Franklin Barbecue Playing Cards

Brad Fulton is one of the pioneers of the designer playing card industry. Fulton has designed countless iconic playing cards—from Ace Fulton’s Casino to collaborations with The MTA and Alfred Hitchcock. 
A graduate of USC Film School, Fulton’s method is to visualize each project as a film—to create atmosphere and story within a pack of playing cards. 
In 2013 Fulton waited four hours in the line of Franklin BBQ— his experience laid the groundwork to create a complete project that told the brand story of the “greatest BBQ restaurant of all time.”
These playing cards are a tribute to the storied history of American Ingenuity and small business. A celebration of the pioneer who does it their own way-and in hindsight raises the bar.

Fulton incorporated designs from some of our favorite designers on this project. Blair Richardson, who brilliantly created our iconic “bean shaped” logo and branding, way back in 2009, Liz Berry, who had the bright idea to pull the wavy turquoise texture from our cafeteria trays when designing our latest sauce and spice labels, and Dave Lamplugh, who’s sketches of people graced our original bbq sauce bottles as well as the piggie family that has been a mainstay of our kids shirts and onesies. Dave’s hand sketches of the Royal cards in this deck invoke a sense of familiarity with the Franklin family and a playfulness with color and texture.