Taylor Swift Playing Cards
Project type
Product Design & Branding
Role
Visual Designer, Strategist & Production Lead
Programs Used
Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop
Date
October 2021
Overview & Objective
This project reimagines Taylor Swift’s discography as four unique suits in a collectible deck of cards—each representing a different era: Country, Pop, Reputation, and Alternative. Drawing from audience research, competitive analysis, and moodboarding, each suit features tailored iconography and imagery that reflect the tone and personality of the era.
Objective: To design and print a cohesive, fully custom deck of playing cards inspired by Taylor Swift’s musical eras. The goal was to bring a concept to life both visually and physically, developing a full card system that could be printed, held, and experienced as a real, finished product.
Phase 1: Research
Understanding Taylor Swift’s core audience—primarily women aged 16–24—was essential to shaping the visual direction of the deck. A detailed user persona was created to reflect common emotional connections fans have with each musical era, including themes like heartbreak, empowerment, and personal growth.
Competitive Analysis
Building on this foundation, I conducted a competitive analysis using three relevant products: Taylor Swift’s Slumber Party Book, Cards Against Humanity, and What Do You Meme. These games were chosen strategically based on format, popularity, and audience alignment. Taylor Swift Slumber Party Book served as a directly themed fan product targeting Swifties, offering insight into tone and accessibility. Cards Against Humanity was selected for its status as a party game staple, known for its simplicity and high engagement. What Do You Meme provided a valuable reference for visual design and modern appeal, especially among younger audiences. By comparing these products across criteria such as attention retention, visual appeal, and ease of use, I identified key gaps in emotional connection and visual storytelling gaps that my final deck was designed to fill.
Feature | Taylor Swift Slumber Party Book | Cards Against Humanity | What Do You Meme |
|---|---|---|---|
Keeps attention | 3 | 10 | 10 |
Ease of access to use | 10 | 10 | 5 |
Easy to learn | 5 | 9 | 10 |
Appealing to the eye | 1 | 1 | 8 |
Modern | 2 | 8 | 10 |
Entertaining | 6 | 10 | 8 |
Visual Research
The mood board was developed to establish the visual tone and symbolic language of the deck. It combines key imagery from Taylor Swift’s distinct musical eras, such as the snake from Reputation, the cardigan from Folklore, and the cowboy hat from her early country phase, alongside references to traditional playing cards and fan-forward aesthetics.
The color palette blends era-specific tones (like deep reds, muted purples, and soft creams) with vibrant accents to reflect Taylor’s evolution from country to pop to alternative. I also sourced and incorporated the actual font used in her branding, bringing an authentic and recognizable touch to the deck. Integrating her signature font helped ground the project in visual continuity, allowing fans to connect the cards with her established identity immediately. Type choices and graphic motifs were selected to strike a balance between nostalgic familiarity and modern design. These elements became the foundation for the custom suits, face card hierarchy, and packaging approach.
Phase 2: Designing & Refinement
Following the initial concept and mood board, I moved into visual experimentation, refining iconography, suit structure, and typographic elements through several rounds of iteration and testing. Early sketches explored how each card could reflect a specific era using familiar visual cues. I tested scale, quantity, and symbol placement to create a clear visual hierarchy and maintain readability within the structure of a traditional playing card.
I finalized four suit icons, each representing a Taylor Swift era through stylized symbols:
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Snake (Reputation)
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Cardigan (Folklore)
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Drum (Pop era)
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Cowboy hat (Country era)
Each icon went through multiple visual iterations, including adjustments in style, weight, repetition, and orientation. I also experimented with different color variations to test legibility and emotional tone across suits. Face cards and jokers were assigned imagery tied to Taylor Swift’s lyrics, favorite numbers, and personal references, such as her cat, album photoshoots, and symbolic visuals like the number 13. In addition, typography tests incorporated fonts used in Taylor’s official albums, such as OPT Engravers Old English and her handwritten style from 1989, to ensure visual authenticity and emotional continuity for fans.
After these refinements, printed prototypes were reviewed for alignment, print quality, and tactile feel, ensuring the final product was both collectible and functional. This phase was crucial in narrowing down visual decisions and preparing assets for final execution. The following visuals demonstrate the evolution of my design decisions during this phase.
Phase 3: Final Design & Execution
In the final phase, all visual elements came together to form a cohesive, emotionally resonant deck. I chose to feature a stylized heart with the phrase “We Love Taylor Swift” on the back of each card, set in her signature font, to emphasize the shared admiration and community within the fandom.
Face cards were assigned to represent specific Taylor Swift albums, capturing the tone and imagery of each era. The Joker cards feature her cats, a playful and personal nod to one of her most recognizable traits. I stylized photos of Taylor by bringing them into Illustrator, where I mirrored and converted them into vector graphics, creating bold, expressive visuals that maintained emotional impact and fit the overall aesthetic of the deck.
Final Color Direction
For the color palette, I chose purple and gold, each rooted in symbolism tied to Taylor’s journey. Gold was used for the Reputation and Folklore eras, two periods where she stepped out of the spotlight, only to return quietly with some of her most impactful work. The muted gold represents that sense of retreat and reemergence with grace and power. Purple was chosen for the Pop and Country eras, inspired by its repeated presence throughout eras like Speak Now, 1989, and Lover, reflecting boldness, femininity, and transformation.
Every design decision, from typography to iconography, was made to create something fans could emotionally connect with. This deck isn’t just a tribute to Taylor Swift; it’s meant to feel personal, like it was made by a fan, for the fans who’ve grown with her.
Reflection
I’m proud of how the cards turned out, each one feels intentional, personal, and true to the spirit of Taylor Swift’s eras. While I wish I had spent more time perfecting the box design, the experience taught me how to turn a passion into a tangible, meaningful product. Holding the final deck reminded me why I love design: it lets people connect through something real.
Designed by Breanna Williams © 2025.