Thinking outside the box – business card designs which don’t play by the rules & look great

Note:

This URL is about to be deactivated – you can read this post and more on my new url!

http://www.bubblegumkitten.com/blog/2009/07/thinking-outside-the-box-business-card-designs-which-dont-play-by-the-rules-look-great/

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Business cards are something which are often thrown in with any stationary and branding design order: A white rectangle, some text, a logo and maybe, if your feeling adventurous, a picture on the back. And often, this is the best route to take. White business cards can be written on, and simple text and a lack of pictures keeps costs right down in these credit crunch times. Also for some industries breaking outside the norm will show you up not as a free thinking genius – but as someone who just doesn’t know the industry conventions and looks unprofessional rather than unique. It all really depends on what you do and who you plan to give your business cards too. A simple case of the right design for the right client. There are however, times when breaking the rules is in the clients interests. Where money is no object and the business card is more than just a calling card of information, but more of an advert for the services provided, something truly creative and unique can be designed.

I have collected some examples of business cards (and should point out I own no copyright to any of these, the rights remain the property of the cards owners) and posted my favourites here. Many came from this blog which has large archive collections of inspirational designs by broad catagory.

These ones really strike me because they are the personality and brand of a business and the card’s holder themselves in such a small format. In some ways they are a mini flyer that embodies the services provided rather than being a business card at all. They are also all rather fun. Some completley ignore the standard commonly held design conventions for business cards, others just play with the idea and are a new take on the standard rectangle with text. The use of colour and often unique printing methods or simple die cut aspects seem to make such a difference in personality.

First up a rather subtly lovely design for an acupuncture therapist using holes int he card itself to create a stylish design and mimic the physical action of the therapy…

This post has moved to my new URL – Read the rest at:

http://www.bubblegumkitten.com/blog/2009/07/thinking-outside-the-box-business-card-designs-which-dont-play-by-the-rules-look-great/

Bookmark the new blog’s link: http://blog.bubblegumkitten.com

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~ by bubblegumkitten on July 31, 2009.