Case study — 23
Card art
Collectible card illustrations
Collectible card art for athletes and icons: Saquon Barkley, Ric Flair and a Luxury Bazaar × TraxNYC exclusive.
- Role
- Designer & illustrator
- Tools
- Photoshop, Procreate
- Services
- Music & culture
The work
Illustrated collectible cards that mix photo collage, comic-style linework and bold type: Saquon Barkley in Eagles green, Ric Flair for an autographed card, and TraxNYC for a Vucifer × Luxury Bazaar exclusive.
What I made
Three collectible card designs, each with its own look:
- Saquon Barkley: the player in full color in Eagles green, breaking out of black-and-white comic panels, with "Philadelphia Eagles" and his name framing the card
- Ric Flair: a layered collage of the Nature Boy in his robe and title belt, a huge "FLAIR" headline, a sparkling "24," and an "Authentic Autograph" line at the bottom
- TraxNYC: a crime-game style cover with a panel grid, a "Grand Theft Street" headline and "47th" mark, chains, money and gold, credited as an exclusive product of Vucifer × Luxury Bazaar
Design decisions
A card is small and it gets held, so it has to work up close and from a glance. Each one has one clear hero image, one big piece of type and a lot of detail in the background for people who look longer.
The style comes from the subject. Saquon gets comic linework because the action pose already feels like a splash page, and keeping the background black and white makes the green jersey pop. Flair is loud on purpose: gold, red, sparkle and stage lights. The TraxNYC card borrows the look of a game cover because the panel grid lets me tell a little story with several shots of him in one frame.
What it shows
Illustration, collage and type working together on a tiny format. If you want a custom card for an athlete, a brand or a drop, see the custom trading card design guide or my music and culture work.
Related reading
Philadelphia / Worldwide
Have a project in mind?
Tell me what you are making. I reply to every inquiry myself.