Cosplay Card, Fourth Version

It's been somewhat of a long time since I've had the third version of my cosplay card, which as I've explained in the previous post, was an attempt to create a fully Pokémon-themed cosplay card. Time has gone by and I've never had the chance to (re)design it the way it ought to be, let alone update it. All that changed recently, and now I finally have the fourth version of my cosplay card.

The Mystery Gift-inspired design of the previous version has been thrown out, and in its place is what I term as a classic-meets-modern design. The classic part is that it includes the system characters of the original first-generation games on the Game Boy; the modern part is that it also has the font of the 3DS Pokémon main series games, which is simply the 3DS system font slightly condensed. As well, the arrangement of the cosplay photos - which now include Ash's seventh-generation (SM) outfit - slightly recalls the one on the second version, even though this is a new design with the sleek metallic background. The background even contains the silhouettes of the first 151 Pokémon as well as of Ash himself, representing the archetype of a Pokémon Trainer.

Well, at least it's supposed to have the silhouettes. When I printed the cards, I thought the print shop printed it too dark, so dark that I and a friend couldn't even see the silhouettes. I reprinted a smaller amount at a different print shop, and they looked better, but perhaps still a little too dark. I have come to the conclusion that the final image itself is just too dark (though the design is fine) and will try to print a lighter version once most of the cards I've printed out have been consumed.

Finally, I have an admission to make. I didn't make the design of this card all by myself. I collaborated with a friend on this design. That friend sent me a draft of the card design and the vision for it, and I realized the remainder of the vision as well as the finishing. And that friend is... the girl fan who I have written about previously. This is the collaboration that I also mentioned in that post. If you can't tell by now, she delves into visual arts, and she's really good at what she does. That said, I've credited part of the design to her on the card in the lower-left corner using her Instagram handle (akimaoru) just so people know. The emphasis is here as well.

The first opportunity for me to use these cards just happen to be... tomorrow, and the next day. I'll discuss them as they happen on their respective days. But right now, at least I can rejoice (or perhaps not so much) in having an updated card that is helpful in popularizing me as much as it popularizes my attachment to Pokémon.

One year ago: Local Ex-Raid (and Complications), 6/21/2018
Two years ago: Resets and Redos