umbrella; it features a collection of illustrations of animals from the continent of (you guessed it!) North America. Each card has an illustration of an animal on it that is as unique as the vast continent it inhabits. From critters of the southwest to the majestically furry mammals of the north, this deck celebrates all the fantastic animals in between. Each suit showcases a particular region of the continent, for example the hearts have illustrations of animals from the heartlands of the U.S. From Musk ox to Cottontail Rabbit, this deck has got em’ all!
Back Interations
Back Interations
When I started this project, I first set out to do all the illustrations first, considering the overall look of the deck second. After doing the illustrations I did most of the research for the content found in the card book. Lastly, I did the designs for the actual card deck. Seeing as I did this in a backwards fashion, I had done lots of research into the topic of the deck. For this deck I decided to choose a primary color, that being a cool green / turquoise. I also figured that since this deck had a lot to do with the continent of North America. It would be ideal to include some reference to it on the back of the card. In all the iterations I used an illustration of a bald eagle, a very iconic animal obviously. I also maintained some levels of conformity with other playing card decks by using borders and patterns to encase the main parts of the cards.
Final Designs
I used a very geometric style to create all the illustrations of the animals, I found this style was easy and fun to use. I also like the contrast in the creation of organic life forms with very rigid shapes, something a little witty there, I’m sure. Each card is also symmetrical, they also show a little bit of the animal’s habitat. Unlike the previous deck, this one doesn’t have the name of each animal on the card, I felt like this might create too busy of a design. The current design has lots of room for variety. As mentioned earlier each suit more or less defines a region of the continent.
Hearts
Clubs
Diamonds
Spades
Tuckbox Dieline
I learned a few lessons from doing the previous deck, a big one being to make the tuckbox for the deck more specific to the theme of the deck. Like the previous deck however, I made the back side of the box the back of the actual playing cards. For this deck I decided to keep the color scheme to a minimum, using only the shades and hues of the turquoise color used on the back design.
For the front panel I used the same theme from the back but made it unsymmetrical and added the name of the deck to the front. I used a similar ornate border that the back of the deck features. The design puts a huge emphasis on the North America aspect of the theme. Like the previous deck, I used MakePlayingCards.com to physically produce the deck. Shied away from the high gloss this time around, deciding to keep it flat and simple.
For the front panel I used the same theme from the back but made it unsymmetrical and added the name of the deck to the front. I used a similar ornate border that the back of the deck features. The design puts a huge emphasis on the North America aspect of the theme. Like the previous deck, I used MakePlayingCards.com to physically produce the deck. Shied away from the high gloss this time around, deciding to keep it flat and simple.
Final Deck
The final product turned out great, the contrast in colors turned out to be very eye-popping. The stock of the actual cards is a very light and has a nice texture coming through the turquoise color. All the animal illustrations retained their vibrant colors which I was very pleased with. All the small details found throughout the design of the of both the deck and cards retained their crispness.
Card Book
The card book covers all the animals found on each card, each animal more interesting than the last! For each animal I dove deep into its looks, diet, size, habits & habitats. Also documenting the size of each animal and if there is a difference in the size depending on the gender. For some animals we go into the long reaching cultural history they’ve obtained. Like the Coyote’s importance as the joker in Native American culture. Ever wonder the natural enemy of the prairie dog? What great horned owls eat? Where the Arizona bark scorpion resides? Wait, that’s an easy one. And to round off each animal bio are some fun facts that you can occasionally share with your friends to sound smart! Who wouldn’t want that! Facts like:
The cry of the red-tailed hawk is a two to three second hoarse, rasping scream, variously transcribed as:
“kree-eee-ar, tsee-eeee-arrr or sheeeeee”,
I’m sure your friends will love when you recite this bird call for them. Each animal has their own dedicated spread in the book. The cover of the book has a take on the typeface used on the deck design, using the texture of each illustration to make up the words. I had a blast using some fake foliage to take the photos of this book. I did a good amount of photo editing to create the shady, hidden spotlight look.
The cry of the red-tailed hawk is a two to three second hoarse, rasping scream, variously transcribed as:
“kree-eee-ar, tsee-eeee-arrr or sheeeeee”,
I’m sure your friends will love when you recite this bird call for them. Each animal has their own dedicated spread in the book. The cover of the book has a take on the typeface used on the deck design, using the texture of each illustration to make up the words. I had a blast using some fake foliage to take the photos of this book. I did a good amount of photo editing to create the shady, hidden spotlight look.
North American Animlas Index
North American Animals is also on the world wide web! As with every Wanderer project, I try to create an interactive component to round out each deck. All the info found in this book can be found on the Wanderer site. The Index as I call it acts like an encyclopedia, categorizing each animal. The website features all the design aspects found in the card book. The website also has some features I worked to include like a magnifying glass for the illustrations. You can zoom into each illustration and really appreciate all the intricate work that went into them. The Index works well on all sorts of devices, from mobile to tablets to regular monitors. I wanted to make sure this info was accessible from any type of device.
WANDERER WEBSITE
Every company needs a digital home these days, Wanderer is no different. The Wanderer website is where customers can go to look at and purchase new decks of playing cards. Owners of the decks can go to the site and look at all the interactive companion sites for each deck. The site is the home to the digital experiences associated with each deck, the Airborne Timeline, and the North American Animals Index.
The overall design of the site can be categorized as dark and mysterious. It has a very simple layout, is easy to navigate and conveys a baseline level of info. The site maintains the black and white style of the Wanderer brand. It also uses many of the various illustrations used on the actual decks, like the roses and banners. The site functions well on all types of devices and is built with mobile in the front of the mind.
The overall design of the site can be categorized as dark and mysterious. It has a very simple layout, is easy to navigate and conveys a baseline level of info. The site maintains the black and white style of the Wanderer brand. It also uses many of the various illustrations used on the actual decks, like the roses and banners. The site functions well on all types of devices and is built with mobile in the front of the mind.
