Saturday, March 12, 2011

From The Beginning

Have you ever searched through your computer for one thing and stumble upon something long forgotten? It happens to me all the time, but this time is different. I actually mentioned it on the blog a few years ago.

Oops.

The set was nowhere near ready, mainly because pictures of the subjects were next to impossible to track down. I started on a few cards, but eventually got frustrated, and abandoned the project. It has remained in a cobwebbed corner of my computer ever since. Luckily, these were stored in the second hard drive... the one that didn't crash.

I wanted the design to be ultra simple, so it wouldn't distract from the pictures. I also wanted the text to be easy to read and stand out from the subject. I know. There's a lot of contradiction in those demands. I wasn't crazy about the final design, but I didn't hate it.

I chose to elevate the text off of the bottom. There was a specific reason for this, but that escapes me at the moment. Perhaps it was to make the text stand out, rather than losing it at the very bottom of the card. There is a sketched band behind the lettering. If I recall, the purpose of that was to ground the letters. It just didn't look right without something in back of the text.

Here are rediscovered samples of the Beginnings card set.
21 - Roberto Clemente


24 - Willie Mays


26 - Gary Carter


43 - Cal Ripken Jr.


49 - Ichiro Suzuki


56 - Mark Buehrle


60 - Joe DiMaggio


78 - Ty Cobb


87 - Dick Allen


97 - Johnny Bench


I don't think the set will ever be fully completed. At least these few cards were able to be made and survived a computer meltdown to be found today. One-tenth of a card set is better than no card set at all.

5 comments:

Johngy said...

Those are great!

Anonymous said...

Steve, you have made some pretty awesome cards in your day. I love the Birth Years, the WSC Vintage...but these are by FAR your best. I hope you find the motivation to continue with the set.

Steve Gierman said...

Thanks, guys! I appreciate that!

The motivation to do them is there, but many of the photos are not readily available. If you look at the 100 card checklist on the original post, some of those are going to be pretty tough to track down.

I'll see what I can find, and I'll make another post when I have another ten completed.

LoCoDe said...

Fantastic stuff. That's the kind of set I'd want to buy.

Paolo Giani said...

I really like what you have done. You demonstrate a distinct artistic vision through careful curation of the photos available to you. I don't agree with your choice for the text placement. Text and graphics should inform but not distract. Text at the bottom is tried and true

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...