UNO x Keiichi Tanaami is a surrealist collaboration that reimagines the classic card game as a collectible art experience. Designed to honor the legendary career of Japanese pop artist Keiichi Tanaami, the creative vision was to translate his explosive, dreamlike imagery into a deck that feels both visually arresting and deeply emotional.

Tanaami’s work blends memory, trauma, and pop culture. Drawing from childhood experiences during the Great Tokyo Air Raid and his fascination with postwar America and Japanese folklore, his recurring motifs of American bombers, collaged faces, glowing searchlights, and fleeing figures create a layered narrative beneath the psychedelic chaos.

We worked closely with Tanaami to curate and adapt his vast archive of sketches into a unified visual story across all 112 cards. Each card features custom artwork, with compositions tailored to reflect color families, gameplay functions, and his signature themes. The result is a vibrant deck that transforms each round into a hallucinatory journey through the artist’s world.

Packaging was designed to match the same visual energy. The bold red packaging features a premium outer sleeve with an embossed logo and spot UV detailing for added texture and contrast. Inside, a drawer-style box with a magnetic flap closure reveals Tanaami’s iconic Goldfish illustration, transforming the unboxing into a layered and immersive art moment. Inside, the cards are nestled in a custom tray alongside a Certificate of Authenticity, reinforcing the deck’s place as both a playable game and a piece of contemporary art.

My Role:

I led the creative execution of the collaboration from concept to final product:

• Collaborated directly with Keiichi Tanaami and his studio to translate his sketch archive into a cohesive card system

• Curated and adapted artwork to align with UNO’s gameplay structure and design constraints

• Designed the full 112-card deck, with unique compositions for each card type and color family

• Art directed packaging and print finishes to reflect the collectible, high-impact nature of the product

A project grounded in collaboration and memory, it brings together storytelling and an inventive mix of pop art and fun.