Business Cards for 2012
Posted on August 20, 2012 in Asides
(last edited on April 29, 2014 at 1:25 am)
(last edited on April 29, 2014 at 1:25 am)
I put 15 minutes into a design braindump over in my stream-of-consciousness journal, which led to an adaptation of the diagram from the last Groundhog Day resolution review. I’m kind of liking where this is going. I think the finishing touch will be in the use of really amazing business card stock. Not quite settled, though, on the language.
10 Comments
The hearts feel out of place to me. They draw too much attention. I like the arrows better.
I like workflow more than productivity. Productivity feels to… I guess cliché is the word I’m looking for? It sounds like a “fluff” word to me. Workflow, while sounding a bit jargon-y, is just out of place enough to be interesting. (Edit: After thinking about it more, productivity sounds like a label where workflow sounds like a product. It’s the difference between saying “I’m a successful artist” vs “I create art”. Please no one take that the wrong way.)
And how do you feel about changing the blue description words to something like the following?
(Inspiration | Mastery Development | Creating Opportunity)
Each one being different to help it stick depending on what each person is looking for.
I agree with CR, the hearts seem a bit … unprofessional. I’d also recommend a slight verbiage change to “Seek Inspiration” or “Pursue Inspiration” rather than “Be Inspired”. To me, I read that and think to myself “This is a guy who’s looking new sources of inspiration,” as opposed to “Here’s a guy who’s sitting at his desk, all inspired and everything.” The former is a guy I’d want to work with. The latter isn’t.
These are just splendid, BTW. You’re so close to a wonderful product, I believe.
CR: Great observations! I’m not in love with the word “productivity” either, for similar reasons. I struggle finding the balance between recognizable terms and interesting ones. Recognizable terms might broaden the audience that “gets” what I do, potentially opening a market. Interesting narrows the audience, restricting potential market but are perhaps the better fit to what I really offer. I think in actuality, now that I think about it, what I said on the card actually never helped select the best prospect, so I might as well go with what sounds better to my ear (I do like “workflow”). I’m opposed, however, to rephrasing the blue words into a number of categories. I don’t want to be an organizational or process consultant. I want to promote core values that I actively practice. There’s a bit of wonder that I start with, and then the result is something I share. Maybe I do need to tune my thinking here, though. The hearts were an attempt to inject some of that inner reasoning. I’m actually quite emotionally driven, using it like a bloodhound to ferret out interesting ideas and desires, then applying reason as a tool to extract whatever the bloodhound is baying about :)
DRB: That’s a great comment too. Was that your initial impression, or one that came after some reflection? I would have thought that the sheer tidiness of the diagram would have created enough of a foundation that one could say something like “be inspired”…oh, I could see it as a process diagram where the left is the inputs for ME. Hm. Maybe I should change that.
Thanks for the comments! I’ll try them all in the next round later this week.
Hrm. I wasn’t intending to push the idea as a process consultant with the verbiage change. I was aiming for a hook. From my understanding, people tend to remember one thing, so you want that one thing to stand out. I can see many people grabbing on to inspiration, mastery, or opportunity to fill an emotional need, but I feel they need to be worded differently to allow each a chance to stick in someone’s thoughts.
That being said, I feel there’s merit to keeping your values as values. Promoting a consistent idea or drive and keeping the presentation the same has staying power. You can rely on your interactions with a person to apply that hook and allow the business card to serve as an extension of your voice or a simple reminder.
As for the heart. Perhaps toy with a digital heart design? Something that can look like an arrow or a heart depending on your inclination. And if you want to keep them red, perhaps adding a few strokes of red else where in the design will help keep them from drawing too much attention. Say a red underline for your title?
Hey
Have you looked at using moo.com for your business cards? That way you could have more than one design printed on them?
Andy
CR: Great points! I was thinking that the diagram itself was the hook as a whole, with the verbiage being something contained within it. But it didn’t occur to me that the verbiage might actually trump the whole. It doesn’t happen for me, but I think it would for a significant segment of people. I think my usage of the cards will be primarily as a way for people to get back in touch with me when I meet them in person (I’m thinking of leaving the backside blank and printing on uncoated stock so they also work as notes). I actually have made a digital heart design out of 3 diamonds that I’ll show in the next round.
Andy: Moo has AMAZING business cards, some of the nicest stock I’ve ever seen, but they’re a bit pricey. I’ve used them in the past for the strip-like Moo cards (I may even still have a few), and they were fun to hand out, but I think I’m too tired to make a whole lot of designs to print. :) Though I suppose even just two would be OK. I’d probably come up with a diagram series then, instead of doing small variations. Hmm! That could be cool! I’m actually going to give a different printer a try with this round to see what their card quality is like. I’ve heard and seen good things from them.
Suggest putting QR bar code on back of card for ease of contact.
Think you are wise to concentrate on the verbs on your card.
And for whatever it’s worth, when I think of your work…I think… “Tools for the Mind.” And that phrase creates a different visual image than your card. But take it with a box of salt. Just a suggestion.
Have used a variety of your forms for years. Thank you for all you do.
Bobo: “Tools for the Mind”…I love that! I think I would be too embarrassed to claim such a lofty title, though. Perhaps if I bought a black turtleneck and grew out my eyebrows I could become the David Copperfield of Productivity Tools! QR code is an interesting idea…I don’t have a smart phone that uses them so I’m not actually sure how they integrate into mail programs.
QR codes work in a lot of different ways with different apps but they make the info liquid…I mean digital. Also, I’ve never seen anyone make the QR code part of the design or embed in a diagram, graphic, etc. Mock the Turtleneck & Copperfield but he married a supermodel.
I’ve thought about using QR codes or something similar on the Task Juggler cards. I’m not sure I want something that big anywhere on my card, though, competing with my name :)
Re: Copperfield – I actually like big illusions and stage magic, so Copperfield is someone I think is cool. I saw one of his shows in Orlando once, and the stagecraft was impeccable.