I design and print a fair number of business cards as part of my duties at my day job. Actually “process” would probably be a better word for the work, as for the most part, the design work has already been done and it is just a matter of plugging in names and phone numbers.  As a genre, I am fascinated by business cards. I love the challenge of seeing how many different ways I can arrange information in the same 2 x 3.5 inch space. And nothing was more exciting than the day when I got my own business card. There it was in black and white: I was officially a professional!

Designing a really good business card takes skill and thought — sure, your name and number on white card stock will get the job done, but what will make clients remember you? Especially for a creative professional, the business card is often going to be the first representation of your work that a potential client sees, so it better be well designed.

My two favorite places for business card design inspiration have to be Creative Bits and Kariann Burleson’s flicker page. These examples range from beautiful and elegant to quirky and sometimes down right creepy (see the “bloody business card” on part two of the collection on Creative Bits).

Blogger Marty Weil posted a really interesting interview with Kariann Burleson on “ephemera: exploring the world of old paper.” My favorite part of the interview is when Burleson says her six-year-old daughter inquired about her card collection and the purpose of the cards. Burleson told her, “It’s something you give to someone that you want to know and want to know you. You give it when you want to be remembered.”

When her daughter asked why she did not have a card of her own, Burleson says in the interview:

“And I thought, that’s a good question–don’t know why. I think we all should have them. I would like to see a revival in the exchange of name and calling cards–its an endearing and gracious ritual. I would love to see everyone with personal calling cards, and the exchange of them to become as common as it was in the late part of last century.”

So all of this has got me thinking… we should all have calling cards, especially those in the design/editing world who are always on the lookout for freelance work. I currently do not have one other than my “day job” card, though I have several design possibilities drafted that I continue to work and re-work.

What are you thoughts on the art of the personal calling/business card? Do you have one and how do you visually represent yourself and your work? If you have images to share, I am happy to post them.

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Tags: business cards, inspiration

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 11:37 am and is filed under Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.