I'd like the right one most if it wasn't black print on brown card I think. As is, my pick is the middle one.

Are you talking about my cards? I'm not Chris, I'm Matt. I did design some cards. I love the layouts, especially the second one, but they are a little flat graphically. what program do you use? you should tool around and see whayt you can do to liven them up a bit.

I actually have no training either, most of my abilities come from the constant barrage of art critique I got from these forums over the past 5 years! At the time it infuriated me, but looking back I needed it to grow.
If you aren't worried about the art, than my opinions really don't matter, as long as you are satisfied with them. And you should be satisfied they are totally appropriate for the game.
When I make anything custom (maps, minis, or cards), I always pretend that it’s something that I would sell and try to make money on. That’s why I designed my cards the way I did. I wanted something more than a stat card; I wanted something that was like a collector card. I think it makes the game a little more fun for me, and gives it a sense of authenticity, even though it’s really just for fun. THAT’S WHY I LOVE BIGSSEY’S CARDS!!! They really
A far as the "functionality" of my cards, please forgive my ignorance, but I don't see how the card design has much bearing on anything. As long as they are easy to read, and the text is easy to understand (which is really more of an issue with the people who write the rules), I think the layout really doesn’t matter. I do like the layout of the center one because it mixes things up a bit.
By "flat" I mean there are a lot of effects I uses with Photoshop (image filters, layers on layers, gradients, Etc.) If you are using Microsoft paint, obviously you have limited options as far as "spicing things up".

Interesting that people have commented so much on the brown; the reason I made it brown is because its the faction color ... no other reason.

I thought it was sorta "solid colored" but hey, if you thought that was bad, you should see the Vong purple I used.

I'm more into the functional type card. I'm willing to leave pretty to "real" artists, which I'm not. When I make a card, stats in so far as functional use are #1 and a decent enough pic #2. I always thought card design as such was a given. Listening to critique, I find it all facsinating on how people look at cards. It tells me that since I "stole" the middle card from Heroclix, my idea of an original card leaves something to be desired. I wonder if the Pic/Text area should've been a lighter shade of brown? I don't know if a white background off the pebbled area would cut it like I'd want .... hmmmm

I like the left one the most, it is a little difficult to read, but not enough to prevent the usage of the card.

P.S. Love you're card logo.

I like the layout on number 1 and 3 the most. The middle card looks good, but there's not room for much text is there?

Surf you should totally try out photoshop, if you like fiddling with these kinds of things. It's totally confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it and learn more it can be quite fun! I taught myself how to use it, and it's what i used to make my cards.

By the way, really nice touch with the surfer logo!! Love it

I'm kinda late to the party here but I thought I'd drop a comment. In order of preference, I like the left card the best. My second choice would be the right one. Only thing is it's a little hard to read maybe a font color change there. The third one is nice in that you have a little more room for text. They all look cool though surf nice job!