Blog

Format

Cool business card designs (creativebits.org)
“Combine different papers. Use office scrap. Write fun copy. Free one way ticket to the moon.”

Inkjet Printed Film Process (jemof.com)
“Video frames printed onto transparency film.”

Titles

The Art of Branding (guykawasaki.com)
“Brands are built on what people are saying about you, not what you’re saying about yourself. People say good things about you when (a) you have a great product and (b) you get people to spread the word about it. … As much as a I love marketing, at the end of the day, customers ultimately determine what your brand means.”

Down With Titles (garrettdimon.com)
For those without clearly defined roles: “With descriptions instead of titles, you really get down to explaining what it is that we do much better than any single word or phrase could do.”

Constraints = Creativity

Moo Cards – “Competent, if Not Brilliant” (niallkennedy.com / willotoons.com)
Podcast, interview with Richard Moross of Moo Cards: “They’ve been around for 300 years. They’re the single most successful networking tool of all time, bar none. … We could offer you a thousand different choices. However, it helps people move through the process quickly when they have fewer choices.”

What’s in a name? (andybudd.com)
“Everybody is either a ‘web designer,’ a ‘musician’ or a ‘DJ,’ and usually all three. … (But) you need to be able to explain to potential employers and clients what you do as succinctly as possible. Secondly you need to be able to differentiate yourself from potential competition, and the hordes of hobbyists out there.”

Design

How to make business cards that people keep (valleywag.com)
“Hire a real designer. They can pull off slick layouts that you won’t find in Microsoft Publisher.”

Considerations

• Process – letterpress, printing press, photo copier, etc.
• Shape – 3.5″ x 2″ norm in U.S., half-size, square, etc.
• Color – one-, two-, four-color [CMYK], white space
• Copy – too much vs. too little, serious vs. witty
• Quantity – sustainable information, titles
• Variants – differences in color, image, title, etc.