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Need ideas for an interesting business card

jimsowden

jimsowden

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 6, 2003
1,766
18
NY
I've stalled trying to think of interesting, interactive ideas for a business card for my advertising agency. I want it to be modern, useful and be able to stand out in a pile of other business cards. So far I've come up with things like augmented reality (having it coded on the card, then activated on our site), lottery scratch off ticket, etc.

Any fresh ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'd disagree with that guy. That wasn't a business card, it was a micro-brochure.

Your card should probably vary with your industry and your identity. I'd expect a banker or lawyer to have a conservative looking card. Bar hostesses in Asia have really cute cards with rounded edges and feminine fonts. A card doesn't have to be bland, but I'd try to make it look professional; nice typeface, clean layout.

I wouldn't go too overboard on a card. To me a business card serves a specific purpose. It is a memory aid for the person you give it to so they know your name and contact information. If you want to convey more than that then hand over a pamphlet at the same time. If they haven't decided to contact you based on the rest of your interaction I can't imagine that a flashy card will change their opinion of you.

You could add a border or use a non-white card stock to make the card stand out a bit or some embossing to give it a different feel. I would stay away from garish or gaudy colors unless that fits your business.

It would be clever if you could print something useful on the back that would make the card more likely to be kept.

For the music business business you could print a table of the frequencies of the notes in the main octave you work with.

Other industries might find an inch/cm scale printed on one edge useful.

Conversions from BTUs to kCals or similar could be good for HVAC business.

Photographers could use a chart for finding the hyperfocal distance for a common lens.

If you do something like that make sure to point it out to people as they may not think to look at the obverse of the card.

You might put your photo on the card or a photo of your headquarters. I'm thinking that people would be a tad less likely to lose your photo.

I'd also think about how you hand your card to people. If you casually drop it on the table they'll be likely to treat it casually as well. If you carefully extract one from a nice case, hand it to your customer oriented for them to read it and maybe take a second to point something about the address or the logo that could personalize it and make them treat it differently.
 
Watermark.jpg


Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a watermark!

Just Kidding
 
Just remember in your quest for originality, a very good thing, do not do anything that prevents your message from coming across. Things like making your card out of an odd material, or oversized, or odd shaped all may make it stand out, but if it can't fit into a clients wallet, it goes in their pocket and then often in the trash. Try to work within the realm of the established. Don't do anything that makes it difficult for a potential client to contact you. You want to make your email/phone number easily seen and recognized so they don't have to hunt for it.
 
Seriously, business cards are pretty irrelevant in this day. I was a VP in my last job and never bothered ordering any.
 
Hand out iPod touches filled with QT movies of your latest and greatest projects. You can even place a bookmark icon to your website on the home screen.
 
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