Cardist Spotlight: Lewis Caldwell

Lewis Caldwell is a well-known cardist who’s been part of the community for as long as we can remember. He’s a good friend of ours, and we couldn’t be happier to have him as our first Cardist Spotlight!

We asked Lewis some questions to help you get to know the person behind the cards a bit better. Our hope with this interview and others in the future is that they’ll be valuable to anybody in the community looking to develop as a cardist. Here’s our conversation:

First and foremost, how and when did you discover cardistry?

I started doing cardistry around 13 years ago. I was doing magic before that, and an old friend of mine who also did magic randomly came up on a copy of the Trilogy. I was instantly hooked and wanted to learn everything, starting with (of course) Pandora. This was around the time Chris Hestnes released Papercuts. I would watch every single tutorial I could find, and try the “pause/play” method on moves that didn’t have tutorials. I loved the process of learning, studying, perfecting, and eventually creating.

What’s kept you interested in cardistry all this time?

My relationship with cardistry has had several different phases, but I’ve never taken any extended breaks. It has always been a source of comfort and creativity that comes naturally to me. It can be of value in different ways whether you’re taking it seriously or just having fun, and I definitely fluctuate between the two. The community is also a constant source of inspiration for me.

Many cardists are familiar with your brand, Gordon - where did this passion stem from and what does your brand mean to you?

I started Gordon as a creative outlet to combine all of my interests. I discovered cardistry during very formative years and, in many ways, it was cardistry that introduced me to things like music, fashion, video production, photography, graphic design, etc. I’ve incorporated many of these interests Into my current life in different ways — whether its being a DJ at a party, a stylist on music videos, a photographer at Fontaine, all of that stems directly back to my experiences with cardistry. It felt like the best way for me to unite all of those interests would be in a cardistry brand.I also want to use Gordon as a way of exploring what a cardistry brand can be from a product perspective. So far I’ve released mostly just decks and tees, but the commuter tote is a great example of my design philosophy for the brand. I want to create products that stem from the ethos of cardistry, i.e. what it means to be a cardist in a practical sense, to create products that could resonate with a layman consumer. I think interesting product aside from playing cards can be a great way to introduce people to what cardistry is without the misconceptions or connotations people tend to associate with cards (like card games or magic). I have a bunch of ideas of fun cardistry-adjacent products that I’m working on slowly and hope to release over time.

We noticed you just released a new product! Feel free to share some details for cardists interested in supporting your brand.

The new release introduces a series of decks I’m calling Gordon Standards. The standards are a more minimal deck, taking inspiration from a lot of older casino decks which were often borderless. I retained the logo banner across the bottom to keep the aggressively one-way design. I started with a red hue for the first standard deck because red has always strikes me as the most classic color for a deck of cards.

How’s your outlook on the current community? Is there anything you’d like to see more of and is there something you’ve been seeing that inspires you?

I think the community is in a strong place. There are so many talented cardists emerging onto the scene, and a bunch of amazing groups that feel like they’re driving the culture forward. I often feel inspired by the sub-communities in Japan, New York, Hong Kong, Spain — there are great cardists doing exceptional cardistry all over the world. I’m optimistic that CC Tokyo is going to be incredible, and am curious how the post-Bucks cons are going to be.

Knowing you’ve made it far into a cardistry competition, attended many events, and created your own brand. What advice would you give to newer cardists who are looking to gain similar accolades?

A lot of people think that if they want to get anywhere with cardistry they need to start a brand. My advice would be not to start a brand until you have something to say. Know your thesis, know why you want to start the brand, know how and why your designs speak to that purpose, and know how you want your brand to both drive cardistry forward and reach new audiences. If any of these aren’t exceedingly clear, maybe hold off on starting your brand until you have these questions answered. It is likely your answers will evolve over time, but you should have an answer in the first place. The reason I say this is not to discourage anyone from starting a brand, but to encourage people to be patient with timing on goals like this. If you want to start a brand but don’t know what you want to do, don’t feel pressure to start something just to keep up. If you focus on your craft and engage with the community over time, you’ll know when the time is right.The only caveat to this, and it may sound contradictory, is that the best way to learn is to do. If you want to start a brand, go for it. Try to make a deck and see what you learn and see how you can do better next time. At least make some prototypes for fun. No reason not to.

Thanks again, Lewis, for all the insight and advice! Be sure to check out the new Gordon release, A Shared Experience, as well.