Edo Karuta Playing Cards is our fifth playing card offering on
Kickstarter. After previous four playing card projects (modestly
successful due to the support of our backers) that were entirely focus
on the theme of change and transformation, we decided to explore
something different - street graffiti. We have always been interested in
street culture, which Flagrant Agenda started off with, particularly
graffiti and how it can be use as an medium to make a point. After at
least two unsuccessful attempts to come up with a concept and design
that we are pleased with, we stumbled upon MILTZ.
The aesthetic
mainstay of Edo Karuta is the ubiquitous Edomoji, Japanese typographic
and lettering styles that were invented and vastly popular during the
Edo period. They are primarily used for advertising and branding in the
various trades that sprung up during the prosperous epoch before the
advent of modern Japan. You can still see many traditional Japanese
brands using Edomoji in their marketing efforts. Walk by any Japanese
restaurants and you will bound to see banners with Edomoji written on
them. In Edo Karuta, these typographical elements are superimposed onto
each other to make up interesting and visually arresting motifs, the
signature style of MILTZ that we saw in his Shibuya Bluffiti project.
You can see these representations most clearly in our card backs.
EDO KARUTA features: