Time for part three of the series about inspirational and creative business cards. Check out what designers came up with for their clients to make a great first impression. And, if you haven’t checked already, check out part 1 and part 2 of the series for some truly spectacular business card ideas.
Let’s start with a video of a laser cut card. This idea really pushes the limits of what can be achieved with paper.
A bit more creativity and a little less die-cut can also demonstrate well what your client does. In this case the dentist removing cavities.
Makes sure to have an idea, don’t just have a punch-out for no real reason.
The message is very important if you’re going to bear the extra cost of laser cutting or die-cutting.
You can make the holes big enough so you can put your fingers through to complete the picture, like on this card for Yoga classes.
Err… Allow me not to comment on this one.
This card for a manicurist is a little oversized, but it may even prove to be useful.
The thing with die-cuts is they show on the other side of the card, which is usually an annoyance, but if you’re smart you can make good use of it, like on this card made for a company Lion in Oil. This card reads both ways.
I know this idea has been done before for photographers, but still like this one because it makes a good use of the die-cut on both sides.
You really need some solid stock to make this card usable. There is more hole than paper on this one. The idea is great though. It’s for an ornithologist (bird watcher) and the punch-out is in the shape of a binocular view.
You can use other more expensive materials if paper doesn’t hold well enough. This one for example is made up of thin wood board.
And if wood isn’t enough for even more detail go for thin metal sheets.
If you’re still hungry after eating soup with that spoon, you can eat this beef jerky card. Perfect if you don’t want people calling you after that all important meeting.
Nowadays, you can print any object with ink jet printers that shoot the ink drops through a distance of up to 10cm. Not just peanuts like on this example. You can even print the surface of water in a glass, which is of course not very portable, but still, the possibilities are endless.
For dessert you can meet the guy with the fortune cookie business card. Have a bunch of people with such visiting card on your meeting and you can save on all the snacks. Just serve them water to wash all the cards down.
Don’t let your dog stay hungry either. The owner of this business card is a dog trainer, who printed his info on tasty dog treats.
So what else can we use as unusual business cards? Anything really. These are printed tennis balls.
Drumsticks that double up as pencils made for a drumming teacher.
Toys, like these lego figures work just as well.
Pieces of electrical cords for a person working for the Department of Energy. “Here is my business cord sir! — No, there is nothing in my mouth.”
Patchwork business card for a gift shop to communicate that everything is hand made.
If confidentiality is your message use this card with a proof of use.
If teamwork is your selling point, use a set of cards for different team members that together make up one image.
Sometimes including a little game is what you need to make your card memorable.
Animated layers for a multimedia artist.
3D glasses for a 3D graphic designer.
A card that grows little plants when placed into water made for a gardener.
Other times refined designs with art paper, embossing, UV varnish or unusual typography is what’s required for a good effect.
With all the new technology around us, do we still need to carry physical business cards around? Can’t we just rely on people googling us? Well, it may work as long as you have a memorable set of keywords that surely resolve to your domain.
Maybe not like this one.
Prefer twitter? Make sure you twitter the event of giving a card out immediately.
I think there is a future for business cards. Cards with more and more technology.
This concept card includes a ring with a proximity sensor and allows exchange of data when you shake hands with your new contact. This would give a whole new meaning to the handshake that now becomes obsolete among teens.
Another concept with a card that includes a magnetic strip, which simply plugs into a USB adapter which in turn syncs the new data with your Address book.
A cheaper solution is to include a mobile phone readable 2D barcode on your card that allows people to scan in your data quickly and precisely.
Finally a reprogrammable, highly expensive card that is great if your target is old people with poor eyesight. It let’s people read the data in huge letters upon pressing the four buttons.
Hard to tell what the business card of the future will be, but we can take Mr Hugh MacLeod’s advice who wrote on the back of a business card, as he usually does: “The future belongs to the artists and the Chinese.” So, if you’re not Chinese you better become the best artist you can be. Hopefully, this post will inspire you to come up with a lot of cool new ideas that you will post for us to see here in the design critique section.
Finally, let me assure, whatever you come up with you can’t possibly top this guy.
