Trompe L’Oeil
2024
Trompe L’Oeil is the culmination of research and fascination with the emergence of tobacco in modern culture.
Glorious eye-catching packaging, advertising, billboards and copywriting are so juxtaposed with the serious health implications of smoking that it led me to draw comparison to 17th Century artist’s ‘Trompe L’Oeil’ paintings. Literally translating to ‘trick of the eye’ the false painting of imagery and branding breathes smoke and illusion into an otherwise two dimensional canvas.
The project draws from my dissertation and further research into the symbolism harnessed by ‘Big Tobacco’ to create a unique pack of playing cards inspired by the bright emergence of smoking culture in the modern world.
Taking inspiration from iconic cigarette brands Marlboro, Pall Mall, Lucky Strike and Camel, card suits pay homage to the illustrious designs of pre-bowdlerised tobacco. Typefaces and numbers were selected to closely mimic cigarette packets.