Business Cards Land

Happy  Monday fellow Business Card fans!  Here’s a question to ask yourself:  How many times has someone given you a business card, you want to go to their place of business and you realize you have absolutely no idea where it actually is?  You then have to go home, Google it and try to find a map of exactly how to get there, what streets it is on and near and where to go?  Yeah, too many times.

That said, the unique business card I found to kick-start our week this fine week, aims to do away with that major inconvenience by printing a little informative map directly on the back of their business card.  And, to avoid making it look too formal or like it was just pasted in from Google Maps, they cartooned it up a bit and made it look downright entertaining.  The card belongs to a church called the New Community Church, and these business cards make the church look a lot more hip, and a lot less old-fashioned, and if their aim is to get a younger demographic interested in religious services, this is a smart way to go about that!

A great business card with a very simple and very intuitive solution to a problem that every business has:  How to get people TO your business!  Doesn’t matter how great your business or company is, if people can’t find you or get to you, you’re going to lose a lot of clients or customers!  A map, who would have thought it’d be so simple.

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Awhile back we mentioned that there was a big contest going on where the lucky winner would actually win free business cards for LIFE.  Yes, you heard right, for life.  The contest was to design the perfect business card for the one and only Jeremy Schoemaker.  Over 470 entries later, a winner was chosen and after checking out the winning design, we know exactly why it was picked as the best of the best!

Check out the design above.  Looking at it you can see why OvernightPrints.com and Jeremy Schoemaker both fell in love with it.  The winner of the contest and designer of these amazingly creative business cards was Chiwun Smith and it takes only one glance to see that he went with a credit card styled design.  The attention to detail was spectacular and he even included the signature bar and the faux black magnetic strip.  In a word, genius.

Here’s what Jeremy Schoemaker had to say:

“The OvernightPrints.com and ShoeMoney’s Business Cards for Life Contest was a huge success. With over 470 entries, the quality of submissions was astounding. We really didn’t have any preconceived notions of what we wanted for a business card, so that made looking through them that much more fun. It was a very tough decision but with the help of the ShoeMoney.com readers and my staff we were able to pick a winner. But in my opinion any of the top 20 would have made a great business card to hand out at conferences. I want to thank everyone who took the time to design a card and enter the contest.”

Enjoy your business cards for life Chiwun!  Thanks for the amazing design!

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Most savvy marketers keep a “swipe file” – samples of their favorite marketing ideas, sales letters, headlines, classified ads, and so on.   That way they’ll have plenty of inspiration and ideas for their own marketing.

A smart business card user will also keep (or at least note) clever and appealing business cards that he or she runs across, too.

But that can lead into the sticky situation of copying someone else’s work.

For example, I know a gentleman who found a business card with a drawing on it that he liked.  He asked his designer to come up with something similar, but the designer copied it exactly.  Uh-oh.

I have another friend who just couldn’t find what he wanted, so he thought of “copying something off the ‘Net” or just using an image he found online.

It’s simply not cool (or legal) to use someone else’s work without their permission and you certainly don’t want to be sued for copyright infringement.  So what should you do?

In the first situation, sometimes you can simply contact the owner of the original business card and ask permission to use the artwork.  If the owner doesn’t see you as a competitor, he or she may be quite willing to grant that permission (and impressed with you for being honest enough to ask!)

And while it’s true that the Internet is a great source for images and clipart, not all of it is fair game for your own use.  It’s best to look for something that’s distributed under a “Creative Commons License” or patronize one of the many websites that offer royalty-free clipart and images.

Even more convenient, however, is simply using an online business card printer such as OvernightPrints.com that offers a wide variety of pre-designed business card backgrounds.  There are no legal hurdles to jump through, you know that the image proportions and resolution are just right for your business card, and there’s a wide selection of really nice images and photos.

True, the business card design will not be exclusive to your company – but the odds of a direct competitor in your home town ordering the exact same business card are pretty slim!

Rather than copying someone’s business card design, I think it’s important to copy what WORKS.  And most business card templates do.

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When it comes to designing a brilliant and beautiful business card, sometimes the easiest way to achieve a desired result is the most simple.  That said, when we saw these business cards, despite the fact that the company on the card probably didn’t want their cards to have anything to do with tennis, that’s the exact effect they achieved. 

How they achieved this, is extremely simple and should be a lesson to each and every person out there as to just how easy it can be to make your business cards whatever you wish it to be, simply by thinking about it and adding a little color.  To make this business card look like a tennis themed, or tennis ball business card, all they did was pick the perfect color of green, coupled it with white text on top of it and the rest is history.  Remember, sometime the best results can come with the simplest efforts.

So, next time you’re designing your business card, if you’re trying to achieve a certain result, whatever that result may be, think about the simple ways you can achieve it, rather than the most complex.  Trying to create a business card that screams Baseball?  Go for white background and red text maybe in the shape of the seams of a baseball.  Whatever look you’re going for, experiment with colors, both of the background and the text on top of it, and see how simple it can be to achieve drastic, and great results.  Try it now!

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Business cards – they’re not just for business any more.

I know they’re called “BUSINESS” cards.  But what’s the most basic purpose of a business card?  To give someone your contact information in a portable, convenient way.  Who needs your contact information?  Lots of people!

I was thinking of that this morning, since a) school started in my town yesterday and b) it was time to write another blog post.

What if you were to create a business card for your family?

Think of all the people who could use that information, and when such a card might come in handy.

You could tuck a couple of cards in your child’s backpack.  If he or she gets lost and can’t remember your address or phone number, it will be available.

You could give a business card with your home address on it – maybe even with Mom & Dad’s work phone numbers too – to the teacher, the coach, the Taekwondo instructor, the babysitter and the parents of your childrens’ friends.  You could even put emergency contact information on a family business card.

You probably wouldn’t need a lot of cards and you certainly wouldn’t need any fancy design – but you can order as few as 25 cards for $1.98 at OvernightPrints.com, and they offer plenty of pre-designed templates to choose from.

Why not order a set today?

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On this site we’ve covered some of the coolest things in the world of business cards you’ll ever see.  This, however, just might be a first.  What would you say if I told you that you could hand out business cards to people that not only can they find your information on, but they can actually EAT if they get hungry?  Yes, while technically you can “eat” paper, these business cards you can actually eat and enjoy eating them, as they are made out of probably the most popular food on the planet:  Chocolate. 

Now, herein lies a tiny problem that I can find with providing people with edible, delicious chocolate business cards:  Either they are going to feel no remorse and eat them immediately, thereby losing your contact information, or they will feel so bad about eating them that they never do and they eventually melt.  Both issues are small ones, but nevertheless, on top of the expense of the business cards made of chocolate, you have to keep them in mind as reasons to not make them your primary business card.

Saying that, I think that reveals the true genius of these cards and the novelty of them.  If you used these as very special business cards that only certain clients, potential customers or business contacts received, I’m fairly sure they’d understand both how special and interesting they are.  I kind of doubt anyone would actually Eat them, despite their edible nature, but instead pass them around and show them off to just about everyone.  Consider that job well done.

At any rate, just goes to show how far you can truly push the boundaries of business card design if you want.  Amazing, really.

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Ever gone into someone’s office and see a stack of business cards sitting on a little wooden case, all ready to be taken?  Ever thought to yourself just how boring that is, and in reality, how much BETTER we can do?  After all, the reason you’re on this blog in the first place is to find out about the most creative and unique business cards in the world, and how you too can create business cards, for not very much money, that are just as great?

Saying that, you have to ask yourself:  What’s the point of having an amazingly unique business card if you’re going to display it on something completely boring?  Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, now does it?  It’d be like painting an abstract painting and then displaying it in your closet.  Just doesn’t work out.  So, when we found this business card couch, we thought we had to share it with you!  Apparently it’s made out of tin foil that was then covered with a special clay and baked to harden.  Now it looks like a plump, plush and comfortable (albeit extremely LOUD) couch that you could sit on, if your business cards weren’t.

Slap this thing on your desk, set a few business cards on it and watch the reaction you get from your clients or prospective clients.  The great thing is, this is only the beginning and hopefully it will just plant a little seed in your head that when it comes to not only designing your business cards, but displaying them and handing them out, the sky really is the limit when it comes to just how creative you can get.  Just because it’s business, doesn’t mean you can’t still have a sense of humor and a flair for the original.

Get creative, it’s worth it!

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In my last post, I described a common email rumor that is often circulated about someone who is dying who wants to collect gazillions of business cards before they die.

Another business-card-related hoax you may have run across is the allegation that criminals in the U.S. are using burundanga-soaked business cards to incapacitate their victims.

A typical story goes that a lady at a gas station is approached by someone (a painter?) who hands her his business card.  Not long after accepting the card, the lady feels dizzy and out of breath.  She later finds out that the business card had been soaked with a substance similar to a “date rape” drug.

According to Snopes.com, http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/burundanga.asp, this is also a hoax – no one has been able to verify the exact story, and while such a drug exists, it would need to be swallowed or inhaled in order to produce such a reaction.

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Sometimes, when it comes down to designing the perfect business card, simple monochromatic schemes are breathtakingly beautiful.  Sometimes they are the perfect understatement that lets your business do the talking, not your business card.  Sometimes, however, your card might just love a splash of color, and those receiving it might love you for it. 

The business card we just stumbled upon looks like it belongs to a web design company run by a guy named Jon Hicks in the U.K.  His business card, while still simple is all about color, and it makes us all about his business card.  The front of the card simply says “We (Heart) Trees” and has a beautiful tree photograph with some excellent rainbow colored designs behind it.  Upon flipping the card over, you see the continuation of that rainbow circle design as well as a brief description of exactly who he is, what he does and how he goes about it.  In short…genius.

Sometimes, as we mentioned, going away from the simple, sleek and slightly less colored design isn’t what your business card needs.  Next time you’re in the market for some, head over to OvernightPrints.com and instead of going simple, go ALL out and splash color anywhere you see fit on your new business cards.  After all, as many popular designs are going increasingly monochromatic, we could all do with a little color in our lives, don’t you think!?

If you have some amazing brightly colored designs, we’d love to see them!  Why not send us some photos of your colorful business cards and we can feature them on the site!  Keep the great designs up!

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Every once in a while I get an email from someone who wants me to publicize the fact that such-and-such is trying to amass the largest collection of business cards in the world.

While there are certainly many business card collectors, these solicitations are usually in behalf of a child who has cancer.

The most publicized entreaty was on behalf of Craig Shergold, who in 1989 had a supposedly-terminal brain tumor and wanted to amass the largest collection of GREETING cards in the world.  So to begin with, he never wanted BUSINESS cards at all.

This young man’s tumor was removed successfully in 1991 and the greeting cards (and business cards) keep coming in, despite repeated entreaties to stop sending them.

There are other names associated with this wish, too – Ryan McGee of Virginia is battling cancer but never wanted cards sent to him at all.

On the other hand – Brandon Rayner of Las Vegas, NV, did suffer from leukemia and did want to amass the largest collection of business cards.   However, he died in December 2008 with a collection of more than 900,000 business cards.

If you get an email from someone with a plea for business cards, please don’t automatically assume it’s true – check out such rumors at sites such as Snopes.com.

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