Ballon con 5 Playmat and Token design
What started as “Let’s put Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh on a playmat” quickly turned into a full-blown cartoon scene with serious retro vibes.
For the fifth edition of Ballon Con, a cEDH Magic: The Gathering tournament held in Landsberg am Lech, I was commissioned by a local cultural association from Augsburg to create a custom illustration that would capture the spirit of the event.
The brief was simple but fun: Rograkh, surrounded by cEDH staples. I took that and ran with it—straight into a 1930s cartoon universe inspired by Max Fleischer and early Disney. The scene evolved into Rograkh charging through a Bavarian-style village, with the Alps rising in the background and a trail of iconic cards scattered around him: Paradise Mantle, Springleaf Drum, Gaea’s Cradle, Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame, Swan Song, Grim Monolith, Mystic Remora, and Phyrexian Tower.
The project also included a full token suite to match the playmat illustration. I designed three original tokens—Treasure, Gold, and an Attack Trigger—each one fully illustrated in the same vintage style, built to complement the playmat while standing on their own as striking, functional game pieces.
The final result was printed in three versions: one for all participants, one for finalists, and one for the tournament winner. A joyfully chaotic tribute to both Commander and classic animation—and a project I had an absolute blast bringing to life.
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Retro cartoons? Fantasy creatures? Something completely different? Let's make it happen.