I've played some Pokemon over the years, but my partner Ryan loves anything to do with the franchise. He plays the traditional console games, he collects cards, he plays the heck out of some Pokemon Go. When he loves something he goes hard.

I love to see his face light up when I surprise him with an unexpected gift. He anticipates gifts of action figures or clothes so I have to get creative to be able to genuinely surprise him.

These shots are of the Pokemon cards I created for him for his 2023 birthday. I did two trainer cards, one for him and one for myself, that reflect each of our personalities. I chose his favorite colors and really played up the magic for these. Each trainer card was printed with a different holo effect - his a soft rainbow, mine a confetti effect.

The third card represents the day we first met. I had taken Ryan to one of the most unique spots in my hometown, a Pagoda atop the hills that overlook the city. It's a magical (and a little bit sketchy) place to visit. At night the structure lights up red and you can see it from miles and miles away. We climbed over a railing that night and watched the stars for a while. It was super romantic.

There aren't a whole lot of Pokemon card mockups on the internet so I ultimately created them in Figma. I spent a decent amount of time looking for the appropriate fonts and recreating gradients and shadows. It was time-consuming but well worth it for his reaction!

‍