Love is a Smoke - Playing Cards by PassioneTeam (KS)

[Rob Wright]

Love is a Smoke (KS)

Read more about this deck from our friend Sparkz- Anthony Ingrassia on Kardify.com's 7 Questions with Riccardo Conturbia of Passione Playing Cards

[Rob Wright]

Passione - Italian Design Playing Cards

12 hrs  ·

from #LoveIsASmoke, please follow our page receive other news, and do not forget our Kickstarter campaign in November!

[PurpleIce]

Is this deck "Smoke in your Eyes" or "Love is a Smoke"?

Firstly, the pips on the Spade Courts are missing. The QoS looks weird with her back facing, and we just see a patch of hair. Probably could turn her head a little more so at least we see more of the side of her face. The KoS looks like a weird ball with 2 heads.

The borders looks a little too large for my liking. The indices are ok, but i was wondering if he could try something subtly less rigid. I like what he did to the number cards and the aces, but likewise, if he could do something like a fade rather than something so sharply cut out might suit the theme better. I haven't tried i won't know, but just a suggestion.

The focus is on the AoH instead of the AoS, but i like it that way. Suits his theme and the company name. It could be a signature for all their decks to put the focus on the AoH.

This deck needs some tweaking, but I like this deck. I really do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3l001-zSA4

[Don Boyer]

I don't get into decks with a tight smoking connection, especially ones that glorify the habit.  I've lost too many people to smoking-related cancers, delivered a eulogy in one instance (which for me is one eulogy too many for someone that was so young still) and see no good reason to promote a deadly product more than it already has been.  It's not promoting a specific brand, but it is promoting smoking as a lifestyle - I can't get behind that.

[Rose]

I don't get into decks with a tight smoking connection, especially ones that glorify the habit. It's not promoting a specific brand, but it is promoting smoking as a lifestyle - I can't get behind that.

I feel the same way, I do love the design, the court cards especially but having a deck around that says smoking is great seems so wrong to me. It is a waste of a great design to me.
 

Firstly, the pips on the Spade Courts are missing.

If Purplelace did not point this out I wonder if I would have noticed...

[PurpleIce]

I don't get into decks with a tight smoking connection, especially ones that glorify the habit. It's not promoting a specific brand, but it is promoting smoking as a lifestyle - I can't get behind that.

I feel the same way, I do love the design, the court cards especially but having a deck around that says smoking is great seems so wrong to me. It is a waste of a great design to me.
 

Firstly, the pips on the Spade Courts are missing.

If Purplelace did not point this out I wonder if I would have noticed...

That's a good thing about posting your works on forums. People notice all kinds of things, even some weird ones....

I am not a smoker, neither am i encouraging smoking. I am just commenting based on the design, the connection between the theme and the design and the overall "story" if any. While it may not be the healthiest theme or concept for a deck, I do like this deck because of what the overall concept and design that has been brought across.

[Rose]

I think "smoking" is a cultural thing where in Europe it is not such a big bad thing as it is in the US and Australia.

[Fess]

I really like how this deck looks, I don't care about the theme one way or the other. It looks good. If this was some cigarette company making this deck, maybe I would be bothered. Since it's not, I see no point in it. To each their own.

I'll definitely be backing this when the KS launches. Provided of course, the indices are right.

[Will W.]

The subject matter doesnt bother me at all... I have many vintage tobacco company decks and even more alcohol related decks.  I personally love the look of these and cant wait to add them to my collection.  Job well done!

[Collector]

I think "smoking" is a cultural thing where in Europe it is not such a big bad thing as it is in the US and Australia.

People equally die due to this "cultural thing" in Europe, in Australia, in the US, in any other country. As a rule, its popularity doesn't have nothing common with "culture". Some countries just have stronger tobacco lobby and, as the result, weaker laws.

About playing cards. Job isn't well done as there is no unity in the design. For example, the Queen of Clubs has well-thought (almost) really symmetrical design (not just a symmetrical reflection of the same picture with some separator between two parts). The queen of Hearts doesn't have (almost has). The Jack of Clubs doesn't have at all. The Jack of Hearts conditionally has. Does the King of Hearts have a skateboard in his other hand? It could be a cool deck regardless its theme. But its designer decided do not overwork. Procceding from other comments, he was right in this question

Good luck with the project. I guess such deck has its right to exist. Just a deck dedicated to smoking.

[Will W.]

I think "smoking" is a cultural thing where in Europe it is not such a big bad thing as it is in the US and Australia.

People equally die due to this "cultural thing" in Europe, in Australia, in the US, in any other country. As a rule, its popularity doesn't have nothing common with "culture". Some countries just have stronger tobacco lobby and, as the result, weaker laws.

About playing cards. Job isn't well done as there is no unity in the design. For example, the Queen of Clubs has well-thought (almost) really symmetrical design (not just a symmetrical reflection of the same picture with some separator between two parts). The queen of Hearts doesn't have (almost has). The Jack of Clubs doesn't have at all. The Jack of Hearts conditionally has. Does the King of Hearts have a skateboard in his other hand? It could be a cool deck regardless its theme. But its designer decided do not overwork. Procceding from other comments, he was right in this question

Good luck with the project. I guess such deck has its right to exist. Just a deck dedicated to smoking.

I will respectfully disagree.  Minus a few minor flaws I find this deck to be very well done and visually pleasing. 
I also have to shake my head at the hypocrisy in this country.  Cigarettes are bad while marijuana is ok.  Freedom for everyone but wait you cant do that because its bad for your health so were gonna tax the crap out of you for it... "Sin tax"   Smh. 

[Don Boyer]

I also have to shake my head at the hypocrisy in this country.  Cigarettes are bad while marijuana is ok.  Freedom for everyone but wait you cant do that because its bad for your health so were gonna tax the crap out of you for it... "Sin tax"   Smh. 

There's a difference.

• You would never dream of eating most commercially-available tobacco or inhaling it as a vapor, it's so toxic.  Marijuana can be ingested and inhaled as a vapor.  In fact, New York is working out some marijuana laws allowing for medicinal use - in those laws, smoking it is illegal.  It can be ingested or vaporized.
• The "flavor-enhancing" deadly chemicals added to most commercially-made tobacco aren't found in medicinal marijuana.
• Marijuana is enjoyed by only a small segment of the population compared to cigarettes.  In 2012, over 42 million people were regular tobacco users while only 7.6 million were regular marijuana users - 1 marijuana user for every 5.5 tobacco users.
• Cancers created by tobacco and other tobacco-related illnesses have claimed far more lives.  In the US alone, 480,000 deaths per year are caused by tobacco - 41,000 of which are from second-hand smoke.  To put that into perspective, 468,743 people died in car accidents - over a TWELVE-YEAR PERIOD, from 2001 through 2012 inclusive.  In 2012 alone, 33,561 people died in traffic accidents - that means you're 22% more likely to die from second-hand smoke than you are from a car crash, at least in that year.
• Due to tobacco use, America spends about $133,000,000,000 per year on direct medical care for adults and about $156,000,000,000 in lost productivity.  (Yup, those are BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.)  That "sin tax" you complained about likely doesn't cover even a fraction of these amounts.

Am I trying to say marijuana is healthy?  No.  But remember, when something is "bad for your health", it's also bad on a lot of other levels.  My mother had two husbands, both smokers - she never smoked, but now she has emphysema.  Those two husbands?  Both dead from tobacco-related cancers.  My father had cancer once, nearly lost his life, but continued to smoke - it was like watching suicide in slow motion.  In a country where the average life span is just under 79 years, he died by a preventable disease a dozen years younger than that average.  My step-father was even younger still when he died, by about a decade - he never made it to retirement.

Every person who uses tobacco creates a burden on the society he or she lives in.  Tobacco-related deaths and ailments cost us in money, productivity, and rob the people around them of their presence in their lives.  All this for a 100% preventable cause of death.

[Fess]

Love is a Smoke by Passione will launch on Feb 28th, on kickstarter.

[Magasaki]

This project has gone through many changes since it's initial announcement. As mentioned above it's now called 'Love is a Smoke' and launches on Feb 28th. It has been really interesting to see the mixed reaction to this deck and the theme. I am surprised that there has been such a reaction to the smoking connections, and as people have commented above, I suspect this is due to a more lax attitude towards smoking over this side of the pond. It is defiantly less acceptable in the UK than in other parts of Europe, but not so much that it would put me off buying a deck.

Anyway, I caught up with Riccardo Conturbia from Passione who has been happy to share some insights to how his team works. It looks as though we'll be seeing more of these guys in the very near future.

http://www.magasaki.com/#!Friends-Teamwork-and-Passione-with-Riccardo-Conturbia/c16ty/2F1B11D3-1D11-41AC-A2D8-AEC29AD972A4

[Don Boyer]

This project has gone through many changes since it's initial announcement. As mentioned above it's now called 'Love is a Smoke' and launches on Feb 28th. It has been really interesting to see the mixed reaction to this deck and the theme. I am surprised that there has been such a reaction to the smoking connections, and as people have commented above, I suspect this is due to a more lax attitude towards smoking over this side of the pond. It is defiantly less acceptable in the UK than in other parts of Europe, but not so much that it would put me off buying a deck.

Anyway, I caught up with Riccardo Conturbia from Passione who has been happy to share some insights to how his team works. It looks as though we'll be seeing more of these guys in the very near future.

http://www.magasaki.com/#!Friends-Teamwork-and-Passione-with-Riccardo-Conturbia/c16ty/2F1B11D3-1D11-41AC-A2D8-AEC29AD972A4

Smoking is a hot-button topic for me.  I've lost a father, stepfather, grandfather, a few uncles, an aunt - all through smoking.  It is the number one preventable cause of death in the United States.  The societal costs are also stacking up - revenue from tobacco taxes doesn't come close to keeping up with the cost of health care and lost wages resulting from smoking.

Europe's been worried about a decrease in the birth rate, to the point where deaths surpass births.  If they had harsher smoking laws, that alone would probably make a sizable dent in the problem.

[Magasaki]

The UK is quite tough on smoking compared to the continent. I was in France recently though and pretty much everyone there seemed to be at it

[Fess]

Now LIVE

Love is a Smoke - Playing Cards
by PassioneTeam

[Don Boyer]

Psst...  Hey, Fes...

...the first link is broken...

[Fess]

Psst...  Hey, Fes...

...the first link is broken...

Haha, good eye Don. The fix is in. 

[Collector]

The design of this deck has gotten nice improvements. But I still don't understand Jokers.