An artistic variation of baseball and other trading cards, ATC's are little works of art with only one rule: they must be 2.5 x 3.5 inches (64 x 89 mm) in size.

Designed for trading or swapping, ATCs have become the new calling card for artists around the world. Their small size and incredible flexibility (anything goes) make them addictive!

The size, 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches, comes from the standard size for trading cards (typically sports oriented). ATCs can be created right on the surface of playing cards, baseball cards or other collector cards or on plain or recycled (printed) cardstock. They may be 2-D or 3-D, as long as the design is flat enough to fit into a trading card sleeve. There’s no limit to art mediums- you can collage, rubber stamp, paint, sew, tape, pencil, ink, chalk, screenprint- so experiment! They can be created in just a few minutes or crafted with more time- it’s up to the individual artist. With such a small canvas, they are wonderful for testing new effects and techniques, with little fear!

The back of the cards should be signed, dated and include any contact information you wish to give. An address or e-mail address is typical for swaps/trading (it’s interesting to know the card’s origin: city and state, country). If the ATC is part of a limited edition you should number them as well (1/10, 2/10, etc.).

History of Artist Trading Cards
Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) began in Zürich, Switzerland when M. Vänçi Stirnemann exhibited some 1,200 cards he had produced at his INK.art&text bookstore/gallery in May 1997. They spread to Canada through Calgary artist Don Mabie (aka Chuck Stake), who had visited the Zürich exhibition and participated in a 1997 Trading Session. The two collaborated on an exhibition, “The First International Biennial of Artist Trading Cards” in Calgary, Canada in 2000 with 80 artists from 10 different countries represented.

Since their beginning, ATCs have been flexible to different styles. They can be simple and use humor; be experimental and shock; be painstakingly created, or done extremely quickly- like a fast sketch. In Europe, you’ll see a more contemporary, avante garde style. In the US, more whimsical styles, recalling vintage times and beauty are common. Computer design, with multi-layered Photoshop collages are appearing, “minis” (a card cut in half- 1.75 X 2.5”), and ATCs that have detachable pieces, are new trends. Experimentation and fun are key.