You Gotta Have Art

I want to take a few moments, and words, to point out something I’ve recently observed in the hobby — the photography is terrible and there is a genuine lack of creativity in design.

Now, I say this as someone who is a full-time photojournalist and someone who lived through what I consider to be the peak era of sports card design, the 1990s.

Today’s cards are more shiny than creative, aren’t they?

With the exception of Topps Stadium Club, which has always been the pinnacle of photojournalism in trading cards, there isn’t much to write home about at all.

Now, as a hockey card fan, I could argue that the Upper Deck flagship product isn’t terrible, and it isn’t. However, it’s mainly PR shots of one player on the ice — not a ton of what I would consider high-end art with a camera. 

It seems the focus has shifted more to scarcity than quality in the industry and there is a part of me that can understand and appreciate that. That said, it’s kinda sad to me. 

Some of the cards from the past have such vibrant, colorful and creative design qualities that you can tell these were created by designers who were aware of the artistic value of the card, not just the player on it. 

Cards such as Stadium Club’s Beam Team sets from back in the day are a great example of what I’m talking about here.

The Dunkin’ Go Nuts set is another one — and there are so many others, inserts in particular, that were so creative and clever with their designs that they stood for that as much as they did for the player that graced the card.

We’re missing this today, and that’s a shame. 

So, I challenge these manufactures to tone down the chrome and turn up the creativity. 

Transform the cards of today into works or art, not just commodities to be bought and sold like wheat or pork belly. 

There are so many talented folks out there with so many ideas waiting to get out — stop being afraid to utilize them.