Vectorizing Barcelona Metro Tickets

In 2020, I stumbled upon a low-quality picture online of a set of Barcelona metro tickets from the 1980s. The vintage design sparked an idea: vectorizing them. I initially considered a digital wallpaper, but the project quickly evolved into something more fun.

I began researching TMB (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona) multi-trip cards, finding sites exploring their history and collector photos. At this moment, I realized the reverse were just as fascinating as the fronts: they had period advertisements. I focused on recreating the simpler designs as some of them were quite intricate and challenging to replicate using Adobe Illustrator with my limited skills.

The result was a set of physical replicas used as bookmarks, printed on satin-finish cardstock at a local shop in Ciutat Vella. While I was already familiar with Illustrator, managing this project end-to-end pushed me to refine my workflow significantly.

Looking ahead, I plan to refactor the design files in order to simplify coloring them. I also want to dive deeper into professional printing standards, specifically proper handling of bleed, to ensure the next batch is even sharper.