Egale is Canada’s leading organization for 2SLGBTQI people and issues, and the pandemic lockdowns had the community more isolated than ever. So, with playing cards rising in popularity due to lockdowns, we had a chance to tap into culture.

The goal of Deal Them In is to start conversations beyond the card table, on how all parts of culture can better represent all people. The campaign was executed with only a $2000 budget, which was used to cover the production of a limited run of cards.

For International Non-Binary People’s Day, Egale Canada wanted to create something that supported the non-binary community.

So, we launched #DealThemIn: a deck of non-binary cards designed to discard gender stereotypes. We traded in traditional kings, queens, and jacks for gender-fluid theys and thems; creating a deck of cards that’s more inclusive of the gender spectrum we know exists today.

Our solution to outdated gender norms was to reimagine the 52-card deck completely. We replaced traditional, gender conforming characters with gender-fluid individuals.

We implemented other design elements that challenged the status quo; like mirroring our characters diagonally rather than on the traditional straight line, freeing them from the borders that have always contained them, using 4 Pantone colours spec’d from the non-binary flag, and implementing a wavy pattern throughout the entire deck to represent gender fluidity.

When it came to production, the materials used were: 3 spot colours for printing, regular card stock and unbleached, recyclable cardboard with spot embossing for the box.

Both social media impressions and engagement were way above norm for Egale, reaching almost 200,000 people in five short days, with thousands of unique microsite visits to purchase the deck of cards in that same time period.

With overwhelming positive sentiment, we sent out hundreds of decks to those who believed in our mission and our new, more inclusive iconography, while people expressed interest in purchasing the cards far beyond our limited run.

Ultimately, creating something more representative of the community Egale fights for every day.