Friday, April 23, 2010

The Best Baseball Card Design



I thought I'd throw out a discussion topic for Friday.

I'm toying around with the idea of making an original baseball card design and among the many things I've been pondering this today is baseball card borders.

In your opinions, what makes a great baseball card border and what sets would you say back up your preference?

Here are some examples of a few colored or pattern border retro sets 1968 Topps and 1975 Topps:






Or how about white around the border to keep everything clean looking?







A couple other questions are running through my mind too. I think most people would agree that the player photo should be the most prominent part of the card, but what's next? Is it the player name? The team name? What do you feel absolutely needs to be on the front of the card?

Thanks for posting your thoughts, I'm very curious to see what you think makes a great border and a great design.

4 comments:

  1. For me:

    White Borders
    Team Logo on Front
    No foil.
    Colorful.

    My Favorites
    1959 Topps
    1964 Topps
    1972 Topps
    1977 Topps
    1983 Topps
    1987 Topps (the white border exception)
    1991 Topps (a great design and what 2010 is based on)
    2005 Topps
    2008 Topps
    2010 Topps

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  2. Thanks for sharing John. Not many people would fess up to liking 2008 Topps. I admit, I have none of these cards (newly back in) but I'm not as horrified as some people about that design.

    I can see the similarity between 2001 and 2010 in terms of the photo taking up the whole card.

    1983 is one of my favorites as well. I think the circle with the close-up of the player's face is what does it for me.

    1964 and 1986 are very similar for me, but on the 86 cards you don't have the border going all the way around.

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  3. I'm just getting back in to collecting, but card design and layout has always been huge with me. My Faves:

    1973 Topps
    1976 Topps
    1982 Topps
    1983 Topps
    2004 Topps
    2005 Topps
    2008 Topps (why is there so much hate for this set's design?)
    2011 Topps

    Fleer, UD, and Donruss had some good years too, but I'm a Topps guy. I completely agree w/ the above poster in regards to White Borders and Team Logo, and I'd add position to that as well.

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  4. I'm a sucker for the early 80s Fleer and Donruss. I didn't have many at all, so whatever I acquired in trade back then seemed like pure gold to me. I had very few cards in general back then, but what I did have was Topps.

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