A friend of mine asked me to design a business card for him. He was tired of the “stock” cards the big office retail chains offer. Being a marketing guy he knows the importance of good branding. You see, good branding isn’t something reserved for Fortune 500 companies. It’s just as important for the individual business professional to be branded properly, as it is for any Fortune 500 company. I wanted to design something for him that wasn’t necessarily a logo in the traditional sense of a client represented by a concept, which is communicated within a single graphic. I wanted the concept to unfold throughout the entire business card utilizing both the front and back, almost like a brochure. In this way the business card itself has a more interactive quality, engaging the viewer and becoming a great ice breaker. Overused, traditional business symbols such as compasses, targets or bulls eyes and globes were rejected by me from the start.
Many times really good concepts come to me like a bolt of lightening, out of the clear blue sky, usually when I’m at my most relaxed. I’m most relaxed in my car. My best ideas come when I’m driving. And this concept happened just that way; it zapped me right in the noggin whilst cruising at a steady clip of sixty five miles an hour. Now even though a designer might be zapped with a lightning bolt idea it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have to hit the sketchbook to work out the execution. Concept and execution are separate entities but each needs the other in order for a design to be successful. If one part fails - the design fails as a whole.
I’m not going to explain the meaning of the design on the card. In my opinion it needs no explanation and interpretation is best left to you, the viewer. But what I will tell you is that it was perfect for my friend. The design is playful yet professional. It helps him to stand apart from his peers, which in a sense, are his competitors. He’s received very positive feedback from it and he’s told me it’s a great conversation starter.
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