Lumon
The TV show Severance is based on a fictional company called ‘Lumon Industries’, a multinational biotechnology and consumer-goods corporation. Inspired by the show, I designed a deck of playing cards from Lumon’s point of view, imagining how the company might turn a simple recreational object into branded employee swag.
Designed by David Hoffman
Moodboard
The show’s visual language is built around muted greens, blues, and grays, creating a cold, sterile atmosphere. Within that world, Lumon Industries leans into a form of corporate dystopia where everything feels utilitarian, bureaucratic, and controlled, yet layered with an artificial cheerfulness that attempts to lighten the mood.
Court Cards
Lumon Industries worships its founders through corporate mythology and uses every opportunity to instill its beliefs in its employees. So if Lumon were to create a deck of playing cards, the court cards would naturally serve as portraits of devotion, celebrating the founders as icons of the company’s belief system.
Card Backs
The card back design is based on the dense fields of numbers, referencing the procedural task employees perform at their terminals. The layout references the show’s CRT-like screens, rigid data grids, and progress bars.
