As a senior thesis in Graphic Design at the University of Cincinnati I decided to tackle a regionally popular card game—Euchre. I learned the game in high school and would play it frequently over lunch. Teaching friends from out of town in college became extrembly difficult since no one bothered to teach them due to the high learning curve. I decided to rectify that.
I rebranded the game and took it back to its roots from Germany. In the tradition of Phase 10 (Liverpool Rummy) and Uno (Crazy Eights), I aimed to make a specific deck tailored for the rules. I removed obstacles such as the colored hierarchy that normal cards confused (the Jacks can switch suits depending on trump).
I returned the suits back to the Germanic roots of Acorns (Spades), Hearts (Hearts), Leaves (Clubs), and Bells (Diamonds) and created new illustrations for each of the cards. The goal was to tie them in to the history of Euchre and card playing by including the available bacstory of each card in the corners. Another key was the most important information was to be found in the top 25% so players could keep the cards hidden from other players.
The Booker cards in each suit: Hearts, Bells, Leaves, and Acorns, along with the backs, scoring, and 'turn card.'
I designed the rules onto extra cards so the playing cards and rules would never be separated. Key step by step rules helped instruct new players.
