A Chinese New Year playing card deck in a 3D-printed cigarette box case. The name 馬菠蘿 is a visual pun on Marlboro in Cantonese. Custom card backs, a full suit redesign, and a box that opens like the real thing.
馬菠蘿 (Mǎ Bō Luó) is a visual pun — each character chosen to look like the Cantonese slang for the card game. The name works on two levels: as a genuine phrase, and as a joke that only makes sense once you see it printed on a Marlboro-style box.
The 3D-printed case is the punchline. Red top, white body, classic chevron. It opens exactly like a real cigarette pack — you just pull out cards instead.
The card back pattern is a maze drawn from Chinese lattice motifs — the kind found on traditional windows and screens. Dark maroon on white, printed with a slight texture. The maze has no solution. That's the point.
All 52 cards share the same back. The pattern tiles perfectly edge to edge — so when you fan the deck, the backs read as one continuous surface.
Each suit uses a Chinese character as its centre mark — replacing the standard pip with something that reads immediately as part of the 馬菠蘿 visual language. The court cards (J, Q, K, A) use the full 馬 character blown up to fill the face.
Black suits use dark maroon. Red suits use the same maze in warm red — so when fanned, the two colour families separate cleanly.
Standard 52-card deck, poker size, rounded corners. Printed through a card printer — same spec as a real playing card, same weight and finish.
The maze has a different pattern for each character across the four suits. When the whole deck is spread, it tiles like wallpaper.
The case is a Marlboro-style cigarette box — red ABS top, white resin body printed with the 馬菠蘿 logotype and gold crest. The lid flips open on a hinge, cards slide out from the top.
Designed and printed in-house. The gold crest detail was painted by hand after printing.
