A Series of Unfortunate Playing Cards

In fourth grade, my teacher read The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket.  The dry humor, dark content, and witty characters really appealed to my nine-year-old self.  When I asked if she'd read the second one to us, she said, "Nope, you have to read it yourself."  And that's what I did.  Whenever the new book would come out, I'd jump up and down and beg my mom to buy it.

For an assignment in my Illustration 4 class, we are to design, illustrate, and package playing cards.  Originally I thought, "Harry Potter!"  I started reading that book series at the same time as the Lemony Snicket books.  However, I wanted to do something low key, and Harry Potter is as high key as you can get.  The almost forgotten book series came to mind.  There was an attempt at a movie; however it ended at a happy note and Count Olaf was more comical than sinister.  

My plan is to show the darkness of the series by illustrating characters, scenes, and objects from each book.  I made a suit sign for Violet (gear), Klaus (open book), Sunny (bitten apple), and Count Olaf (eye).  The ace's are illustrations from book one, one is of book two, and so on.  Here are some rough thumbnails. 

These cards illustrate The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, and the Austere Academy.

The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, The Carnivorous Carnival, and The Slippery Slope

The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, and The End.

These are a few sketches of the design of the front and back of the cards.  The bottom two to the right are my favorites.  

So, in case you aren't familiar with The Series of Unfortunate Events, I'll give you a very brief summary.  Lemony Snicket, the narrator, is telling the story of the three Baudelaires, who lost their parents in a house fire.  Violet Baudelaire is fourteen and she's an inventor.  Klaus Baudelaire is twelve and he's an avid reader.  Sunny Baudelaire is an infant and she has abnormally sharp teeth.  I believe the setting is in the late 1800s, early 1900s.  It has an almost steam-punk vibe.  The Baudelaires were left with a large fortune; however, they can only access it when Violet turns eighteen.  In the very beginning, the Baudelaires are sent to Count Olaf, who mistreats them and plots to steal their fortune.  The orphans are very clever and learn quickly how to get out of tough situations.  In the first seven books the Baudelaires go through several guardians, trying to escape Count Olaf.  After that, the Baudelaires are fugitives and try to solve the mystery of V.F.D.  and stop Count Olaf.  

All of the books end badly.  The End ends on an unsatisfying note.  You'd think after reading thirteen books, Lemony Snicket would treat us with a happy ending.  Well, that would make the series boring and predictable.  We actually get to choose how the story will end.  That is why for the joker cards, I'm illustrating what I think the ending was.  Sketches, references, and more details will be provided soon.