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Pehchaan
Pehchaan is a bold reimagining of the playing cards, rooted in Indian culture and built around the spice trade that once defined global power. What looks familiar at first glance reveals layers of history, value, and ritual, expressed through form, color, and symbol. Designed as a cultural object rather than a novelty, the deck turns play into a way of remembering where we come from and what made us.
Designed by Tejas Nishad and Sushant Vohra
YDI Community Project Edition #1 2025 and
The packaging takes direct inspiration from the masala dabba - functional, robust, and communal. Made from recyclable materials and designed for life beyond the deck, it’s meant to be reused, kept, and lived with, even as the cards wear out.
Cards
The card backs feature modernized spice icons brought together in a precise geometric grid. Each element represents one of four spices, reorganized into perfect symmetry to give the deck a sense of balance and ritual.
The palette draws directly from spices themselves -deep reds, warm yellows, green and neutrals treated with a modern lens. The art style blends raw, tactile 3D forms with precise geometry, balancing human imperfection with a contemporary, almost ceremonial finish. The design's goal is to feel physical, grounded, and unmistakably modern without losing its cultural soul.
Pehchaan also replaces classic suits with Chilli, Turmeric, Clove, and Cardamom, each carrying a distinct energy and colour. Like Indian cooking, the rules aren’t fixed. There’s no inherited hierarchy here. Players decide together which suit starts, and the game unfolds from there.
Number cards use minimal spice iconography, paired with textured 3D artwork, keeping the system consistent. But the face cards carry deeper stories: the Ace references historic currency from the spice trade, marking value and power; the Jack is the mortar and pestle, symbolizing labor and craft; the Queen represents the very source for these spices - seed and flower; and the King has the masala dabba, the unquestioned authority of the kitchen and the holder of all knowledge.
The project began with early sketching and long conversations about what truly defines India. 'Spices' emerged naturally as our cultural signature and a reminder of a time when India sat at the center of global wealth. Figma became the backbone of the design system, paired with 3D modeling and detailed texture work to achieve a raw, human feel with a modern finish. Here is a glimpse into the exploration phase.
