The finale to my typography class, this card deck was one of the most challenging but fulfilling projects I’ve done. Working out a design that would be simple enough to work for each font, but also unique and cool enough to not get stale was tough. I also struggled a bit with branding and color, but in the end was able to pull everything together.
I love using a grid, so that was step one for this design. I went through many ways of boxing in the main letter so that it was a focus but also not cramped by borders. Then figuring out where to add the designer of the font and other information about each font came very natural, as the main grid left room that was just calling to be filled. To add some variation, I switched between full white cards w/ black lines, and full black cards with white lines, hence the name “knockout type.” I applied a very similar layout to the front and back of the cards box, then pulled in a little character I liked about the design to fill out space on the tabs. The logo came easy as the letter Y in type resembled someone lifting their hands up, which is common for a boxer after they win, tying into the name “knockout” in an additional way. Once this was done, I knew I needed color somewhere.
In a style I always use, I added a touch of color to the main focus, by making the word knockout on the box pink, and by making the main letter of each card that same pink. I believe this decision took the cards over the top, so that they were now fun and bright, instead of plain black and white.
