Black Rabbit Service • Scopa Cards
Legendary, Portland-based Espresso Tech company, Black Rabbit Service, asked me to design an espresso-themed deck of cards for the card game, Scopa! — commonly found in the warehouse break rooms of blue-collar espresso factory workers across Italy. The owners of Black Rabbit discovered this fast-paced card game in 2009, playing countless rounds with friends over cappuccinos on long train rides through the Italian countryside. They brought back decks of these cards to share with coffee technicians in the States, and became fascinated by the beautiful designs on the cards.
Traditional Scopa! decks include 40 cards in a narrow oblong shape called the "domino card" — the deck includes four suits: Clubs, Swords, Coins, and Cups. In my espresso-themed decks, I turned these suits into Espresso Tamper, Portafilter, Grinder Burrs, and Espresso Cups (demitasse).
Facecards include three characters: the Knave, the Knight (typically riding a horse), and a King. Because I was given full creative freedom by the wonderful crew at Black Rabbit, I turned these facecard characters into rabbits with a Queen for royalty, and each Knight riding a tortoise.
