Designing JayGoldman.com Business Cards and Need Your Input!
I keep running into situations in which I need personal cards for all the things I’m doing under the banner of JayGoldman.com. Never one to make life easy for myself, I’ve put the pressure on by deciding that I had to have some really cool and distinctive cards, and that the price to print them shouldn’t necessarily be a limitation on the design (within reason, of course). Someone pointed me to the incredibly inspiring It Even Has a Watermark gallery of business card designs, which has started to become a nasty habit. Some recent and particularly thought provoking favourites:
Jose Antonio Contreras
I love the idea of a game built-into the card that engages the recipient and focuses them on your name long enough to encourage short-term to long-term memory transfer.
Daniel Ballou
I’m not sure it’s possible to have more awesomesauce in ‘card’ form. That said, they don’t fit into any kind of card holder, are easy to lose in your pocket of loose change, and reputedly cost about $3 per coin to make. I’m good for fairly pricey cards, but that’s pushing it.
Orazal
I dig the receipt feeling of this one. It would definitely stand out in a pocket full of cards – check it out in large size on Flickr to see the details.
Megan Cummins
I love the idea of this one but I’m not 100% down with the execution. The scratch off bit is really clever, but the heavy “hire me” focus is, I think, too much. I would have gone with witty or funny answers to the meaning of life and printed a whole bunch of them.
So! Since you might well be on the receiving end of my shiny new cards, what’s the best thing you’ve seen? Worst card you’ve ever had? What would make you remember a card you’d been handed? Does that change if you’re at a networking event and have a whole pocket full?
» December 19th, 2008, 11:03 am • permalink • categories: Observatory • tags: anthony lazaro, business cards, collateral materials, daniel ballou, design, it even has a watermark, jaygoldman, jaygoldman.com, jose antonio contreras, materials, megan cummins, orazal • Subscribe to comments for this entry through the 
RSS 2.0 feed.
» Please leave a comment below, or trackback from your own blog.
Posts (RSS)
delicious
How about the coin concept, but instead of minting coins you print business cards that look like the picture above. I stared at that picture for a good while. And print something (anything, doesn't have to be informative or substantial) on the other side. I find one-sided cards to be cheap.
You know, I really only like the receipt concept. I think the messaging could be better, but there's something very strong in that idea.
Perhaps I've gotten a little more stodgy over the years, but while I think a business card needs to be really fun, I am more concerned about whether the brand and necessary information are conveyed effectively. The card, while unique, is just the wrong format. And I agree with you about the last one…there's something to this idea that was squashed by the weight given to her "HIRE ME" insistence.
I like the idea of a card holding your interest long enough for that short- to long- term memory transfer to take place, though I'm not sure the cross-world puzzle does that. Hmm, maybe I like this one more than I originally thought. I really like the simplicity of the info-side, that's for sure.
I have always been a HUGE fan of distinctive letterpressed business cards, printed on rough-hewn recycled card stock. For me, the material is just as important as the actual design. Don't know if you've ever seen any of Bruce Licher's work…but if you can get your hands on a sample set, I strongly recommend taking a look at what Bruce does. He truly is a letterpress legend. Click on the "View Bruce's Slideshow" on the top-left of the title on this page: http://www.creativerefuge.com/pages/spotlight.htm(also a pretty good interview).
Thanks for the feedback Greg!
I took a look through Bruce's work and it is really impressive. I'm leaning heavily toward letterpress on a nice thick stock, but just not sure what to put on them yet. Had a great visit with Neil at Lunar Caustic Press and will probably use them for the printing.