5.8 KiB
| title | date | layout |
|---|---|---|
| Test of Typography | 2011-04-07 19:17 | post |
In the past I've always designed my own business cards, printed them on expensive card stock, and hand-cut them with an X-Acto knife. My cards were way nicer than those my clients had gotten professionally printed with bubbly ink, no-bleed designs, and cheap paper. Though I put tremendous care into my cards, I never was happy with the design.
Why Have Business Cards?
I'm rarely asked for my business card except when I attend conferences, of which I attend one or two each year. As a freelance contractor, I leave work by walking twenty-five feet from my office to the couch. Many of the people I work for I've never met in-person.
When someone gives me their business card, I read it, pocket it, and eventually throw it out — sometimes before I remember to copy the information to my address book (sorry, just being honest). The reality is, with the ubiquity of the internet and with frictionless social networks like Twitter, I can connect with people immediately. So why have business cards?
Inspiration Demands Action
In one of our campfire chats Nathaniel Talbott showed off his business cards which he printed through Moo. They were half the size of regular business cards featuring the company logo on the front, and the url on the back. The unique size of the card intrigued me, and days later I couldn't stop thinking about designing a set of mini-cards for myself.
Moo's MiniCard's are very unique. You can print 100 cards, each with a totally different back. With a typical printing service this would be prohibitively expensive, but with Moo the rules are different. This freedom encourages us to go beyond nicely styled contact information and branding. Some clever uses involve offering unique invite codes for a web application, or sharing a photography portfolio with Moo's Flickr import feature.
I realized that I could print several design iterations and decide later which worked best. Without the pressure to choose a single design, I felt the freedom to create.
The Freedom to Fail
I could be cheeky and print up half of my cards with my logo on one side and only my Twitter name on the other. For less than $20 for 100 cards, I wasn't even concerned about possibly screwing up a whole batch. So that's what I did. I designed cards that were good enough and I printed them. If the cards did't turn out how I wanted them to, I could improve and print again.
The process was fun and simple, and as soon as I finished, I wanted to do it again. When my cards arrived, I was absolutely delighted by the print quality and the care put into their presentation. Smartly Moo even included some beautiful promotional cards to hand out when people inevitably ask about mine.
A Second Iteration
After holding the finished product, I began to see how my design could be improved. I learned that Gill Sans is harder to read at a small size in a high contrast print, so I switched to Futura. I showed my cards to some far-sighted friends and adjusted my font size accordingly. I discarded a background gradient (which I should have known wouldn't translate well to print) in favor of a solid color. Sidenote: On screen, gradients emulate the subtleties of a natural light source, but on a real object it doesn't make sense and generally looks bad.
I changed my approach choosing a single design with multiple color variations. In the promotional cards Moo sent me, I learned that they do a fantastic job with bright colors and I wanted to use that boldness in my design. I was inspired by what Seth Godin said:
Every interaction is both precious and an opportunity to delight.
I pictured sliding a card out of my MiniCard Holder and revealing another brightly-colored card beneath. As I hand someone a card they'll see the flash of color and realize that their card was special, and different from my other cards. That's what I want my clients and future clients to feel.
The Final Design
The MiniCard's unique constraints inspired me with a fresh challenge and their pricing model encouraged me to experiment. Instead of treating business cards like a necessary design task, I saw them as a opportunity to release quickly, fail cheaply, and improve. Now when I give someone a business card, it's something valuable to me, and I hope they're delighted.
Update: I thought I'd share some other great uses of Moo's MiniCards. There's a fantastic Flikr pool, but here are some of my favorites. Enjoy: