In an increasingly hi-tech world, it’s getting more difficult to create something that’s truly handcrafted -something that you can “put your very own stamp on”. The world of business cards is no exception. You may have designed your current business card design, but I bet you had little or nothing to do with the physical printing of it!
Judging by many of the business card designs I’ve seen recently, there’s a definite backlash to the “mass produced” look and feel of a typical business card. Personally, I like my business cards to look slick and professional, but I realize that that’s not for everyone. In particular, alternative lifestyle organizations, fashion companies, and designers are rethinking the way that they present their business cards. The trend towards a more “organic” card is becoming increasingly popular.
Creating a card that has a “hand-printed” appeal is not difficult at all. By using a customized rubber stamp, you can create a super-trendy business card (the kind of guerrilla-style business card that doesn’t play by the rules.)
The image above illustrates a business card that was created using a self-inking stamp. Simon Bradfield, the freelance designer from Washington who created these fantastic cards wanted to convey a sense of simplicity and style. This is how he created his unique cards:
o He designed a custom stamp with his business details on it and uploaded his design online for free
o He bought his own card stock at his local stationery store and used a guillotine at Kinko’s to cut the stock down to size!
o Once he had received his stamps from OvernightPrints.com, he individually stamped his business cards and passed them out to his clients and friends!
Simon was determined to create a business card that was original and more personally involving. According to him, going all “old-school” on his cards was a lot more fun than simply sending a file to print and waiting for his cards to be delivered to him.
While researching this article, I also came across this business card (above) that was created using TWO different colored stamps. The contrasting black and red stamps were designed specifically to interact with each other, i.e., a gap of negative space in the middle of the black patterned stamp has been omitted to allow for the red company logo stamp to be applied inside the black pattern. This is a really clever use of stamps – a technique that is reminiscent of ancient wood block printing.
Using stamps is a really fun way of creating your business cards. It also suits the personality of a lot of business owners and individuals who like to defy convention and who are a bit more “avant-garde” in their thinking. However, it’s not only for style reasons that rubber stamp business cards are a good idea. You can also save yourself a lot of money in printing costs. While the initial cost of the stamps may be similar to a typical business card order, once you have the initial cost of your stamps covered, you can make your own business cards over, and over, and over again!
4 Comments
[…] is a growing business card trend for making them more “hand crafted” (e.g, hand-stamped business cards) and for taking them to another level by making a business card fulfill another function (e.g, […]
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