OU Printing Services
Graphic Design / Illustration
Graphic Design / Illustration
To showcase the University of Oklahoma (OU) Printing Services' new raised-ink printing capabilities to customers across campus, I designed and illustrated a deck of playing cards. The piece combines classic playing-card aesthetics, OU brand elements, and illustrations inspired by iconic campus architecture.
The Cards: Creating a Visual Language
Classic playing-card conventions reinterpreted through brand colors and linework.
Campus Architecture Illustrations
Face-card artwork inspired by iconic University of Oklahoma buildings.
Campus photos by Michael Barera / CC-BY-SA-3.0 / cropped from original.
In lieu of a typical playing card stock, a "pebble" texture layer of clear ink was applied to the cards, giving them a familiar low-friction, durable feel in the hands during gameplay.
The Box: Getting it Right
Under the design supervisor and in collaboration with the print production team, I worked through multiple rounds of prototyping the box, testing paper stocks, construction, folding behavior, and raised-ink finishes.
File prep for the card box included exterior cut lines, interior cut lines, score lines, color print file and a raised-ink print file. The boxes were cut and scored using a Colex flatbed cutter.
The raised-ink application was made possible by a Mimaki wide format printer. Several layers of ink are printed on top of each other to give the box a tactile texture.
A Functional Promotional Product
The finished deck became an effective demonstration piece for facility tours, was used by the OU Foundation as a donor gift, and earned OU Printing Services a Bronze “Special Projects” award at the 2026 In-Print Awards.
