Business Card Design Starter Kit: Showcase, Tutorials, Templates
Professionals in any field should always keep business cards on them because you never know when you’ll meet a potential client, partner or like-minded person. Despite their small size, business cards are one of the most powerful and handiest marketing tools. Not only do they create a link between you and your new contact, they’re also a quick way to give a great first impression. Business cards promote your skills and achievements and serve as a little container for big ideas.
Don’t underestimate the process of designing business cards; a well-made card does not just share your contact details: it generates further sharing and buzz. Like any self-promotion tool, designing a business card requires solid brainstorming and careful implementation to get the best effect.
This post targets a diverse audience. It features a collection of remarkable business card designs that could help you in your search for creative ideas. The round-up of fresh tutorials and business card templates further down might come in handy for those who don’t have the skills or experience to design their own.
Showcase Of Original And Memorable Business Cards
Letterpress Cards
Letterpress printing has actually been the only form of printing text and images since it was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. Because of its distinctive qualities, such as crisp and tangible impression onto paper, letterpress work is now widely used for branding and identity development. Letterpress gives stronger visual definition to type and artwork and has a special touch, which is why it’s a popular technique for business card printing. Below you can see some beautiful examples of letterpress business cards.
John Henry Donovan
On this business card, the fine design created by Irish designer and developer John Henry Donovan is complemented by the printer’s excellent choice of paper and inking.
Greg Anderson
This card works because of the stylish dirty texture, good use of color and, of course, letterpress. Designed by Thomas Guy.
Chris Piascik
The funky typography of freelance graphic designer Chris Piascik is set off well by the letterpress work on his business card.
Space 150
This stylish letterpress business card was designed for the creative agency Space150 by designer Evan Nagan. The card is part of the agency’s periodic general redesign, which it conducts every 150 days. The elegant constellation theme and high-quality letterpress printing make for an excellent card.
White Rabbit
This card promotes the portfolio of the German photographer Florian Muller (aka the White Rabbit). The use of the negatives pattern incorporates the card owner’s occupation well, and the surface is enhanced by an embossed rabbit.
One in Zero
The business card of Hong Kong-based idea firm OneinZero is minimalist: the focus is on the letterpress type and paper texture.
Christian Garibaldi
The effective combination of blind and ink debossing, along with the subtle coloring along the edge, makes for a clean and exquisite business card that perfectly conveys the aesthetic of the photographer’s online portfolio.
Montage
Dallas Graham of Montage Creative has a simple and strong business card.
Paper Monkey Press
Some filigree letterpressing is evident on the card of Paper Monkey Press.
Second World Design
The guys over at Second World took their branding very seriously, resulting in the clean beautiful letterpress card you see below.
Kinetic Lens
This card was designed by photographer Riley Maclean for his company Kinetic Lens. Combining various letterpress techniques and a great set of red tones, this business card has a multi-dimensional feel. It’s printed on thick 220-pound-bond cotton paper.
Laura Moretz
A good use of letterpress on the front and back of this card and the labels make this card memorable. It’s printed on French Speckletone #140 stock.
23rd And 5th
Here is a beautiful business card showing fine typography and two-color letterpress. It was designed for the staff of the 23rd & 5th branding agency. This business card for the Director of Development features a QR code that drives contacts to a dedicated mobile website optimized for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android.
Die-Cut Business Cards
Something else that determines a business card’s memorability and appeal is shape. Today many individuals, businesses and organizations die-cut their cards, going beyond traditional dimensions. Die-cutting is an effective way to make a business card eye-catching, unique and even interactive. But remember that a die-cut card should still be compact enough to fit in a standard wallet or card holder. Alternatively, you could suggest some other way to carry or hold your card. Some noteworthy die-cut business cards are showcased below.
Derrick Mitchell
Derrick Mitchell, a designer from Kalispell, Montana, creates his business cards by hand with chip board, screen printing, labels and stamps.
Popupology
This cute die-cut business card is done entirely in-house by designer Elod Beregszaszi.
Dyalect
The chic design of this business card is accentuated by the custom shape and 16-point silk matte finish card stock.
Kaman
This concept-based business card was designed by Mehdi Tuchak for the Iranian multimedia company Kaman.
Sean Gerety
This lovely business card mimics a Moleskine notebook. While the front is glossy, the back is matted and can be used as a note card.
Amundson Films
Cheap card stock and moderate-quality print wonderfully fit the aesthetic of this vintage movie ticket business card. Great job, Alice Cho!
Alteroy
This die-cut masterpiece belongs to the Israel-based designer Alteroy. The cardboard icons can be separated. Much effort was put into this business card, and the result is absolutely worth it.
Carlos Vazquez
This super-cute business card might be the shortest route to any Mac fan’s heart.
Herbert Martin
Besides containing the contact info of German dentist Herbert Martin, this business card has another cool function: it helps you check your bite by way of a die-cut stencil. Designed by Petra Penz.
Truf
The business card is square and “combines a hand-crafted feel with the style of Russian propaganda posters.”
Classic, With a Twist
Most of the business cards below have a classic rectangular shape and standard dimensions… but that is where their classic-ness ends. Creative ideas and skillful implementation make these cards look anything but ordinary.
Coco
The amazing identity concept for COCO was created by Polish designer “Wallstreet Different Creature.” This business card, as part of the overall branding, is pure style and beauty.
Erich Hartmann
Erich Hartmann designed his business card to spell out a bunch of his skills, along with his main occupation. This clever idea is nicely visualized by way of a two-sided card, with an offset logo on the front and letterpress on the back.
Fran Rosa
Motion and graphics designer Fran Rosa takes different angles on both his website and business cards… literally.
Grill Me
To see the info on this business card, grill it against a fire, because the card is stamped with lemon juice for ink. Quite an original idea, but using this effect for non-essential information or for an image, rather than contact info, might be more reasonable.
Luciano Ferreira
A lovely typographic business card made by Brazilian graphic designer Luciano Ferreira for promotional purposes.
Sandra Boils
This elegant business card was made for Spanish jazz vocalist Sandra Boils by graphic design studio Estudio Menta.
Stepan Prokop
A beautiful artistic business card by graphic designer Stepan Prokop.
Synchromatik
The rich grass texture makes the card of designer Marko Manojlovic look fresh and beautiful.
Van Der Buzz
This transparent business card, mimicking an X-ray, belongs to Ukrainian advertising agency Van Der Buzz.
What What
These cool playful business cards were created by twin brothers, designers John and Edward Harrison, also known as What What.
Combining Techniques
When it comes to developing promotional material for a brand today, the variety of choice is impressive. With all the different printing techniques, the loads of diverse paper and material available and relatively cheap digital technology, the process of designing a business card is limited only by the designer’s imagination. The following business cards rely on both paper quality and printing methods to create a memorable experience.
TAM Cargo
Traditional at first glance, this business card can be transformed into a little cargo transport box. The card was design by Brazilian advertising agency Y&R for TAM Airlines.
Cinch Creative
Design company Cinch Creative printed its business cards on 60-point Blotter paper with a fine natural texture. Thanks to this and the debossed logo and text, the card is a pleasure for both the eyes and hands.
Feelme Crew
This creative business card in the shape of a clapper board was designed by Ralev.com for Bulgarian multimedia agency Feelme Crew.
Fiverr
Here’s a green approach to business card design. The cards for Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman are made from recycled paper and cardboard. Moreover, the cards are completely hand-made. See details on Kaufman’s Facebook page.
Groundflights
This card, inspired by a boarding pass stub, was created by creative agency R3M1X3D for transportation company Groundflights. It is a successful mix of letterpress printing and die-cutting.
Herofilm
A beautiful business card stylized as a film frame. It was designed by Jimmituanart for Herofilm Productions.
Philosophy Communications
With a squeezable circle built in, the business card of PR company Philosophy Communications is a two-in-one solution. Brilliant work, wouldn’t you agree?
Rhino Studio
Premium paper, imitation rhino skin and a stylized typographic logo make this card chic indeed. Designed by Contreforme.
Paper Fortress
This vintage-looking business card, which features die-cutting, embossing and high-quality paper, was designed by the studio Second World for the film production company Paper Fortress.
Hear
This fancy silk-laminated card, featuring a spot UV coating, was designed by social media and design company Hear.
Gita Ayu
The cool illusion on this business card was achieved with a thin transparent plate that makes it look as though this faux-3D brick is broken. The amazing card was created by Saatchi & Saatchi, Indonesia, for a karate club.
Something Completely Different
The cards showcased below considerably expand the parameters of the business card format. It seems that business cards can be grown, played with and even eaten! Look at the craziest business card concepts around.
MODhair
Not only can you comb your hair with this business card, you can also play a classic rock song on it with your fingernail. The card was designed by Fabio Milito for a Rome-based hair salon.
Gitam BBDO Spicy
The Gitam BBDO agency uses spice sachets as business cards, associating each of its departments with a particular condiment.
BC Adventure Survival Training
The cards of BC Adventure remain extremely useful even in situations where a business card is useless. They are made of organic beef jerky and are good to eat for up to a year.
RDA
To promote one of his projects (an interactive chopping board), designer Sam Gough created 20 wooden business cards, carving his project’s title and contact info neatly into each.
Dept of Energy
With its business “cords,” Dept of Energy shows a skillful play on its identity and style.
Lush
This business card is a thin envelope stuffed with grass seed. The clean design, clever copy and sneaky seed surprise make for an adorable card. Designed by Brandon Knowlden.
Taberu Me
For the most desperate self-promoters, peanut business cards are not a bad idea. Taberu Me uses innovative CO2 laser engraving technology to print on the peanuts. But before you hands yours out, make sure no squirrels or chipmunks are around.
Wes Thomas
This business card design is an ongoing project of Philadelphia-based industrial designer Wes Thomas. The laser-cut card can be quickly transformed in a cute desktop toy. This is no ordinary concept and is pretty labor-intensive, but who would refuse such a business toy for their desk?
Business Card Galleries
Only the truly unique are remembered. When designing anything for yourself, it’s always useful to look around for fresh ideas. Here are permanent showcase galleries where you can find trends and best practices for business card design.
- Card Observer
- Cardonizer
- Card Nerd
- Cardview
- CardGala
- Creattica
- CardsPress
- The Art of the Business Card (Flickr pool)
- BusinessCardCritic
Tutorials
To get you started on your own business card, we’ve selected some fresh and useful tutorials and guides that cover various issues you might deal with in this area.
Create a Print-Ready Business Card in Illustrator
In this tutorial, well-known designer and blogger Chris Spooner walks you through the process of creating a fun business card with a sketched illustration.
How to Create a Stylish Business Card Template in Adobe Photoshop
In this tutorial, you learn how to create an elegant minimalist business card design in Photoshop. The source files are available for free downloading.
Create a Grunge Print-Ready Business Card
Use this tutorial to create a business card with nifty faded brush strokes in Photoshop.
How to Create a Nebula Background in Photoshop
Learn how to design a business card with an astral background.
Print-Ready Business Card Tutorial
This tutorial explains how to create a print-ready business card with a clean dark design in Photoshop.
How to Make a Print-Ready Business Card in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a two-sided business card with crop marks and bleed.
How to Design Your Business Card
This article discusses the basics of business card design and covers some best practices.
Business Card Design Walkthrough
Along with other step-by-step tutorials, a detailed case study like this one might be useful to you.
PSD Tutorial: Design a Dirty Business Card
Learn how to create a simple business card, complete with grungy texture.
Business Card Tutorial in Inkscape
Here is a detailed guide on how to design a business card in Inkscape. While the result shown does not look that great, the principles of working in Inkscape are described quite well, so you can get a better result using this open-source graphics editor.
Business Card
If you like the business card shown below, learn how to create it in Photoshop in this tutorial.
Making Creative Business Card
This tutorial shows how to make a nice business card in a matter of minutes.
How to Design a Print-Ready Business Card Design in Photoshop
This business card tutorial includes a couple of bonus templates, which you can download in PSD format and use for free.
How to Design Business Card
Learn how to create the unconventional and attractive business card below.
Grungy Business Card
Another variation of the grunge design is explained in this guide. The image preview and PSD file are free to download.
How to Make your Own Photographic Negative Business Cards
Now, here’s a completely different take on business card design. Photographer Steph Goralnik shares his technique for crafting a unique photographic negative business card.
How to Choose Business Card Paper
Paper is an important consideration when printing business cards. The right paper can make your card shine, while poor-quality stock can spoil even a top-notch design. Read this article to learn the key points and differences between various types of paper.
How to Choose the Right Paper
Although quite old, this article contains some useful tips on choosing the right paper for your business card. A solidly written article.
Templates
A template is definitely a great option for those who don’t have the skill to create a business card on their own. But even if you’re a professional designer, you may need the job done very fast or simply want to save time making customizations. This is when a template comes in handy. Below you’ll find a selection of well-designed free and commercial business card templates that you can take advantage of in your own projects.
Free Templates
Most of the templates in this category are free for personal and commercial use, but please be sure to read all accompanying legal usage notes before downloading the files.
This nifty business card design was created by graphic designer depart on the occasion of deviantArt’s birthday. The template is available for free download in both PSD and Ai formats.
FreelanceSwitch Business Card Template
This Adobe Illustrator template can be customized for any freelance profession. The pack comes with templates for writers, coders and designers.
Bokeh Business Card | More
The PSD template for this business card is available in high resolution and is ready to print.
Free Business Card Template for Photoshop (PSD) | More
This minimalist grayscale business card template is available as a free download at DeviantArt.
Free Business Card Design Pumpkin
This “Pumpkin” business card template features 300 DPI resolution and CMYK color mode for professional printing, front and back sides and four color schemes: pumpkin, cream, Indian pink and brown.
Construction Hazard Stripes Theme | More
This print-ready business card template is in Photoshop format.
Free Abstract Blue Business Card Template
This double-sided PSD card template includes well-organized layers and is in CMYK color mode for easy editing.
Die Gallery
In this gallery, you’ll find some unusual card shapes, all for free. All files are in EPS format.
Business Card Template
Here is a blank template for a standard US business card. Both JPEG and PSD versions of the template are available for free downloading.
Noise Modern Card | More
This download pack includes two full-layered PSD files for the front and back. The dimensions are 3.5 x 2 inches, and the resolution is 300 DPI.
Minimax Positivo Business Card Template
The template has six color variations and features a letterpress effect. The template package includes a PSD file, PDF help file and preview image.
Business Card Template (Vector) | More
A free Adobe Illustrator business card template in 3.5 x 2 inch format.
Vertical Business Card Vectors | More
An EPS file containing 18 vertical business card templates with JPG preview.
Free business card templates
10 free business card designs in PSD and TIFF formats.
Seextwood Business Card | More
A minimalist template in CMYK mode and 300 DPI resolution. The dimensions are 3.5 x 2.5 inches.
4 Blue Personal Business Card Templates | More
A set of four PSD business card templates in blue. The dimensions are 3 x 2 inches, and the resolution 300 DPI.
Premium Templates
Pure Style Business Card Template | More
A minimalist two-sided business card design (3.5 x 2 inches) that can fit practically any profession or brand. The template comes in high resolution and requires Adobe Photoshop 8 or higher for editing. Price: $7
Blue Monster Business Card Template | More
This funny template is ready to print and can be easily customized in a vector graphics editor. Price: $4
Business card (set 17) | More business card templates
These cheerful business cards might appeal to people in creative fields. Three license types are available; the basic one gives you this set for $5.
Typography Mini Business Card | More
These bright typographic mini-cards come in two styles, grungy and clean, and include a black and white version for low-cost printing. The templates are print-ready and can be edited in Photoshop. Price: $6
Tender Flowers Business Card | More
An original floral design that would work well for wedding photographers. It is print-ready and can be customized in Photoshop. Price: $7
Blue Bubble business card | More
This clean and airy design will appeal to fans of minimalism. It is in print-ready CMYK, 300 DPI, and includes two PSD files and two high-quality JPG images. Price: $5
Black Business Card Template | More
This business card has a rather universal design and would serve a personal brand, company or other project equally well. It is print ready; all you need to do is change the default text. Price: $7
The Black Family business Card Pack | More
These super-original and cute business cards might be good for showing off members of a creative team. They are two-sided, in CMYK and 300 DPI, easy to edit and print-ready. Price: $6
Related Posts
You may be interested in the following related posts:
- Business Card Design: Better Than A Plain Ol’ Business Card
- The Ultimate Round-Up of Print Design Tutorials
(al)
Steve
August 9th, 2010 5:35 amVery nice and funny collection (especially “BC Adventure Survival Training”), but if you want some more, dont’ miss: Small business-cards, but big inspiration!
Dmitry Chebakov
August 9th, 2010 5:35 amThank you, it’s a totally huge and stylish collection!
Pon
August 9th, 2010 5:53 amOk, what is the best online place to print pressed business cards?
Josh
August 9th, 2010 6:45 amtry http://www.studioonfire.com not sure about their prices but their work looks really good…
krishen
August 9th, 2010 6:06 amthank you so much :)
u have an awesome collection
ale
August 9th, 2010 6:07 amVery nice post!
I’m pretty happy about my business cards! They help us to get noticed :)
Have a look, I posted them on creattica
http://creattica.com/search/designs/uncle%20pear
Fred
August 9th, 2010 6:08 amFun collection, as always, but novel is not always best. If somebody handed me a peanut business card, I would drop it, run away and never call them again–I have a fatal allergy to those things and ingesting even the tiniest amount (including through skin, eyes or mouth) will send me to the emergency room. May as well print your card on a loaded rat trap.
Erin
August 9th, 2010 8:46 amI agree. The peanut business card is a TERRIBLE idea.
Tony K
August 9th, 2010 6:10 amWhat a huge collection of very nice examples. This must have took you a lot of time to collect. (Have not yet done all the reading, of course, but until now that’s great too).
dunster
August 9th, 2010 6:11 amI love the business card in Moleskine notebook layout !!
Where I can find a template from this?
Michael
August 9th, 2010 6:13 am@pon – That’s the same question I have..
@Julia May – You have done a wonderful job compiling a gallery a business card examples, temples and tutorials.
Your article could have really been an exception article, and manage to stand out from all other business cards articles, if you included a list of printers as well.
Julia May
August 9th, 2010 7:00 amThanks for you comment, Michael, it makes sense. However, this time I preferred to focus on the design aspect of business card creation. I tried to make this post as useful as possible selecting only the most up-to-date and well-made tutorials and templates, and showcasing different takes on business card design. Choosing printers is, in my opinion, a subject for a separate (and solid) research.
SAMEER
November 4th, 2011 5:39 amTHANKS
slegolego
August 9th, 2010 6:33 amso many nice things in here!
thanks
Eko - iBrandStudio
August 9th, 2010 6:34 amAmazing list…
Thanks for include our free template “Abstract Blue Business Card Template”. We are very happy :)
Fifi El-wa7esh
August 9th, 2010 6:37 amVery nice collection! Amazing job…
:D
thanks!
John
August 9th, 2010 6:37 amGreat to see an article on business cards (and what an awesome article too!)
Interesting to see that some of the templates are 300dpi. Our local printers (small fry compared to some of the larger bureaus) are now punching 500 dots per.
Easy to remedy though. :)
J
Russell
August 9th, 2010 6:39 amTotally awesome list! Thank you so much -:)
Kevin @Designer's Digest
August 9th, 2010 6:44 amawesome collections.. Letterpress Cards are really inspiring. cool design.
Islam
August 9th, 2010 7:30 amBrilliant collection and very good tutorials. I love the revival of Letterpress and the originality of some of the ideas, although some of them might be a tad impractical; very creative nonetheless.
Toro Loco
August 9th, 2010 7:34 amThis is an awesome article!!! Plenty of great ideas, tutorials and freebies. What more do you need??? =D
THANK YOU
AndyToolshed
August 9th, 2010 8:00 amI ask myself – which print shop can make such awesom cards. I know a few but they are quite boring. I mean where can I get paper like in the sample of “One in Zero” for example?
Do you guys know a Business-Card-page which makes extraordinary cards?
And thanks for the article.
Michael Brennan
August 9th, 2010 8:09 amNice article. Reminds me of the funniest youtube video about business cards! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2mHkQUBEpM
ANKASTUDIO
August 9th, 2010 8:21 amYou have suggested a link which suggest to download a free business card template which is almost identical with my GraphicRiver item. This is a copyright infringement. Please remove that link and do not be part of that crime. Here is my item: http://graphicriver.net/item/leather-style-business-card/69594
Adam
August 13th, 2010 11:29 amSo your the only person in the history of design to replicate a texture onto a business card? please. What do you do? search forums looking for your stolen “original ideas?”
Tony
August 9th, 2010 8:40 amAwesome article. I’m in the process of getting business cards and I was hoping that you would include some reputable places to get cards printed online, but alas there were none! Does anyone have recommended tips on finding a printing company? I’d like to get my cards letterpressed on thick recycled card stock but I have not found anywhere that has a good selection of printing techniques or stocks to choose from.
Hi
August 9th, 2010 9:41 amNo offense but I hate this business card post and pretty irrelevant lists. WHY?
The simple rules are this, paper quality, weight, and ink matter more than anything and it is nearly impossible to find a good online printer or even an article about WHERE to get quality prints on quality paper.
Write an article about that.
janis liepins
August 9th, 2010 9:49 amAwesome
Richie
August 9th, 2010 10:26 amThe idea was OK, I guess but not the execution. Thanks btw…. Apart from Chris Spooner’s tutorial, none was good enough…. He clearly explains everything there is to know…
And how could you forget this one.. this is the big daddy of them all… :) especially if you have only photoshop and wondering what to do :) and moreover the grungy tutorial is a TOTAL (concept) rip off of this PSDTuts one : http://bit.ly/jWTHy
Apart from that, i commend you for the time you put into collecting this, although I feel you could have done a lot better … I am in the process of re-branding.. so hopefully this will give me a headstart :)
Thanks
Yanie
August 9th, 2010 10:30 amGreat article! Love the business cards ideas :)
peter
August 9th, 2010 10:31 amwow
really cool designs
Andrew
August 9th, 2010 10:57 amPretty sure that “Alteroy” card was laser cut, not die cut.
Komal
August 9th, 2010 11:00 amAwesome cards!
Greg Tatum
August 9th, 2010 11:19 amWhile this is a really good list and really cool cards, I’d really like to see a practical list of commonly printed business cards with no cuts or anything. I find it hard to be creative in the business card format when I’m designing for business people who don’t want to spend a fortune on specialized printing. I just want to deliver a good solid product that I can order really quick from my online printer.
It’s not that I couldn’t use these special processes, but really it’s just impractical for the people I’m dealing with. Good article, but I would love to see some inspiring cards done with creative design that doesn’t rely on expensive printing processes.
T800
August 9th, 2010 11:54 amIncredible!, inspiring!, what can I say.
(When I look at b-cards my firm uses I can hardly sustain the gag reflex :(
Loller
August 9th, 2010 12:20 pmALL BUSINESS CARDS THAT DON’T SCAN GET THROWN OUT.
Even then, I scan them, THEN I THROW THEM OUT.
Get digital or get lost. And stop killing trees.
Get creative with that.
ed
August 9th, 2010 1:22 pmEver heard of Tree Farms?
/ guess not
Benjamin
August 9th, 2010 6:45 pmso you complain about killing trees, but THROW OUT business cards? I thought those that care about the environment recycle?
Loller
August 10th, 2010 7:10 amOMG you’re sooo clever! Of course I recycle, but I’d just as well not get the rubbish. The bottom line is this article is useless other than to inspire people to waste resources on fancy versions of 1980′s business protocol.
And anyone that believes that all, or even most, paper used comes from tree farms is probably an idiot.
Tony
August 10th, 2010 8:20 ami cant speak for the world, but i can speak for here.
most american paper is manufactured from american tree sources. i’m proud to report that despite this, a higher percentage of this continent today is forested than was when we first started mapping and tracking our forest land.
renewable resources work.
Loller
August 11th, 2010 7:03 amI think the real point here is that business cards are dated and have a shrinking amount of relevance in 2010 and beyond. Googling websites, texting email addresses and trends like digital “bumping” with smartphones have much more relevance.
Jakob Birgersson
August 12th, 2010 1:11 amI just think you are wrong. Computers have increased the amount of paper used in an office, not decreased. People are still fascinated by things they can touch and feel. So business card will survive.
Roman
August 9th, 2010 1:06 pmAmazing card, but the it is best to have a Virtual Business Card, like http://qubrit.com, where your contacts and social network profiles never get outdated.
Speider
August 9th, 2010 3:45 pmBUT…how do people remember how to find your digital card? You need a printed card (with the exception of bump technology devices)!
Roman
August 10th, 2010 2:25 amhttp://qubrit.com ‘ s idea is that once you exchange your virtual card with someone, no matter what you change (phone, social networks, address), others will always have your new details.
The another great idea is that on printed paper cards, you can just type your username/id in that Virtual Card Service, which would be always the same, and people will find you through that username/id. In this case, even if you gave you printed card to someone your ID only 2-3 years ago, they can still find you through that type of service. The only question is that Qubrit (http://qubrit.com) or any other services out there must be very popular (like Facebook) so that everyone would have their accounts with it.
Katie
August 9th, 2010 1:22 pmThanks for these! I was just planning to research business card designs for inspiration when I saw this in my twitter feed. Perfect timing!
alex
August 9th, 2010 1:28 pmvery nice bussiness cards and tutorials, thanks for sharing :D
Jean
August 9th, 2010 1:31 pmToo bad that most of these wonderful templates are in Photoshop and not Illustrator. For screen/web stuff it’s a great app, but for typography it’s inferior and shouldn’t be the go-to application for creating print media in it’s entirety.
Zoe
August 9th, 2010 3:32 pmI see what you did there…
Speider
August 9th, 2010 3:49 pmI’m still amazed that people rely on the standard car as a presentation. Either people pin them to a board, place them in a card folder or scan them to digitize your name and information (which is hard to do with many cards).
Why limit yourself with the standard size (although it’s a fun challenge to design within the given space and plan die cuts)? The card you hand people says who you are and what you do. Make a splash with that and you will hear others say, “I’ve heard about your card and couldn’t wait to get one!” (It does happen!)
Great article, Julia!
Speider
August 9th, 2010 6:12 pmAnd some on a standard CARD…while in their standard car!
Julia May
August 10th, 2010 1:39 amThanks Speider, appreciate your compliment. I agree with you, a successful business card triggers the word of mouth.
However, I think there are situations when standard card may be a better option that the one with a pop-out toy. In my opinion, the best solution is to make a basic card design for everyday needs (which would be a balance of creativity and practicalness) and create some unique concepts for special events, projects or even people.
D Bnonn Tennant, Ace Web Copywriter
August 9th, 2010 5:15 pmSome very striking examples, but it would be good to see some discussion of the actual purpose of a business card—and how to better achieve it.
There’s only one purpose I can think of: to improve your chances that the person you give it to will contact you later (to buy your services). There’s a word which describes this sort of thing: stuff you print out and give to your prospects in the hope of generating a sale.
Advertising.
But in that case, most business cards utterly fail. They don’t contain any useful advertising components. There are basically four parts to an advertisement:
1. The promise
2. The picture
3. The proof
4. The push
The promise and picture draw your ideal prospect into the ad by appealing to something he cares about. In most ads, it includes the headline and lede. The proof tells him why he should believe you. It usually includes both emotional and rational reasons. The push tells him what he has to do, and asks him to do it. It includes the offer and the call to action.
Without these four elements, an ad will not succeed. If you don’t hook your prospect, he won’t read the ad at all. If you don’t give him reasons to buy, he won’t. And if you don’t tell him how, he can’t. Which means that most business cards are going to completely fail to achieve their purpose of turning a lead into a sale.
If you’re wondering what a properly designed business card might look like, check out http://informationhighwayman.com/articles/why-most-business-cards-arent-worth-paper-printed-on/
Fran
August 10th, 2010 4:43 amA business card is not a standalone piece of advertising, it has a very distinctive context (meeting, conversation) and function (reminder). You can’t compare it with a flyer.
Being a creative professional, you have the license to play with meaning and format to be original and remarkable.
When talking to someone you give your business card, it should be quick to read and understand, and it can be a conversation starter, never an obstacle.
Falk
August 15th, 2010 12:53 am@D Bonn
You might be right with your thoughts on advertising for people working in businesses excluding design businesses. It must be much more important for them to advertise on the business card (especially if this is their only advertising medium) but I think it is a totally different thing with designers. They deal mostly with other designers or people who are at least interested in design, so they get in touch with designers (all others ask the “son of a friend” to mock something up on Powerpoint and sell it as their new brochure). This means that the business card will have to be unique/striking/beautiful/clear… to make them feel that they really deal with a professional.
A business card is therefore so much more than one of these bold and in-your-face marketing messages, it is supposed to best represent your brand (if you own one) and emotions that you would like to connect to it. Maybe the post should have been called “Business Card Design Starter Kit FOR DESIGNERS: Showcase, Tutorials, Templates” to avoid any confusion.
If you speak to a decent designer and show him your card, they will most likely pick up on the issues that come with the advertising content in your business card design – the right margin on the back being too narrow compared to the left one and there are also some issues with punctuation and hyphens. If a designer would do things like this, it would much more damage his reputation than the advertising would do good. But for people outside the design industry, these things would probably not be too obvious to them and therefore the marketing message will be all they take from it.
div
August 9th, 2010 8:14 pmvery very wide range of designs and innovative ideas. thanks for the post.
Rupnarayan Bhattacharya
August 9th, 2010 9:35 pmGreat collections. I was looking for something like this for a long time. Very usable and inspirational. Thanks a lot
The Pro Designer
August 9th, 2010 10:33 pmReally great collection of business cards samples and tutorials, also thanks for including my tutorial…
MONOmoda
August 9th, 2010 11:39 pmFantastic article!
yourwaytomagic
August 9th, 2010 11:44 pmWhat a lot good looking business cards.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Waheed Imran
August 9th, 2010 11:47 pmWowwwww. Excellent Creativity… Thanks for sharing this.
Phil - pipjonesdesign
August 10th, 2010 12:50 amPatrick Bateman approves!
Stuart
August 10th, 2010 3:00 amWow. Some really great, inspired designs. Really good food for thought and I agree with the author — a unique and memorable business card is important in order to stand out.
I have had some success with http://www.123print.com since I am not a Photoshop ace. They have a lot of templates, design staff to help you, and great service.
iglobtech
August 10th, 2010 3:10 amexcellent cards :)
thanks for the ideas and sharing !
keep it up
Anton
August 10th, 2010 7:09 amamazing cards!
bell
August 10th, 2010 7:42 ami like them all
very good cards
excelent!
Jason Levine
August 10th, 2010 7:48 amGreat article in business cards but I wish you would have covered some great places to have these designs printed up.
everydaypanos
August 10th, 2010 8:59 amThere is ONLY 1 Card: Joker.
ALL the above are mundane.
Yasen Vasilev
August 10th, 2010 9:38 amRespect Julia May! Nice and useful showcase. I’ve been reading other articles on the same topic, but this one is different from them with the tutorials in the end. Very useful!
In another article there was a list of on-line places to print business cards. I haven’t tried them yet, but here are the links:
http://uk.moo.com/en/
http://printing.com/
This article is going in my bookmarks, and when I finish the redesign of my portfolio I’ll know where to go for good read on business cards.
Tunox
August 10th, 2010 11:29 amSome very inspiring technique examples there. I think this level of perfection is strongly related to a good local print/pressing shop and to a seasoned graphic designer/studio. You can have all the visual imagination you want and illustrator godness, if you don’t know what your print shop is capable of, the final output can be from average to plain horrid.
Last year when I made a web redesign for a local company, they asked me if I could take care also of their new business cards. Oh boy what a stressing experience! Although I live and work in Paris area (France) I was able to find in time, only ONE printshop who would do quality letterpressing with varnished typography.
Based on past experiences, it would be good if you folks would give some quality printshop names and where do they operate.
joe Bodego
August 10th, 2010 11:57 amNEVER EVER design business cards if you want to be taken seriously as a designer. It’s usually the first foray into design and the first thing someone as you to do after finding out you;re a designer. I am shocked to see an article on it here, Shocked!!! NEVER NEVER NEVER do it.
Fran
August 10th, 2010 12:25 pmBusiness card is to graphic design as chair is to product design. It’s a symbol.
A business card is a very limited format in size and information, and it has a very distinctive context and function.
Some argued printed business cards are obsolete. I don’t think it’s true, but you have other alternatives. As graphic designer there’s no reason to not design business cards. It’s a great communication design exercise.
Tom Karels
August 10th, 2010 12:59 pmNice round up. Something that might be good to add is where to get the business cards printed. And better yet where to get die cuts done. I have searched high and low and have yet to find anyone who can do it good.
Just a thought
joe
August 11th, 2010 9:49 amnot to be mean, but that peanut one is terrible
james
August 11th, 2010 6:38 pmi like
A u d e e
August 12th, 2010 4:12 amI am liking the Letterpress Card collections :)
they are trully inspiring!
and thank you for including Minimax Positivo business card template ;)
Mike
August 12th, 2010 8:22 amHave you seen this one? http://www.dipakchand.com/mindyourfuckinbusiness/2010/01/20/evan-roth/ Evan Roth is the first result when you Google ‘Bad Ass Mother F**ker’, so his card is just a Google search box with that term in it.
Sandrine Abraham
August 12th, 2010 9:27 amVery nice post !
My business card http://creattica.com/business-cards/sandrine-abraham-du-bout-des-yeux/27227
Ole Fredrik Lie
August 12th, 2010 1:31 pmGreat selection of good business cards in this article. For more inspiration check out my blogpost on this topic: http://www.olefredrik.com/inspiration/20-creative-business-card-designs/
tony
August 13th, 2010 7:11 pmthanks for shareing.
Tim
August 14th, 2010 12:58 pmI hope the company that made the Blue Monster card has a license from Cartoon Network, otherwise, a big lawsuit is coming their way since they are selling this for monetary gain.
Ankinanti
August 15th, 2010 12:49 pmhow do you get all those card name?? wow..what a nice collections..
i just thinking to design my own card name, and this article is really inspiring..thanks for sharing :D
Shlomi
August 16th, 2010 12:28 pmIt’s very cool
Thanks a lot
gaurav
August 16th, 2010 10:34 pmnice and Stylish collection
yoxx
August 17th, 2010 8:20 amTAM Cargo is awesome
Fred Easy
August 18th, 2010 1:19 amGreat to see MOO cards in there (Love the MOO MiniCards).
If you are looking for more inspiration for great Business Cards check out MOO’s ideas section here –
http://www.moo.com/blog/2010/03/10/whats-the-big-idea/
Enjoy.. I did..
chris
August 25th, 2010 6:32 ami love the variety of inspiring designs you guys keep showcasing — keep’em coming please!
Shruti
August 26th, 2010 12:20 amBrilliant designs! Lots of really nice stuff here. Was actually looking for designs for a student starter kit. Any ideas on where I can look? Many thanks in advance.
Robert Mathis
August 30th, 2010 12:35 pmHere is an idea! What would really be helpful is list of the printers and sources to get such cool cards.
Studio On Fire
September 7th, 2010 5:04 pmThanks for including us in your business card inspiration. Please give us a printing credit and link back to our post when reposting our photography. Thanks!
http://www.beastpieces.com/2010/06/space-150-v25-business-cards/
singleinsg
September 9th, 2010 6:00 pmThose are really interesting name cards! Thanks for showcasing them!
Cj
September 9th, 2010 7:38 pmgreetings from s-h-a-k-y Chile !!magnificent post!! All the cards.. so beautiful.. i just got a mind expanded moment… to the work table, right now!!
Adam Fuller Design
September 15th, 2010 2:39 amSweet post! I’ve been thinking of getting new cards printed on metal.
Noah
September 18th, 2010 4:55 pmIm just wondering where is a good place to get these letterpress business cards printed? i am in toronto ontario. If anyone can help or suggest where to get these would be very helpful.
thank you
-noah
RobbyDesigns
September 28th, 2010 6:25 pmThanks for featuring my k&m free business card template (two-thirds the way dwon the page) and big thanks for this great article.
saleesh miracle
November 1st, 2010 12:22 amGr8…………….
Prabhu
November 9th, 2010 5:44 amDear,
I want to know where should contact for further details about these business cards…
regards,
Prabhu.
kamran
November 22nd, 2010 12:39 pmvery nice cards
meeuo
November 22nd, 2010 3:49 pmall card designs are really awesome i really like it
Shafeer
December 9th, 2010 2:46 amHi,
Good and Fantastic designs… Very nice..
Thanks,
Shafeer (Web/Graphic designer) -
smitha
January 11th, 2011 10:40 pmThis is an awesome article!!! Brilliant collection and very good tutorials .Letterpress Cards are really inspiring. cool design……
Mooseport
January 18th, 2011 3:13 amHi,
did someone have any idear where it is possible to print cards like this?
I really like this struktured card like this: http://www.contreforme.ch/en/project/Rhino-Studio-52/
So it would be really nice to find a company where it is possible to create cards like we have it here.
Thank you
Mooseport
Munir
February 1st, 2011 1:12 amdid someone have any idear where it is possible to print cards like this?
I really like this struktured card like this
vijay raj
April 18th, 2011 11:14 pmvery nice collections. thanks for your sample post……………..
Gary Stone
June 23rd, 2011 2:21 amMoo collecction look great plus the metal cards!! I’ve been sending them through http://www.anyvan.com/ which seems to be the cheapest way to send them? Is that working for anybody else?
any help would be appreicated? thanks…
Jeffrey Medina
November 1st, 2011 4:25 amall the designs are good and interesting.i am a graphics designer here in dubai. i am a graphics fanatic…SUPER LIKE
Mike
December 7th, 2011 1:08 pmSome nice ideas here. I’m looking to get some interactive business cards made .
its a business card with a usb drive, so you can put all sorts of files or presentations on it. I’m going to have mine link to my website once it is inserted into a computer, now that is an engaging business card if you ask me.