Create-It-All

Charles and Ray Eames designed the original (or small) House of Cards in 1952 as a deck of 54 slotted playing cards. Today’s Eames Office expanded upon Charles and Ray’s idea by developing the Create-It-All deck of cards as an imaginative, collaborative and educational teaching tool for people of all ages to enjoy.

Make Connections & Constructions

The Create-It-All deck is the perfect activity for holidays, parties, schools, and business brainstorming activities.

Designed with colorful panels on one side of the cards and a blank canvas on the other. So, unfetter your creativity! First, decorate the cards with drawings, inspirational words, or three-dimensional designs. Then, explore the endless ways to assemble the cards: Create towers, houses, bridges, and most importantly, new meaning and connections with each card that you add. Create-It-All is a perfect activity for holidays, birthday parties, school, or business brainstorming sessions. Or stay at home and enjoy it with family and friends. 

“Eventually everything connects – people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.”

Charles & Ray Eames

Artprize: 10,000 Create-It-All Cards

The Eames Office participated in ArtPrize 2012, an annual, two-week-long art bonanza in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Students created individual works of art on Create-It-All Eames Giant House of Cards. Once assembled, the 10,000 interlocking cards formed the world’s largest House of Cards structure. 

On September 22, 2012, Scott Christopher Homes, Via Design, and others created an enormous structure from 5,000 of these giant cards in Rosa Parks Circle, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Onlookers from the community simultaneously decorated additional cards with bright and colorful drawings, words, poems, ideas, and hopes for the future. The structure remained on view for two days. Students from 43 West Michigan schools and the Eames Office Chair Camp(another ArtPrize event) adorned the remaining undecorated cards.

All 10,000 cards—each one now beautifully decorated—were reassembled into a brand new configuration of arches, alleys, walls, and towers inside The Gallery at One South Division. The space stayed open for the remainder of ArtPrize. In the end, the cards were returned to the participating schools for continued building and long-lasting enjoyment.

Take a virtual tour by watching the time-lapse video below by Scott Christopher Homes and VIA design.

https://vimeo.com/51385739