Whitenoise launches bespoke anniversary playing card deck

Gamifying 25 years of Whitenoise and pop-culture

A legacy of "just because we wanted to" creativity

For 25 years, Whitenoise has marked our major milestones with unique, self-funded creative projects that push boundaries and showcase our team’s talent. From self-published design books to experimental exhibitions, we use these moments as an opportunity to explore new ideas and celebrate our place in the creative industry.

To mark our quarter-century anniversary, we created a custom deck of playing cards, with each card featuring an original illustration depicting a pivotal moment in global pop culture between 2000 and 2025. Yes, it's a deck of cards, but this project also symbolises our passion for storytelling, design, and play: it reflects the creative freedom that has defined Whitenoise for 25 years.

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Delivering design joy: gifting to our clients and friends

At Whitenoise, our clients are at the heart of everything we do. To share our anniversary celebration with them, we hand-delivered these bespoke playing cards in January 2025. More than just a token of appreciation, this deck represents our creative spirit, our commitment to innovation, and the partnerships we’ve built over the years. It’s our way of saying thank you and inviting clients to engage with our work in a fun, interactive way.

While the deck functions as a standard set of playing cards, it offers two additional ways to play. Each card features a unique illustration depicting an iconic pop-culture event and players can guess the event or, alternatively, challenge themselves with a “higher or lower” game, predicting if the next card’s year is before or after the one in play. Whether used for classic games or a trivia challenge, these cards are a fun addition to any player's collection.

Bringing the cards to life: hand-drawn illustrations

Designing our bespoke deck of playing cards was a unique challenge which blended creativity, nostalgia, and playfulness in a single project. Our goal was to represent 52 significant moments from the past 25 years (plus two jokers), capturing key events in global pop culture, politics, entertainment, and technology. The selection process was collaborative, with our team brainstorming events that resonated on a global (and local) scale, from the launch of the iPod to the rise of Donald Trump, the evolution of "frostbit boy" to the phenomenon of Barbenheimer.

Once our list was agreed, we approached each illustration with the freedom to experiment. Every card face has distinct in style, reflecting the diversity of the events themselves. Some are more abstract, bold and graphic, while others are more nuanced, intricate and detailed. The Ace of Hearts, fittingly, represents the emergence of Whitenoise in 2000, depicting founding directors Mark Case and Mark Mulholland.

This deck is more than just a game — it’s a tactile, visual archive of the world’s defining moments since Whitenoise was founded, and a celebration of our part in two and a half decades of creativity and culture.

Crafting the deck: print production and assembly

Turning our vision into a physical product required meticulous attention to detail at every stage of production. Once our 52 unique illustrations were finalised, we carefully set up the artwork for print, ensuring precise alignment, consistent colors, and crisp detailing across every card. With each design varying in style, maintaining quality and cohesion across the deck's print quality was essential.

To achieve the perfect playing card feel, we partnered with specialist card printing companies, working closely with them to match the classic lamination texture we all know and love. The result? A deck that shuffles, deals, and handles just like any professional-grade pack. But we didn’t stop there - every great deck deserves a great home. We collaborated with a bespoke box-making company to design a high-quality, printed, and branded tuck box that complements the cards inside.

Finally, the assembly process involved packing each deck into its box, preparing them for hand-delivery to our valued clients or postal shipments for those further afield. Every detail - from print to packaging - was considered, ensuring that when our clients received their deck, they were holding a true celebration of Whitenoise’s 25-year journey in creativity.

"In-house brand projects like this are always enjoyable but come with their challenges. Typically, our biggest hurdle is gathering artwork submissions from each team member while balancing internal deadlines and client priorities. This was made easier with everyone's hard work, enthusiasm and coordination.

We did encounter some setbacks in production with our initial supplier letting us down at the last minute, forcing us to find an alternative solution elsewhere. Unfortunately, the string of bad luck continued and our new supplier repeatedly sent the wrong boxes or delivered damaged ones, which added to the complexity. That's the beauty and the burden of doing something we've never done before - plenty of curveballs!

Despite these challenges, the team pulled together brilliantly to bring the final deck and packaging to life. I’m proud of the finished product and excited to hear what our clients and friends think."

- Corey Watson, Head of Brand

"What a way to mark 25 years - and with the undeniable cool and incomprable creativity Whitenoise is known for."

"Hilarious and brilliant."

"So impressive – from the concept to the execution, it screams that special 'Whitenoise flair."

"Absolutely class."

"Another beautiful gift from Whitenoise."

"Fights have already broken out over ownership of the packs in the office."

Would you like your own pack of Whitenoise’s exclusive 25th-anniversary playing cards? We’ve made a limited number available on request. If you’d like to get your hands on a deck, or explore a custom-designed deck for your own brand, get in touch!

Contact us via our website or reach out directly to Director Laura Smyth to request a pack.