I’m all for tradition, but there is definitely a part of me that loves a more outlandish approach to things. These fluorescent pink wedding invitations by The Hungry Workshop (in letterpress, my favourite) definitely fall into that category.

Do you prefer traditional designs or something more outlandish? Leave a comment and let me know.

Something borrowed, something pink

You’ve got the front and rear of your business card designed and printed. Now how about the sides? Edge painting, also referred to as edge colouring or colour edging, is a great addition to really make your business card stand out.

Neve designs.

Atelier Santaclara.

Inspiration Home.

Tina Durocher.

The Ubiquitous Manufacturing Company.

Elizabeth Edwards.

FRWD.

BLOK Architecture.

Maria Bernal Photography.

Julia Ann Ruzich.

Slate Studio.

Emily Ellyn.

Apala Corporation.

Villainy and Associates.

Smart Penguin.

Image Now Films. These cards may also be Triplex (it’s tough to tell 100% by the photo), three different coloured layers of stock, judging by the white and black edges still being visible. A slightly different effect, which can be used instead of, or in conjunction with edge coloring. Either way, they deserved a mention.)

Culinary Culture.

Nikki Nischke Photography.

Brilliant.

Widgets & Stone.

Pacific Luxury Group.

Aphro Chic.

What do you think about edge painting?

Some printers/binders offer a limited range of colour choices, whiles others will do it in the Pantone of your choice (for an additional cost of course). Depending on which way you go you’re looking at a few hundred dollars per thousand cards to add edge colouring to your business cards.

Edge painting business cards

Conqueror have recently added another half dozen papers to their already popular stock. To accompany their latest releases, Conqueror also have a small but great collection of fonts that are available, for free, to download from their webpage.

Available in a range of textures, coatings, colours and highly polished finishes, and ranging from 90 up to a hefty 400gsm, the Conqueror range is sure to have something to suit a future project.

Pictures are obviously a little lacking when it comes to demonstrating the texture and feel of paper, but here goes…

Laid Digital, Brilliant White with digital printing. 300gsm.

Laid Cobolt, screen-printed in Pantone. 300gsm.

Calligraphy, with a varnish deboss. 300gsm.

CX22 ( 100% recycled ) in Diamond White, printed in 4 colour process. 100gsm – 400gsm.

Onto the fonts, starting with AW Conqueror Carved.

AW Conqueror Didot.

AW Conqueror Inline.

AW Conqueror Sans.

AW Conqueror Slab.

There are dozens of options to choose from which aren’t pictured of course. If you’re in Australia, K.W.Doggett is the place to go for printed samples. If you’re elsewhere you’ll need to check with your preferred supplier.

Don’t forget to grab the fonts!

You’ll find them on the Conqueror webpage under SOLUTIONS > TYPEFACES.

New stocks and typeface from Conqueror

In my travels I always make sure to keep an eye out for interesting business card designs, and pick up a few wherever possible to add to the inspiration pile. Included here are a handful of recent additions that caught my eye.

Butchers Grill, meat and wine cellar.

My new favourite local restaurant. Windows on the Bay, grill & bar.

The effect of Cream Film’s business card is somewhat lost on-screen I’m afraid, the gold foil stamping on un-coated black stock looks great in the flesh.

Boncor, pharmacies and health food stores.

Rembroza, restaurant and bar.

Sette Bello, another local restaurant.

How about you?

Picked up any interesting cards lately?

A pocket full of business cards

If there two things every graphic designer has done, one is scribble out an idea before scrunching it into a ball so tight that it will never see the light of day again, and the other is having spent an entire day or more stuck firmly to their chair.

With this notepad from Trapped In Suburbia, you can shoot some hoops or toss the football around and get a pinch of exercise while disposing of your dud ideas.

Sporty.

It’s almost a shame you have to scrunch them up and chuck them out.

The play more more more notepad – Turn scrap paper into sport

Ninety-nine times out of a hundred that you’re given a business card, chances are that its the standard 90mm x 55m size. Into the rollerdex it goes to be skimmed over and forgotten like all the rest.

There are alternatives however. An extra trim or a simple die-cut can make a card stand out and doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Starting with a piping hot card of coffee, here are a few alternatives to consider.

Completely round cards.

One or more round corners costs only a few dollars extra.

You could even lose a corner or two completely.

Square cards.

Last but not least, my own business card design, still a rectangle but cut to a sleek 90mm x 45mm high.

What about you?

Did you do anything different with your business cards? Maybe the next batch?

Unusual shape business cards

The boss walked in on you reading a headhunters business card? No problem! Just eat the evidence.

I love peanuts, just don’t ask me how you print on one.

I must not let my girlfriend see these, I’ll end up ordering them only to have all my cards mysterious disappear.

Your sugar fix for the day, cookie cards.

Yum yum.

Seen any other tasty business cards?

Business cards good enough to eat

This is a “business card” by PacBlue Printing delivered to advertising agencies to promote their large format printing capabilities.

Very Clever.

Probably a touch to big to carry a stack around with you, at least their clients will never lose the card.

Large format business cards

Portrait business cards are definitely less common (in my experience) than landscape cards, which in design is a good thing. After all, isn’t the idea to stand out from the crowd? But if this is the case why are there so few portrait cards?

Is it practicality? All rollerdex’s and business card folders are for landscape cards, is this why the majority of cards are landscape?

I’ve asked both colleagues out of curiosity and clients regarding their work in progress what their opinions on portrait cards are. The answer has always been somewhere between dislike and indifference. I’ve never had someone give portrait cards a solid thumbs up.

I’ve posted 20 or so portrait business cards here gathered from around the web, all of which are good designs, but why so few to choose from, what do you think?

What are your thoughts?

Portrait business cards. Love em or hate em?

Portrait business cards, what do you think?

Have you ever had something printed only to find the final product isn’t quite the colour you expected? A likely cause is the paper used.

Different stocks produce different colours when using the exact same colour ink. If you’re familiar with Pantone colours at all you’ve probably noticed there are seemingly multiple instances of the same colour. 200u, 200m, 200c etc.

On screen these all look the same, on paper these colours will be printed on un-coated, matte and coated stock respectively and produce variations of colours despite the exact same ink being used. This is due to the different absorbent properties of the stock.

Additionally, the light under which you view your prints also affects the colour you see. Next time you visit the supermarket take a look in the meat section, while the store itself will most likely be flooded with energy efficient fluorescent lights, the meat section almost certainly will not.

Fluorescent lights emit high levels of green and yellow which when combined with the red of your potential dinner cause the meat to look brown while the fat will look yellow. Appetizing, no?

The same applies to paper. Many printers provide PDF proofs which are fine for confirming the layout and trim marks of your project, but not the colour.

Just to be safe…

To be sure that your final product will live up to your expectations, ask your printer for a digital proof before signing off.

How paper affects the colour of your prints

Posted here are a few really unique, though possibly impractical business card designs. People often get caught up in such ideas setting out to create something innovative and unique and end up forgetting about the functionality of the card.

The picture above for example, is for an asthma and allergy centre. It’s a clever demonstration of the importance of health lungs and great for someone to be able to blow up a balloon having conquered there asthma, but what happens when you’re having a chronic asthma attack. Do you blow up the balloon to get the number to call for help ? I doubt it.

This is more to my liking. Just as memorable, probably fits in a rollerdex with a little effort, gives you something to poke at while your on hold too.

This clothes peg with details printed on is a novel idea to be sure, but who will carry or file away a clothes peg?

Business cords for the Department of Energy. I guess 1 more length of wire in a sparky’s toolbox isn’t too much of a hassle.

Edible business cards to hide the evidence from your existing boss. I don’t fancy being the guy that eats the 1000th card that gets handed out a year after its printed…

Now that I think about it I don’t fancy anything that has been run through a printed and delivered to me via someone’s pocket.

I imagine this has been thought of countless times and put into practice less I would imagine. Not quite sure if that’s a paper stock of some sort or metal, I’ve seen a few cards in the past for metal manufacturers or works which had corners quite capable of cutting you.

And finally a rubber business card for personal trainer Poul Nielsen. This is a great idea for a personal trainer, but I guess you have someone else dial the phone number while you stretch the card out ?

What are your thoughts ?

Seen any other unique stocks? Got an opinion on these? let me know.

Business cards printed on unique media

Here is a small collection of interesting business cards I’ve fished off the net featuring dies cuts and embossing.

There’s a couple that might be a bit flimsy for my liking, but definitely some memorable cards. I thought bite impression above was a great touch for a dentists business card.

Die cut and threaded dog tags for the National Greyhound Adoption Program.

Retro microphone cutout for radio presenter Chris Fisher.

Lock-pick set for Mitnick Security Consulting.

One thought on this card, Mitnick Security provides digital and internet based security products and services. Without having looked at the company website i assumed there work related to physical security, locks etc. as implied by the mechanical lock-pick set.

A clever idea but not the perfect message in my opinion.

A perforated business card for divorce lawyer James Mahon, one half for each of you. Not terribly sympathetic, ha.

The same idea including stationery.

And finally putting yourselves back together.

What are your thoughts ?

Seen any other clever cards? Got an opinion on these? let me know.

Clever die cut & embossed business card designs

After agonizing over my new business card design I was pleased to finally receive them. It’s always difficult to design for yourself, but I’m glad to say that after receiving the cards I’m happy with the result.

The card front is printed in 2 colours with a matte varnish, while the back features the greyscale version of my logo design. The card is printed on 350gsm stock and is trimmed down to 90mm x 45mm to give it a little distinction.

Need a graphic designer for your project?

I’m available for branding and identity design work including logo design, stationery and other printed media, packaging & point of sale materials, website design and more…

If you would like to work together or if you need a quote for your graphic design project, please contact me here.

If you have any questions, want to discuss your project before submitting a design brief, or just want to say hello, please feel free to contact me. I’m always happy to have an obligation free chat.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Personal business card design