About the Project

The Lyon Connection

In 1557, Lyon was one of Europe's great printing centers. The same year Claude Paradin published his Devises Héroïques—a collection of symbolic emblems paired with moral maxims—the city's 172 documented card manufacturers were producing playing cards for export across the continent.

One cardmaker for every 350 residents. The same woodblock techniques. The same workshops. The same hands.

This deck isn't an anachronistic mashup. It's a reunion.

Devises Cartes

Devises Cartes is a 56-card playing deck that draws directly from the Renaissance emblem tradition. Each card bears an image adapted from historical emblems—primarily Paradin's work, but also drawing from Alciato, Whitney, and other emblem book authors of the period.

The four suits are rendered in metallic inks, each carrying its own symbolic weight:

• Flies (Copper) — Patience, persistence, the small overcoming the great
• Birds (Silver) — Faith, transcendence, the soul's flight
• Wheat (Rose Gold) — Cycles, sustenance, death and renewal
• Arrows (Gold) — Direction, ambition, decisive action

Design Principles

The visual language honors the original woodcut vocabulary: cross-hatching, parallel lines, stippling. No smooth gradients. No photography. No half-tones. Just the binary thinking of the woodblock—mark or no mark.

Each composition follows the emblem structure: a central figure, an implied or explicit frame, imagery that is symbolic rather than narrative. These are devices to be contemplated, not scenes to be watched.

About the Artist

Vimm Jinson works at the intersection of historical research and contemporary craft. Devises Cartes represents several years of study into emblem books, Renaissance printing, and the material culture of playing cards.

For inquiries: hello@vimmjinson.com