The art of the business card

That’s right – I put ‘art’ and ‘business card’ in the same sentence. A week ago, you probably couldn’t have convinced me that they could work together so harmoniously. After all, the cards I’d been exposed to until then were nothing more exciting than black Times font on a white card – maybe with an outdated photo of a real estate agent.

But when Tracey assigned us a business card and personal profile as our last layout & design project of the year, my world was transformed. I spent the first hour of class glued to the computer screen as I admired the first 16 pages of beauty on the Flickr group pool “the art of the business card”.

It’s amazing how much creativity you can cram into such a tiny space and the effects you can achieve simply with a few cute graphics or a unique font. Not to say it isn’t hard to do – that’s where the art comes in. In fact, it took me more time to conceptualize and design this little 3.5 x 2 scrap of paper than an 8.5 x 11 sheet, but I loved every minute of it, and can’t wait to make more – the possibilities are endless!

Simple font and colour choice, but the alignment and variation in font size shows it was done by someone who understands design. Elizabeth Maybury.

Love this font; otherwise very simple, but it works. Paper pastries.

Squares instead of rectangles – very cute. Nathaniel Cooper.

I like hedgehogs, but I also like the Twitter/new media vibe this one gives off. Perhaps not as professional as the others, but I like the modern feel of them and the bright, playful colours. Ivan Ricci.

These cards are really creative at first glance, but once you know they were produced for a 3D visualization studio, it’s even more ingenious and effective as it captures the essence of the business in design as well as in print. kpucu.com

Apparently a card for “writers/English professors”. Not sure what wood has to do with writing or English professors, but it’s a neat concept. Duck Arrow Types.

Another neat (and expensive) medium to use: steel, cut with lasers. Pinkograf.com

Pop up cards! Quirky, probably labour intensive and therefore expensive to produce, but nonetheless eyecatching. I’d definitely remember anyone who gave me a business card like this. Emerson Taymor.

Mine!

Yup, it’s official – I’m addicted to business cards.