(AND SOCIALISTS TOO)
What could be more adorable than a communist dictator? This project was strangely personal, as my parents are from Venezuela and Cuba, and my best friend is an immigrant from the former Soviet Union. Sometimes in the face of political oppression, laughing is the only thing that keeps you from crying.
The cute factor was enhanced by rounding the corners of the cards and eliminating harsh points within the illustrations whenever possible. This is also reflected in the font choice. To make the cards playable, each suit has a different background color, making them easy to differentiate quickly.
Each of the four suits represents a different communist or socialist country. Traditional suit iconography has been replaced with symbols relevant to those regimes.
Say what you will about Che, the man knew how to wear a beret.
Hugo Chávez had a pet parrot who wore a tiny beret modeled after his own. You can't make this stuff up.
As far as unlikely friendships go, it doesn't get much weirder than Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong-un.
It was a toss up between Lenin vs. Putin for the Jack card, but the bear didn't fit.