In 2025, I worked with Valiant to launch "Michigan Memories", a new trading card series celebrating iconic plays and moments from Michigan Football’s storied history. The project presented several challenges: developing a card that felt timeless, refining and expanding upon the existing "Michigan Moments" design, and creating a layout flexible enough to function both horizontally and vertically, both with an autographable variant.
It became clear that the best approach was to simplify the card’s visual hierarchy by emphasizing only the most essential elements: the play, the player, the date, and the series title, "Michigan Memories". With that focus in mind, I developed a dedicated Michigan Memories mark to unify the collection, and reorganized the layout around the previously identified key elements.
Shown immediately below is the original Michigan Moments card that was shared as the proposed direction for the Michigan Memories series. While reviewing it, I noticed that my eyes moved restlessly across the layout, struggling to locate the key information. This lack of hierarchy made the design feel overwhelming and identifying that issue helped me understand what the Michigan Memories series needed most: focus, balance, and a clear visual story.
