Baseball Card Template I Made

Kagan

This is a baseball card template I made on Photoshop. This is just about at the limits of my ability, but I was pretty pleased overall. Feel free to give me feedback. Just please keep in mind I am stretching myself a bit to create this. If you suggest something I would appreciate perhaps a brief explanation of how to accomplish it. If this is the wrong thread feel free to move it Moderator.

Front


Back

MDalby

Wow, I sure like it! Good job!

drake

Dang you have some skillz. haha. :ivar

tjk60

Kagan, I think you did well! Did you set these up as smart objects to allow for real quick changes?

Kagan

Thanks Drake and Tim!

tjk60 wrote:

Kagan, I think you did well! Did you set these up as smart objects to allow for real quick changes?

Tim I tried it that way but was less sure of myself there. I ended up going with a clipping mask and dragging the pics in. I wasnt sure which way to go to be honest. Suggestions?

tjk60

Kagan wrote:

Thanks Drake and Tim!



Tim I tried it that way but was less sure of myself there. I ended up going with a clipping mask and dragging the pics in. I wasnt sure which way to go to be honest. Suggestions?

Matt Koskowski's Layers book has a real nice section on this, and I think there is a tutorial on the Nikon Cafe on how to use the smart objects and why....

Kagan

tjk60 wrote:

Matt Koskowski's Layers book has a real nice section on his, and I think there is a tutorial on the Nikon Cafe on how to use the smart objects and why....

I have actually used them on a landscape print I did(was in fact an step by step article in Photoshop User Magazine, so I am familiar with replacing the content at least enough to do it, just still felt uncomfortable. Time to stretch myself perhaps hehe.

Funny you should mention Matt K. I am taking a class with him this Friday in Covington, Kentucky. I will look up those links and play with it and if I cant figure it out then I will put him to work!

clemensphoto's

Kagan,

Do you happen to have a tutorial for your design? I'm always looking for new ideas and concepts to improve some of my stuff.

Kagan

clemensphoto's wrote:

Kagan,

Do you happen to have a tutorial for your design? I'm always looking for new ideas and concepts to improve some of my stuff.

I dont really have a tutorial for it but if you have questions feel free to message me and I will see if i can help you.

OldGuy

Hi Kagan,

A really nice design.:D Is this your first attempt? A couple of comments and suggestions:

1. I like the overall layout. The smoke/flame background works well as a phantom on the framing for the front and really pops on the back. The falcon image on the back adds a nice touch, but is hard to read at first look, and I suspect it may be lost when a lot of text is applied.

2. One nit I have (and take this for what its worth from a retired designer and instructor), concerns typography. Font design of the English alphabet is (technically) not suited for
s
t
a
c
k
e
d readability, although no one pays much attention to this fundamental rule anymore. To solve this, if you want, simply create your line of type normally and rotate 90º one way or the other.

Below is a poster I created some time ago which illustrates what I am suggesting.



Anyway, that's my 2c's worth and you did a good job. Keep at it.

P.S. Cute kid. Your son?

Regards, John

MDalby

Old Guy... WOW!

That is Awesome! I wish there was a way to have an idiot proof way of doing this. But then again, everyone would be doing it if it was easy.

MD

OldGuy

MDalby wrote:

Old Guy... WOW!

That is Awesome! I wish there was a way to have an idiot proof way of doing this. But then again, everyone would be doing it if it was easy.

MD

Thanks MD, There are a ton of template designs available on-line. Google: "Sports Poster Design Templates". Many of them are fee based so you would have to buy one and use as a guide for your own designs.

Regards,
John

Kagan

Thanks for your input John. This is my first serious attempt where I didnt get 5 minutes into it and start cursing and leave the room I really like the poster you did and I see how the type looks good that way, so I will try that today when I get a moment.
I do have a couple of posters from ArtisticAction.com that I have used for baseball and will be offering this year. They look wonderful and even more importantly to me, I could look at how they were designed and start figuring out how I could apply it to something I was designing. I learn more about how to do my own things after simply seeing how someone else does it.
The falcon and I will probably part ways. I wanted something on there but I did want it to be subtle, but not to the point of being unnoticed. I will experiment with changing the colors to perhaps give it some more punch, or just scrap that and design some sort of baseball-themed logo to add to it. The picture is of my youngest son(6 at the time) I do his team pictures in addition to the others I do each year and figured if I was going to use someone as a guinea pig it might as well be my own!

OldGuy wrote:

Hi Kagan,

A really nice design.:D Is this your first attempt? A couple of comments and suggestions:

1. I like the overall layout. The smoke/flame background works well as a phantom on the framing for the front and really pops on the back. The falcon image on the back adds a nice touch, but is hard to read at first look, and I suspect it may be lost when a lot of text is applied.

2. One nit I have (and take this for what its worth from a retired designer and instructor), concerns typography. Font design of the English alphabet is (technically) not suited for
s
t
a
c
k
e
d readability, although no one pays much attention to this fundamental rule anymore. To solve this, if you want, simply create your line of type normally and rotate 90º one way or the other.

Below is a poster I created some time ago which illustrates what I am suggesting.



Anyway, that's my 2c's worth and you did a good job. Keep at it.

P.S. Cute kid. Your son?

Regards, John

jrowphoto

Really nice work, and makes a good template! I need to try and do some more stuff like this with my photos sometime! I would agree with turning the type sideways on the vertical as it makes it much more readable.

Also, I might suggest moving the baseball in the lower left to the upper left? I don't like it overlapping the text, and think it would look better with some space, make the text more legible, and "pop" a bit more... seems cluttered with the overlap (to me!)

John