A few months ago I shared a story on the blog of how I joined a corporate softball league back in 2018, which rekindled my love for the sport. I've been playing softball ever since.
With all the custom cards I've designed over the past few years, a couple of commenters in that blog post mentioned how they thought they were going to see a custom softball card featuring the guy who designs custom cards.
Well, I didn't share one in that post, but I do have one to share now.
There I am, featured "in action" during last year's softball season.
Note that my last name is not actually Ninepockets. I just figured it would be better for branding to use that name. Which brings me to the back of the card.
The In Action card backs from the original 1982 Topps set were divided into three sections: All Star, Championship Series, and World Series. As you might have guessed, each section featured highlights from the player's all star and playoff experiences to that point in their careers.
To make the card back particular to Nine Pockets, I changed those three sections to Blog, Custom Cards, and Softball. Then I just filled in the text descriptions accordingly and added a link to the blog at the bottom. It's a good way to highlight this part of my life and what it's all about—kind of like a business card or CV. (In fact, the next time I apply to a job in the creative field, maybe I'll hand out one of these cards along with my résumé.)
Thanks for reading as always, and let me know how you like the Nine Pockets custom in the comment section.
Nice. Love the 82T In Action design... and your decision to use a well-cropped action shot.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Fuji! Definitely wanted to use an action shot for an "In Action" card, which is something Topps didn't always accomplish back then.
DeleteVery nice. ... It makes me think, what if we had a card of every aspect of our life?
ReplyDeleteSenior prom card. First date card. College diploma card. TV Show Leaders card. "Jobs Through the Years" subset. Let's write an article, Night Owl!
DeleteLove it. The highlights on the back is what makes it for me.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, TwinKiller! The card back was fun to work on, for sure.
DeleteVery cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks Billy! Glad you like the way it turned out.
DeleteThat would make a neat business card! The front and back are very well done. Great work Mr. Ninepockets!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Chris! You'd have to think someone has done it already, but it's still a cool idea.
DeleteNicely done! Way to wear the socks high!
ReplyDeleteHeheh. Thanks Matt!
DeleteThat is one snazzy looking card! Perfect design for this sort of thing, too. I could imagine other softballers and baseballers (at any level) wanting something like this for themselves. If you haven't already done so, it might be worth letting folks know that that's something you could do for people. And two questions came to mind while reading this post: 1). Did you have any doubts about putting yourself out there? And by that I mean, giving everyone a face to associate with the blog? And 2). Do you have to pay for the uniform? It's pretty fancy, and doesn't look like the sort of thing that would be given out for free (not that I know anything about how corporate teams work).
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon! You know what? I've thought about the logistics of doing a similar trading card for other softball players in the league, and I'm just not sure if the time and effort I'd need to put into it would be worth it. And if I actually print them out, I'm not sure if people would want to pay what they'd need to pay in order for me to just break even on that expense. But it's still an idea to consider for the future. As for your questions:
Delete1) Yes, I did go back and forth a little bit on whether I should post an image of myself on the blog. After all, part of the reason I decided to start a blog instead of something else like a YouTube channel was for the privacy. And I'm a fairly private guy. But eventually I decided to post this card, thinking maybe it would be nice for the 8 people who actually read this blog to see the face behind the name.
2) The league gives everyone a sponsored t-shirt every season (our team is always red), but the rest of the uniform is up to each player. Some people just wear basic shorts or track pants of some kind, and others wear the more official baseball pants and socks. A few players on my team were of the latter group when I joined the team, and I decided to go with it, too. I think somehow wearing an actual uniform helps me take things a little more seriously and push myself to play hard.