This review is part of a three part series of pictorial reviews featuring Stockholm17 (aka designer Lorenzo Gaggiotti), and his decks of playing cards:
Stockholm17 - 1. Introduction + The Requiem & Heretic decks
Stockholm17 - 2. The No. 17 & Le Chat Rouge decks
Stockholm17 - 3. The Ravn & Gemini decks + Conclusion




INTRODUCING STOCKHOLM17

"Stockholm17" is the online handle and home of Lorenzo Gaggiotti, creator of several popular decks of playing cards. With Italian roots, and a passion for drawing that began in childhood, Lorenzo now lives in Stockholm, Sweden, where today he is a product designer and illustrator. But it was his discovery of custom decks of playing cards that proved to be the ideal platform for him to explore his love for creative design. Typically he gets inspired by a theme or idea, and does a lot of thinking and sketching with this in mind before starting a digital version of the final design. So far he's produced several decks in a number of variations: Requiem, Heretic, No.17, No.17 Le Chat Rouge, Ravn, and most recently, Gemini. In this review, I will continue my overview of Lorenzo's beautiful playing cards. Be prepared for some elegance, class, and art!



RAVN PLAYING CARDS

Ravn Playing Cards was a semi-custom deck designed for a magician, Caroline Ravn.



The stated aim was to create an elegant and classic looking deck, with improved court cards but with standard pips, making it ideal for card magic, cardistry, and poker games.



Given that it was created for a magician, it's no surprise that this deck includes a couple of gaff cards that those who dabble in card magic will appreciate: a double queen, a double backer, plus the Joker card has a nice reveal for the two of clubs.



This deck was produced in a green version and in a red version.



It was intended to look like an ordinary looking deck for most of the face cards, which was necessary to avoid distraction for using it to perform magic, while at the same time remaining classy and stylish.



GEMINI PLAYING CARDS

The Gemini deck is Lorenzo's current project, and maybe even his best yet.



As an indication of how much support he enjoys, this was almost 400% over-funded on Kickstarter! It is currently nearing the completion of production, and is scheduled to become available in the next couple of months.



Interesting elements of this deck include the Aces depicted as axes, and the court cards interacting with their pips.



The name of this deck is based on the court cards (JQK), which look symmetrical at first glance, but have small differences that can be spotted when you examine the top and bottom halves of the cards more closely, like the Queen of Spades shown here. Hence the name Gemini, which is the Latin word for "twin"!



The rest of the deck conveys a classic, medieval feeling, as you can see from this uncut sheet.



Here's another example of court cards showing detail of the imaginative interaction of the court personalities with their pips.



I just love the medieval style and look of this deck, and it has to be among the best Lorenzo has made so far!



EXTRAS

Lorenzo has some fascinating ideas about Kickstarter, and a unique approach. As part of that he gives extra gifts to his backers, like buttons, stickers, magnets, bottle openers, coasters and more.



He also has many cool and unusual ideas for add-ons beyond the usual uncut sheets - a recent project even included uncut tuck-box sheets!

CONCLUSIONS

I have been excited to write this review about the Stockholm17 range of playing cards, and in the process I have been blown away by Lorenzo's creativity and the thought he puts into his design.

It is poetic: It is genuinely artistic and poetic, and this is especially true of his Requiem deck. I just love the poetic emotion Lorenzo has poured into these cards, making it a deck full of meaning and significance, which he created to express emotions just like other artists would write poems or songs! Bravo!

It is polished: The poetic qualities of his work would be sufficient to make them a real work of art. But artistic genius alone won't make something successful - it needs to be published, produced, and brought to the public. And Lorenzo indeed has the creative skills and connections to back up his artistic creativity with a polished product, and make it become a reality.

It is perfected: It's clear that Lorenzo has a passion for perfectionism and polish, and is really committed to making something the very best that it can be. This is also evidenced by the evolution of the No 17 decks, which have continued to change shape as he came up with new ideas, in an effort to make a good thing even better.

It is passionate: Lorenzo clearly has a real gift with and passion for creative design, which is evident also from the way he has set up his website, and the composition of his photos. His attention to detail is remarkable, and he approaches his craft with the zeal and enthusiasm needed to produce decks of this kind of calibre.

It is stylish: Lorenzo has produced some stunning work, which reflects a unique inimitable style that is very much his own. They stand out from a lot of other custom decks of playing cards, precisely because of these stylish aspects.

With much experience gained after multiple successful projects, an established fan-base, a unique style, and a creator of quality and creative decks, Lorenzo is definitely an artist to keep an eye on. While all his decks of playing cards are excellent, each has its own feel, and I look forward to see what Stockholm17 comes up with next! Bravo Lorenzo Gaggiotti, and grazie!



To see more, head to: stockholm17.com

Ravn deck: https://www.stockholm17.com/ravn
Gemini deck: https://www.stockholm17.com/gemini

Online shop: https://www.stockholm17.com/shop
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stockholm17
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/stockholm17
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stockholm_17

I had someone contact me asking where they can purchase the Stockholm17 decks and how much they cost, since that info wasn't included in my review.

Decks like these typically cost around $15. Not all of the decks reviewed above are readily available right now, but RarePlayingCards has some of the Stockholm17 playing cards in stock for around that price range, e.g. click here for: Ravn Playing Cards and No. 17 Playing Cards.