Topps: Sports Trading Card Designs, MLB, NFL, NBA, UFC

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Topps

MLB. NBA. NFL. UFC. PBA.

I had the opportunity to design over 250 high-end trading card sets or individual cards. Styles ranged from modern to retro, and old-style Victorian to distressed. This included MLB, NFL, NBA, UFC, NHL, and PBA, as well as non-sports series, such as TV, movies, and historical figures. The cards received rave reviews from collectors, which translated into high profits for Topps. Several individual relic cards sold for over $15,000 each.

Shown are select NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and historical figure cards, many featuring hand-signed autographs, and relic cards with embedded game-worn apparel and gear. Also shown are sample separation plates for the MLB Finest Baseball Series.

Client Liaison and Art Director

In addition to design conceptualization and execution, I also regularly liaised with our clients at Topps regarding new project specifications and printing technologies. I then art directed our designers to ensure the client's needs were met and the solutions were on target.

With countless sub-brands amongst a variety of sports, it was important that each new card and series was unique and eye-catching, but also unmistakably belonged to the bigger, cohesive look of its parent sport brand. Later I prepared the design files for production and printing, reviewing separations, and creating white hit, etch, spot color, and foil plates.

***NOTE: Many images feature generic player names (such as Player MagName or Player DeLongname). These are placeholders used when creating the master template for card production. It was important to show how the type treatment displays for varying name lengths and for letter ascenders and descenders.

Front & back of NBA Elevation series with gold foil stamping and diecuts for authentic player autograph and jersey swatch.

MLB All Star Game series with diecuts for authentic event-worn jersey swatches.
Shown are horizontal and vertical format cards, as well as one, two, or three-player combos.

LEFT: NBA Luxury Box series with game-worn player jersey swatches.
RIGHT: MLB Finest Moments card series that highlights momentous events in MLB games.

Example of card separation plates.

Finest Baseball – Base Card Design and Expansion

I designed the look of the Topps Finest Baseball series, and adapted it to a wide variety of cards that make up the full set. This included horizontal and vertical formats, cards with or without die-cuts for autographs and player-worn apparel, unique specialty cards, such as the series checklist (below), as well as the base card design, which makes up the majority of cards.

I built 4C, spot, white, and etch plates to create the look of this high-end MLB series. This included team logo etching behind the player image.

Shown above are the separation plates for a sample card. Shown below are examples of the final product's appearance.

UFC Uncaged – Base Card Design and Expansion

Similar to the Finest Baseball project, I designed the full UFC Uncaged series, and adapted it to the base and speciality cards in the set. Shown here are just a few samples of horizontal and vertical formats, single fighters vs caged matches, as well as die-cuts for autographs and authentic fighter-worn gear.

My goal was to match the raw grit and intensity of UFC, by creating an overall distressed and energetic look. I crafted countless layers of distorted patterns, graphics, and torn edges, and combined them to form corner and bottom framing devices for the copy and logos.

I also enlisted distressed blackletter and bold, sans-serif typefaces to complete the look. Though rough around the edges, they also needed to be legible. This was especially important for the type-heavy card backs that contained lots of vital data about fighters and their matches.

Front & back of MLB World Baseball Classic series with silver, foil stamped logo and three diecuts for authentic uniform swatches worn during the World Baseball Classic.