From the Pedro Binder

2003 UD Standing O

(Once again, scanner issues. What was it thinking?)

Boy, companies were just pumping out sets in those days, weren’t they?

I can see the design meeting for this one. Maybe it wasn’t even a meeting. Just something a couple people talked about in the elevation.

“We need another set. What should it look like?”

“Baseball?

“Yes…a baseball set. Wait, that’s brilliant. We’ll put a big baseball on it.”

“Or a bat.”

“No, a ball is better. Unless…yes…we’ll put the ball on a bat!”

“What about the rest of the stuff?”

“I dunno. We’ll let graphics just use the basic black, white, and gray. Once you get the bat and ball, the rest doesn’t even matter.”

And they ended up with the card you see above you. Pedro’s picture in set inside a big baseball. The baseball is put on a woodgrain section. The border is left a basic gray. Pedro’s name in in black and white, along with his team name and position. Even the UD name gets the bland look.

The picture actually works with the design. It wouldn’t work if Pedro was, say, a second baseman turning a double play. Or, even if he was in his full wind-up. But, him standing there staring down another batter just works. And, I look how both the Upper Deck name and “Standing O” logo are practically invisible. So, a design concept that probably took five minutes turned out just great.

Sometimes bland is beautiful.