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The Deck One of my favorite types of playing card decks is the Transformation Deck, in which the pips (suit-signs) on each card are cleverly worked into a picture. Of all the types of decks, this is the one which provides the greatest challenge to the artist, and the greatest opportunity for cleverness. It has been my good fortune over the past few weeks to get a peek at a new transformation deck during its design stage. British artist Peter Wood, well known for his Teddy Bear Transformation pack, his semi-transformation Pack of Pearls, and, more recently, his Hidden Mickey pack, has once again applied his talents to the creation of a transformation deck, 2000 Pips. Not content with the considerable challenge of creating a simple (!) transformation deck, Mr. Wood has further complicated his job by inserting a total of 2,000 pips (suit-signs) into the deck! With its bright, full-color illustrations, and sly references to his earlier works, this deck is definitely a winner. | |||||||
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Where to Find the Deck The deck can be ordered directly from Peter Wood:
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The Cards on DisplayNote: the deck is not available as of this writing (it will be available in August of 1999), so all images here are from scans provided by Mr. Wood and his publisher. This is why the images are square-cornered, though the deck itself is round-cornered.  At first glance, this handful of nuts, berries and twigs seems to be randomly placed. It is only after looking at the image for a moment that the two hearts appear - then you wonder how you missed them at first! The Three of Clubs  In contrast, this card's formal, "posed" look gives it the feeling of an illuminated illustration you might find along the margin of a medieval manuscript. The Jack of Diamonds  As with all the court cards in the deck, the face of this jack is shaped as the appropriate suit-sign. The Eight of Spades  Creating a transformation card in which the pip-shaped objects are at different distances from the "viewer" is tough. Mr. Wood pulls it off nicely in this barnyard scene, where objects are at five different distances! The Joker  It's raining pips in this, one of two different jokers in the deck. The Card Back  Peter tells me that the published version will be blue on a white background. | |||||||
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Peter Wood Resources on the Web
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