Business Cards Land

Just last week, my colleague Diana did an excellent post in which she played devil’s advocate against unique and wacky business cards and supported a great standard card.  Today, I’m here to fully agree with her, and end the week saying that I am officially a fan of both amazingly intricate, wildly creative designs that are way way outside of the box AND standard sized, shaped and printed cards.  The bottom line is, you can get extremely creative all while staying within the confines of a traditional, standard card.  I’m making a case, for a great standard card.

So how do you get started?  How do you combine creativity and tradition, unique design and simple dimensions?  Simple really when you consider that you can use the Guidelines for Artwork Submission and Ordering at OvernightPrints.  They give you help on every single step of your business card design process and will help you think as far outside the box as humanly possible, all while actually staying right inside it.  Remember, you can get as creative as you wish on the design, color, layout, font and artwork involved with your business card, but avoid the hassles and non-traditional pitfalls of trying to order cards that are strange shapes, sizes or made of odd materials.

If you’re having trouble getting started, that’s a wonderful place to start and should help jumpstart your process.  Remember, Diana put it wonderfully when she said “There are occasions when having a truly MEMORABLE business card trumps those other considerations.  Just make sure to carefully weigh the pros and cons.”  My advice, get a few of those memorable, unique and crazy cards for special occasions or customers, and for all the rest, give them your backup, a perfectly designed, creative and unique STANDARD business card.  Best of both worlds, at your disposal.

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On Monday, we discussed and showed you an amazingly impressive business card design that involved more moving parts than a fake Rolex.  Today, we’re going to blow your mind again by showing you an Animated, Yes Animated, business card design.  While they’re in a different class than each other, the simple fact that someone out there had the creativity to design an animated business card is pretty cool.

While the idea itself doesn’t look extremely difficult, I still think it’s going to be a bit more expensive and a bit more time consuming than the vast majority of us will ever want to invest on a business card, it still just goes to show how inventive, creative and unique you can be if you want to set yourself apart from just about anyone else in your field.  The good news is this:  There are ways you can get equally creative with far less cost, check out some of the free business cards samples at OvernightPrints and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

At any rate, it’s amazing to see how a few simple layers can come together to form an impressive, and yes animated, business card.  I know one thing is absolutely certain, if I was in the market for a graphic designer and he or she handed me a flat business card that actually moved, I would most likely put them in a completely different class than anyone else, wouldn’t you?

Check them out in all their action and glory below:

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Business cards are tiny – only seven square inches – so why not make the most of your investment, and use the back side of your business card too?  It adds very little to the overall cost of your business card and doubles your usable space.

You can certainly find a lot of useful content to have printed on your business cards, and most reputable printers such as OvernightPrints.com DO offer this capability.

Note the word “useful” – adding content that people will keep and refer to is one of the savviest things to do with the back of your business card.  That’s one reason calendars are so popular (although once that calendar year is over, your card might be pitched.)

So what else could you offer?  You might offer industry-related information, such as mortgage amortization schedules if you’re a realtor or common weights and measures if you sell cooking supplies.

You could offer information that’s useful within your community, such as emergency contact numbers (fire, police, poison control center, animal control, et cetera.)

If your contacts tend to be fans of a local sports team, you could print that season’s schedule on the back of your card.

Of course, printing on the back of your business cards means that there’s less room to do something else.  If you customarily write on your business card when you give it to someone, this idea may not work for you.

The point is that it’s silly to waste all that perfectly good space!

Watch for a future post on adding marketing material to the back of your business cards.

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It’s Monday morning, you’re probably a bit groggy, probably a bit over-stuffed with ham and eggs and those little marshmallow Peeps, that said, we thought it’d be best to start your day off today with a video to ease your tired post-Easter mind.  How about a video of arguably the most impressive, moving-parts business cards we’ve ever seen.  We thought you’d like that.

Things – Adam Mayer Digitally Designed Geared Business Cards from Bre Pettis on Vimeo.

These business cards are not for the beginner designers out there, but if you’ve got the time, energy and creativity to jump into a project like this, we applaud you.  If you’re NOT of the advanced business card mind, worry not, a simple trip to OvernightPrints.com can set you up with a huge selection of business cards that will impress your audience but not damage the ol’ wallet.

At any rate, check out the video of these amazingly impressive business cards.  It looks to us like an old Swiss watchmaker was the brains behind this operation.  Nevertheless, they are wildly impressive and arguably the most creative design we’ve seen in quite some time.

Things – Adam Mayer Digitally Designed Geared Business Cards from Bre Pettis on Vimeo.

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All this talk of creativity and business cards might lead people to focus almost entirely on the design, layout and appearance of the card.  This is great, but only half of the equation.  Today we just want to make sure you don’t forget the first step in this entire process, possibly the most important:  What paper do you use when getting your business cards printed?

When it comes to choosing that first element, the paper it will all be printed on, it might seem overwhelming, but if you keep a couple of ideas in mind, you’ll make the best decision with the least hassle.  Here are a couple of things to keep in mind, according to DubDesign.co.uk:

“Study your paper stock options. Do not just go for a printer which offers a low, low price on business card printing…Always see what kind of bargain you are getting.

A heavy set paper stock is ideal for business cards for it will hold up for a longer time. If it were added with a varnish or coating, just think how well your business cards will look years from now.

There are many card stocks in the commercial printers pockets. There are 14pt. Gloss Cover, 14pt. Cover with UV Coating and 14pt. Matter Cover.

If you want a different card stock, discuss with your printer if it were possible to access this kind of paper. If it is available or would it still have to be bought, since paper comes in huge sheets or rolls. Carefully weigh your priorities and budget.

Familiarize yourself too with what some finishes can do for your prints. A matte finish gives prints a dull yet smooth and sophisticated finish. UV Coating, on the other hand, prevents ball point pens from writing over your business cards. Study your habits and of course, your style.”

Keeping those few tips in mind will help you guarantee that you know what questions to ask, when to ask them, and a few of your different choices when it comes to getting your cards printed.  Remember, the paper is what holds it all together, don’t neglect it!

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I’m going to play Devil’s advocate in this post.

Tyler shared some great info in a couple of other posts about unique and creative business cards.

And I’ll be the first to admit that the business community often seems to be populated by people with no imagination whatsoever – either that, or they so truly underestimate the marketing potential of a business card that they simply don’t deem it worthy of any particular design or creative considerations.

There’s absolutely no excuse for a blah, boring, black text on white background business card, even if you try to liven it up with some generic clip art.

That being said… a really original, creative, out of the box business card design can be more hassle than it’s worth.  There are distinct disadvantages to certain types of unusual cards – so let’s look at those.

1) Many unusual business cards cost substantially more to print.   Die-cut business cards, cards on materials such as wood or metal, cards that pop up or fold out – they’re all going to cost more.  Sometimes a LOT more, than traditional business cards.

2) Unusual business cards may be hard to store.  True, a business card that stretches like a rubber band is sure to be remembered and passed around – but how in the world will anyone put it in their Rolodex or business card holder?  I doubt a business card scanner can handle it either!

3)  Related to the above – they may be hard for YOU to carry around and hand out, as well.  The good thing about standard-sized business cards is that they are well… standard.  They fit in a business card case.  They’re easy to carry around.  Which means you’re more likely to have one with you and actually use it.

Am I saying that it’s always unwise to design an unusual business card?  Absolutely not.  There are occasions when having a truly MEMORABLE business card trumps those other considerations.  Just make sure to carefully weigh the pros and cons.

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If after checking out this blog you aren’t completely inspired to create some original, creative and completely unique business cards, then I’m officially doing something wrong.  I prowl the internet to find as many unique, creative and completely inventive business card ideas to bring back to you and hopefully get your creative juices boiling.

Today, I happened to find even more creative business card ideas, and I thought I’d share a few with you today.  Thanks to the folks over at CreativeBits.org for digging a lot of these up, head over and check out their full post, but for now, here were my 5 favorites from their list:

1.   3D Plastic Business Card – Add texture, height and a whole new material to your business card.  3D is the new 2D, didn’t you know?

2.   Dog Tag Business Cards – You know the cool metal dog tags you see in the Military?  Same thing, but packed with all of YOUR contact information.

3.   Fan Shaped Antique Business Cards – Who says you have to stay square?  Try a fan shape and add some retro feel.

4.   Wool Business Cards – Someone that has a sheep farm decided to add some actual wool onto their business card to not only SHOW the sheep, but let you feel it as well.

5.   Folded Map Business Card – What better way to advertise your map and travel company than to print it ON a map, a map of how to GET to your business.  Genius!

There you have it!  I tossed in some pictures to help you really get a feel for how creative you can get!

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I finally got one of those handy-dandy business card scanners that I’d lusted after for years.

Not sure what that is?  A business card scanner is an electronic gadget that allows you to scan business cards.  Most models work by reading the data on your card (key elements such as name, phone number, address, email address, et cetera) and then storing it into a type of spreadsheet.

Which is great – it’s incredibly convenient to come back to the hotel room after a tradeshow, for example, and simply slide all those business cards you collected into the scanner.  In mere minutes, you have a searchable, sort-able record of everyone you met.

I couldn’t wait to try it – but darn.  There were problems.  Some of the “data” it read was garbled or incorrect, and I had to rescan the cards or fix the typos manually.

In most cases, the scanner had problems in one of the following three situations:

1. There wasn’t much contrast between the font and the background (such as dark blue text on a medium blue background);
2. The font itself was very small or not clear (some font types, particularly script fonts, are hard to read if they’re used a lot or if they’re very small); and/or
3. The text wasn’t in a straight horizontal or vertical format – it was slanted or rounded or stylized in some way.

Sure, it would be great if the scanner itself were improved – and I’m sure that technological improvements are made often – but in the meantime, what if YOU were one of those business owners whose cards I couldn’t read?

I might just pitch your card, rather than mess with it.

So next time you design a business card, keep scanners in mind.  Be sure fonts are large and easy to read, with sufficient contrast.  Business card scanners will find it much easier to read your card – and so will the general public!

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When it comes to designing your business cards, no matter how unique or creative you want to get, you first have to knock out some of the most important questions:  What do you put ON them?  Turns out, when designing the perfect business card for you, it’s going to change for everyone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t tips on how to maximize your cards effectiveness before you even get started.

I just found a great article that has the Top 5 tips you should always keep in mind while in the design phase with your future cards.  Keep these ideas in mind and you’ll always be ahead of the curve, and the more you have these ideas in mind, the more creative you can get with the actual design of the card…remember, creativity is key!  Without further ado, here are the paraphrased Top 5 tips to keep in mind:

1. Spend the money for a professional printed card – I know it’s cheaper and easier to print your own, but spend the money, you can tell a difference.  Trust me.
2. Keep It Simple – Don’t overload your card with information, just the basics of who you are, and how they can get in touch with you.  Make sure your font is readable.
3. Don’t use the family phone – Remember, they are BUSINESS cards, don’t put your home phone numbers on there, no one wants to hear kids or teenagers answering your business phone.
4. Create a Title – If you don’t already have one, you need one.  Create a title for yourself, if working for someone else, make sure you check with them first.
5. You’ve got cards–Now Use them – Keep a stash of them everywhere, you really never know when you’re going to need them.  Start giving them away to anyone and everyone that might be able to further your business!

There you have it.  Head over and check out the other article, but that should be a great way to get you started once you get the creative design going!

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Yesterday we went over 7 of 15 ideas that should help to completely reshape your view of what a business card should be. Never thought you could give someone a razor blade, or a bundle of electrical cables, did you? The idea of a business card that literally SPROUTS? Yeah, unheard of here too.

Today, we’re going to top off that list of the 15 unique and creative business card ideas by showing you the remaining 8 ideas. These are equally as creative and pretty cool, if we do say so ourselves.

Without further ado, here we go!

1. Stretch Rubber Personal Trainer Business Cards – Cards that only make sense when you use those muscles of yours to literally stretch the card so you can read it.
2. Actual Size Pop-Up Business Cards – A pop-out and pop up picture of yourself of anything else, gives 3D flare to a standard flat business card.
3. Structural Graphics Fax Machine Pop-Up Business Cards – Open this card up and you literally see a 3D fax machine. Like being a kid again.
4. Fashion Stylist Transparent Business Cards – Remember those anatomy books when you were a kid that had the layers you could lay down to see the different parts of the body? That’s this, in a business card.
5. Building Block Architecture Business Cards – Take a lego, print onto it and all of a sudden your architecture business is brilliant.
6. We Love You(r Money) Business Cards – Who doesn’t love Lotto cards that you get to scratch off the silver stuff? Do that on a business card and No one will forget your company.
7. USB Business Cards – Plug in your business card and use it as a memory stick? Plug it in and see portfolios, resumes, catalogs? Genius.
8. Brand Doctor Business Cards – Using sample boxes of medicine as a way to promote your pharmacy or doctors office. Great idea!
There you have it. 15 of some extremely creative business card ideas that should help you restructure and rethink the way you do your own. Think outside the box, or heck, print onto it!

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