Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards overview.

MIDWAY GARDENS ARTWORK:

Midway Gardens
Playing Cards

THE ASK:
Create a deck of playing cards that pays homage to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Midway Gardens.

BACKGROUND:
Midway Gardens was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most ambitious projects. Built in Chicago in the early 1910s, the space featured custom-designed Sprite statues, intricate stained glass windows, textile block patterns, and experimental graphic layouts, many of which were lost when the structure was demolished. Despite its short lifespan, Midway Gardens remains a powerful example of Wright’s holistic approach to design.

SUMMARY:
This deck is my interpretation of the visual language found throughout Midway Gardens. I pulled directly from Wright’s stained glass windows, architectural geometry, Sprite sculptures, textile blocks, and typography, constructing and piecing together each element to work within a playing card format. Every part of the deck was designed to feel connected and intentional, resulting in a cohesive system that reflects Wright’s original work through a modern lens.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Creative Direction — Dan Buck
Product Photography — Art of Play

01. BACK DESIGN

The back design draws directly from Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic stained glass windows at Midway Gardens. The biggest challenge was translating his original artwork to fit a playing card format, adjusting the proportions and simplifying the details so it worked at a much smaller scale. After exploring several color directions, we landed on a warm yellow-brown palette that echoes the yellow brick Wright used throughout the space.

ORIGINAL STAINED GLASS:

COLOR INSPIRATION:

COLOR EXPLORATION:

DRAFT 01:

DRAFT 02:

Midway Gardens Playing Cards back design draft two.

Midway Gardens Playing Cards back design draft one.

FINAL BACK DESIGN:

02. PIPS & Indices

The pips are built from the same geometric language used in the back design. Each pip is constructed using simple, modular shapes inspired by the forms Wright used throughout his stained glass work and architecture. The typeface for the card numbers and letters is based on the custom house numbering Wright designed for his own homes. I also created an additional graphic element for the card faces, referencing the textile block patterns he used throughout the space.

CUSTOM PIP DESIGN:

Midway Gardens Playing Cards large pips.

SIMPLIFIED PIPS:

Midway Gardens Playing Cards small pips.

PIP EXPLORATION:

GARDENS TEXTILE BLOCK:

HOUSE NUMBER:

TEXTILE BLOCK GRAPHIC:

Midway Gardens Playing Cards textile graphic.

FINAL NINE/SPADES:

FINAL SIX/DIAMONDS:

Midway Gardens Playing Cards nine of spades.

FINAL SEVEN/CLUBS:

FINAL THREE/HEARTS:

Midway Gardens Playing Cards three of hearts.

Midway Gardens Playing Cards seven of clubs.

03. COURT CARDS

The court cards feature the iconic Sprite statues Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Midway Gardens. Using archival photographs alongside early concept drawings of the sprites, I recreated each figure as a simplified, stylized 2D illustration. The goal was to preserve their character and form while reducing them to a clean, minimal language that fits naturally within the deck.

ORIGINAL SPRITE STATUE:

ORIGINAL CONCEPT ART:

RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS:

RECONSTRUCTED SPRITE STATUES:

FINAL JS:

FINAL QD:

FINAL KC:

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards King of Clubs.

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards Queen of Diamonds.

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards Jack of Spades.

FINAL JACK OF HEARTS:

04. ACE & extra Cards

The Ace of Spades once again pulls from the stained glass window back design. The large central spade is constructed using a key geometric motif from the back, helping tie the entire deck together. I also rebuilt the Midway Gardens wordmark for the Jokers, and designed an informational card that pulls from Frank Lloyd Wright’s typographic layouts and graphic style.

ACE OF SPADES EXPLORATION:

SPADE CONSTRUCTION:

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards Ace of Spades construction.

FINAL SPADE GRAPHIC:

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards spade graphic.

FINAL ACE OF SPADES:

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards Ace of Spades.

ORIGINAL WORDMARK (SCAN):

RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS:

RECONSTRUCTED WORDMARK:

JOKER DRAFT 01:

JOKER DRAFT 02:

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards joker draft two.

Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens Playing Cards joker draft one.

FINAL JOKER DESIGN:

TYPE REFERENCE:

INFO CARD DESIGN:

05. ASSEMBLY/PREPRESS

The final step was assembling and integrating all of the individual design elements while preparing the deck for print. Each card was placed into final dielines, carefully checked, and prepped for production before being sent to print.

SPADES DIELINE: