Now that I’ve finished wading through Topps’ designs from the Aughts, it’s time to reveal some new original designs. After posting the Spirit flagship design and cards for each of the 30 teams, I’m scaling back a bit going forward, offering just a few cards per release. So, say hi to the 2021 Pennant design.

The Pennant release has been the “retro” Spirit set, calling back to design styles of the past without ripping them off wholesale. I’ve bounced around decades and eras so as to not be too repetitive. Honestly, I can’t pinpoint the era I’m going for here, just more of a general “old” feel. The key is simplicity as I’ve kept the “design” to a minimum with plain but bold text at the bottom for the name and team. In the corners at the top are corresponding pennants with the Pennant logo and the player position. The most notable feature of the design is the photo treatment. What I’ve done is ramp up the contrast, remove the actual colors from the photos and replaced it with painted simple, solid color shapes. There is still some noise and black values to fill in the details, keeping it from looking quite so illustrated. Of the three here, the Brandon Lowe card is the best in my eyes, mostly thanks to the solid green background.

Here’s the back of the Lowe card. They’re black-and-white with the design mimicking the front. With just 3 seasons under his belt, I was able to fit Lowe’s full career (simplified) stats on here, though that probably wouldn’t be the case for a more seasoned veteran. This is also an opportunity to include the new MLBPA logo for the first time for me.