Beautiful Business Card Designs that Really Leverage the Medium

A beautiful die-cut business card with a minimalist design.

I noticed this recent blog entry on a website geared toward graphic designers that—in addition to an impressive gallery of images of business card designs that use traditional but more advanced printing techniques—brushes upon some important points.

The first is that it is pretty hard to stand out from the crowd these days as a result of glut of social and digital media. Social media has some important benefits (otherwise we wouldn’t blog or post to Twitter) but also some limitations. One of those, at least from a corporate identity design and marketing standpoint, is standing out from the crowd. At the moment, everyone (and rightfully so) is investing in their digital architecture, platforms and marketing.

Very few are doing so with respect to offline marketing and that makes anyone who does invest in old school methods not only retro but unique. Any good business person knows to not follow the crowd. Ergo, where there exists an opportunity for differentiation, seize it.

One simple bit powerful way to do this is for small businesses and self-employed professionals is by having a business card with a unique form. Die-cutting in the printing process is a way of giving a business card, for example, a nonstandard shape or to cut holes out of the card itself.

Many people who have never thought about graphic design tend to think that “more is more:” more color, more graphics, etc. Another common and related misperception is that bigger is better: bigger type, bigger pictures, bigger logos, and the list goes one. Sometimes more and big might be good but usually “understatement,” simplicity and elegance transmit a stronger message of quality, dependability and experience, in particular in professional services like accounting, law and healthcare.

One of  the most appealing aspects of die-cutting and other specialized printing processes such as embossing (when done right) is that they are incredibly elegant, subtle and send an indirect but powerful message about the quality of the company or the business professional donning the card.

So when you go to replenish your business cards ask your designer or design company about creative ideas with respect to the form and the paper and not just the visual design.

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Tags: Branding, Business Cards, Design, Marketing, Printing techniques