Friday, August 31, 2007
What Does Your Business Card Say About You?
Quick Sprout: "Hopefully you already have a business card, but if you don’t you should definitely create one. Business cards are something that we take for granted when we shouldn’t. The look, feel, and message on a card help people determine how they view you and more importantly, if they will even remember you."
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9 comments:
I think it is true, business cards are very important, especially if they are giving the first impression. I myself have yet to make a business card, but I did create my mother's so I am familiar with the idea. It is so much fun to choose what you want people to associate you with, but you must think carefully. Don't get too carried away with it or people will fail to take you seriously.
Business card is like a psychological object. We not only put our contact information on it but also how we want people associate it with us, furthermore to remember us by the card. Somebody might put his photo on it. I wouldn’t do that. If they trash my card, I seem to be trashed as well. Color business card is a good idea. But it’s better to have the back side white or light color. Some people are accustomed to note at the back side to help themselves to remember us!
Its interesting though that the business card can still be used, but as we become more and more electronic, the use of business cards becomes less and less usefull. Over the summer I got maybe a dozen business cards while in NY, but I have no clue where to put them, and if I have since emailed that person, then chances are I don't have their card anymore, because I have their contact information elsewhere, and have more concrete electronic representations of these people than their card can give me. Its very much a generational thing.
This talk of business cards also carries over to an individuals website, resume or online portfolio. When making my own online thinger, i tried to take in to account background color, and amount of straight lines. Black is very rigid and demanding, so i tried to do a darker greyscale as a it seems a little softer on the eyes.
I'm not sure when the best time to get an actual business card is, but I definitely hope to have one that does represent me. Right now I have a little informal business card that I made a year ago. I think I've given it to all of three people. Although, I think it is highly distinguishable from other business cards. In the past two years I've received a lot of business cards, and frankly, most of them all look the same. None of them stick out to me and make me want to remember the person that gave them to me. They're all plain, boring, with neat little text and maybe some interesting background. But nothing that stands out. I think the basic design I have for mine will help me stand out - and it definitely feels like me, so with a little added professional touch, I think it will be perfect - for whenever I really do need a real business card.
I've never really thought of business cards still being in use. It's been ages since I've seen one. In this day of technology you think that something would have replaced it. But now that I think of the purpose of business cards they still have thier use in the work place. They allow for information to be passed between people in a very easy fashion. A simple card that no one looks at when first handed and gets stuffed in a pocket of a wallet. But when the time comes that that person needs someone for a job they find the forget business card! It's different over the web. With business cards it's much more personal on some level. If a person sees a business cards over the same info on the internet the card will create a sense of a closer relationship cause it's somehthing pyhsical.
this is something i noticed towards the end of last year as i watched the seniors move on through showcase... i started noticing all of their business cards and what was attractive and appealing and what wasn't. the same for the students at the institute of art in Cleveland who were also graduating and hoping to circulate their cards. on a whole i was generally impressed as we are all of the creative vain and have an artistic sensibility, but there were definitely instances when i was struck by the card because of its terrible format or use-ability. i was almost surprised. some were completely unappealing and provided not very much useful information. i have become more and more conscious of them now as i am looking to create my own...
I think color is the most important quality in any business card. I have seen so many examples of white backgrounds, and it becomes rather boring. White business cards tend to blend together while the colorful backgrounds are a bit more eye-catching.
One of the things to keep in mind though, is that you want to make the business card easy to use. I handled an architect's business card once and it had all these fancy extensions on it that made it way too big to be a conventional business card. While the design was cool, its index-card size made it more of a hassle than a quality that appealed to me as receiver.
To me, this rates right up there with the idea of an employer googling your name, as it really isn't the first thing that we think is import to keep in mind. I can't tell you how many places I've been where I just get a generic business card from several people at the same place and can later have trouble remembering which one was which as I'm terrible with names.
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