Sharks are some of the oldest creatures on Earth, having appeared in the fossil record around 450 million years ago. Their incredible ability to adapt has enabled them to survive four mass extinction events, outliving even the most fearsome of predators. They continue to reign supreme in the seas, with over 1,000 species of sharks and rays identified.

I was inspired by the Pokémon trading card game, highlighting the unique abilities of fantastical creatures. I wanted to use this project to better educate people about the incredible abilities sharks possess and to share my love for these fascinating creatures.

To follow the theme of trading card games, I decided to design a hypothetical packaging for the zine.

My personal fascination (and love) of sharks inspired me to create a hypothetical card game based around these incredible creatures and their ability to survive the most catastrophic events in history. The basic concept involves two sets of cards: the shark cards and the extinction event cards. As a player, it is your goal to build a deck able to withstand each extinction event.

Each shark card consists of their base stats and their abilities. The base stats include Attack, Defense, and Speed. The abilities describe the specific adaptations that made the shark unique and allowed it to overcome mass extinction events. Certain liberties had to be taken with these stats and abilities because sharks' fossil records are largely incomplete because sharks are made of cartilage, a connective tissue that doesn't fossilize like bones.

I wanted to conclude this zine with a graphic similar to the backs of trading cards. Something simplistic with aesthetic value that reinforced the zine's concept, but didn't demand too much attention. I decided a silhouetted illustration of different shark species would be the best way to capture this desire.