Business cards with a difference

Making an impact as a freelance creative requires a strong corporate image. Of all the promotional visual tools, the trusty business card remains one of the most effective ways to make a lasting impression. A business card is the physical reminder of a face-to-face meeting, and it's this personal touch that gives it the edge over on-screen promotions.

Increasingly, business card design is about more than presenting a business's contact details. There are countless possibilities for the progressive use of materials and finishing techniques as well as interesting uses of 2D and 3D effects.

This tutorial outlines the process of creating a card with a difference. ProjectBase is a visual arts charity, and it required a business card that would draw the attention of potential sponsors and funding bodies as well as showcasing its new logo and branding package. Above all, here at A-Side we needed to make sure it sustained interest.

We had already designed ProjectBase's new square logo, which houses a bespoke type treatment. The square forms the core of the branding, and can be adapted to produce a number of alternative visual promotional products that can be used to represent the organisation for different events. Some of our initial visuals when pitching the concept explored building the flat logo into a 3D cube. This is when the idea for a pop-up business card emerged. We envisaged that the flat standard card could be doubled, folded and joined together to produce a freestanding object that could sit on a desk rather than be put away in a wallet never to be seen again.

Adobe Creative Suite was the software package of choice for producing these particular cards. The initial design ideas and workings were hand-drawn. The 3D concept and subsequent paper engineering were established through a process of trial and error. We built physical mock-ups using a variety of paper stocks and weights, and refined the format and typographic hierarchy until the card functioned as intended. Finally the press-ready artwork was produced in InDesign with help from a sympathetic print house. Thankfully, the final result was a resounding success.

Click here to download the tutorial for free