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.