GTA Cards

Grand Theft Auto Poker Cards – Visual System Design

This academic project was developed for the Digital Illustration course at Escuela Da Vinci, focusing on creating a cohesive visual system using Adobe Illustrator for subsequent application to themed playing cards. The assignment required developing systematic design thinking while demonstrating technical proficiency in vector-based illustration and consistent visual language across multiple elements.

The Challenge The project required designing a complete visual system that would translate into a functional poker card deck with thematic coherence. The challenge involved selecting appropriate source material, developing a distinctive visual approach, and creating systematic design elements that would work across all card variations while maintaining readability and gaming functionality. The system needed to balance aesthetic appeal with practical card game requirements.

The Solution I developed a visual system based on the Grand Theft Auto 3D trilogy, featuring the three iconic protagonists: Carl Johnson from Los Santos, Tommy Vercetti from Vice City, and Claude Speed from Liberty City. The design approach utilized minimalist and geometric principles to distill the complex character designs and urban environments of the games into clean, systematic visual elements.

The illustration style translated the detailed video game aesthetics into simplified geometric forms while preserving the distinctive characteristics of each protagonist and their respective cities. Using Adobe Illustrator’s vector capabilities, the system created consistent visual language across all card elements, ensuring both thematic coherence and functional clarity for actual gameplay.

The systematic approach allowed for scalable design elements that could be applied across the entire deck while maintaining the minimalist aesthetic and preserving the recognizable essence of each GTA installment.

The Impact The completed poker card system successfully demonstrated systematic design thinking and technical illustration skills. The project effectively translated complex source material into a cohesive, functional card game format, achieving the highest academic grade of 10.