Using Adobe Illustrator and/or Photoshop, create original "face" cards (king, queen and jack).
Then create an Ace and 3, 5, 9 numbered cards.
Specifications:
Size: 5.5 x 7.75
Orientation: vertical
Color space: CMYK
Procedure
Brainstorm. Create thumbnails of possible solutions using pencil & paper. Pay attention to face card conventions (vertical orientation, mirror image top & bottom, placement of letter & suit, etc). You may use reference material or work completely from your imagination. Whichever you choose, remember that originality will be an important consideration when I grade these. What you choose to draw for your king, queen, or jack is pretty wide-open, as long as it has a face. It could be a person, animal, alien, robot, or something in-between. It could be realistic, highly stylized, graphic, etc. Get my approval on one of your ideas.
Attention
Remember that the card must look the same when held upside-down. How are you going to merge the upper half with the lower half? Look at actual playing cards to see how they do it.
Guidelines
Open Illustrator and create a new (standard 8.5 x 11) document. In the middle of the page create a rounded rectangle (no fill, black stroke) with the following dimensions: width: 5.5 in., height: 7.75 in.
Create a (regular) rectangle (no fill, only a stroke) with a width of 3.75 in. and a height of 6 in. Place it on top of the rounded rectangle and align them so that they are centered horizontally and vertically. This is the boundary for the artwork.
Guidelines
In the space between the edge of the card and the art boundary put the appropriate numbers and letters ("K", "Q", or "J") and the suit (heart, spade, club, diamond). You must use a standard suit.
Since the card needs to be the same when turned upside-down, you may want to drag a guide across the middle of the card. This way you can create the artwork on the upper-half, then rotate a copy to the lower half when you are finished. The challenge is finding a clever way to unite them.
Guidelines
Now create your character. You may opt to scan in a sketch or a reference image to use as a template, or work without a net.
The style and techniques you use are up to you.
