A Hair Off Square   custom cards

This is the big premiere. I have made several “tribute” cards to other sets and now I have decided to start posting my own. I have been mulling over ideas for the last couple weeks and I found a design that I really like. It will be called “Just Fair.” I am posting a sample size of starter cards. 2 horizontal cards and 2 vertical cards. Each card is a little different design as you can see. These will be the four variations in the base set, which player gets which format will depend strictly on the picture and which design fits it best.

These are samples of four different players from four different teams. I had to include a Royal and my favorite player that has never put on a KC uniform, Jim Thome. The design is in the early enough stages that I could still change it a little. I think it is very solid overall.

Notes about the design:

Black border: The last decision for me was a black border or white border, I went with the black border because the foul pole in the card shows up much better. I imagine at some point I will post some of the white “variants.” The black is taken form possibly my favorite Topps set, 1971.

Name block: The name block is simple and is a little like1993 Donruss, another set I really like. The two tone color scheme really separates it and makes it readable.

Foul pole: The foul pole was an idea I had when thinking of what other sets had done. A baseball has been used a ton of times and occasionally bats have been used. The closest to this is 1989 Upper Deck that had a baseline on the side of the card, a brilliant idea in my opinion but I always thought the baseline looked a little too cartoony.

Big picture: Keep It Simple Stupid; I like a big picture of a player, that is after all why the card is interesting. I maximized my picture area by slimming down the border to a minimum width and keeping the name block floating as opposed to docking it against any of the sides, this allows the picture to surround it and seem much larger. Also notice the netting on the foul pole is transparent like it should be. This allows the picture to be seen through the netting on the foul pole, possibly my favorite part about the card design.

Logo: I designed a quick logo for my “Just Fair ’11” set because this is something Donruss and Fleer always did and Topps has done since the late ’70s. I chose a color to match the foul pole on the oppisite side of the card and outlined it in black to keep it readable. I went with a script font to make it seem modern. The year is somewhat separated from the name so if I decide to produce anther set next year, I can simply change the year and go. I would of course vary the design somehow as well.

I would love to have feedback on the design or the set. If there are any players you would like to see in the set, post a comment and I will make them a priority.