These business cards are amazing

Over the years I’ve met with hundreds (if not thousands) of people and have collected an impressive collection of business cards. While most of them are very classical and do not trigger any particular emotion, some of them have remained in my collection as my all-time favorites.

Let’s have a look at them …. For privacy reasons I blurred the contact details. However to respect copyrights you’ll find the hyperlinks to the companies.

OneBite Consulting

OneBite is a press agency dedicated to the food business. They take care of PR for Chefs, entrepreneurs in the food and drinks industry.

The 3-people team has wonderful business cards where you can see their mouths biting in raw food. Pity there are only three team members. I’d love to get a whole collection of cards like this …

Blue4You

The Brussels-based IT agency chose transparent plastic cards. I had seen such cards advertised on the internet already but this is actually one of the only two real examples that I know

Mr and Mrs Bund

Those business cards were brought to me from China by a client.

I love the fact that they form a pair and the printing technique used is also interesting (selective coating that resembles this other example we dealt with on this blog).

ExAbrupto, Thinslices

Frédéric Wauters of Exabrupto and Emmanuel Martonca of ThinSlices use a very thick cardboard. It’s a differentiated way of communicating one’s contact data. Although it feels very qualitative, the disadvantage is that it’s not easy to put in a wallet (at least you can’t fit many of them in a wallet)

Hotel Guldsmeden

Their business card is also very thick but for another reason : it’s printed on wood and not on cardboard.

This hotel follows a very eco-friendly path and the material used for the card is aligned with their way of doing business.

Popular Popcorn

I met Moses Faleafaga of Popular Popcorn at the SIAL fair in 2012. They have a very youthful and fun positioning on the market. Their business cards carry this fun by not being rectangular.

US Diplomatic Services

I met a US diplomatic security service agent when I was doing a project for Fedex many years ago. His business card remain one of my favorites; not only because you seldom meet someone working for US security services, but also because it has this gold-tone embossed emblem that makes all other business cards look cheap.

My own personal business card many years ago before starting IntoTheMinds

As far as I remember I always wanted to surprise people with my business card. With the help of a designer I created this one many years ago that uses an optical illusion : either people see a duck or a rabbit. I was using the business card to tell a story : you, as a business, your customers may expect a rabbit but if you are understanding their needs differently you sell them a duck and they are unsatisfied.

Advices for your business strategy

Business Cards are often one of the first tangible steps in the creation of the customer experience. It’s important to get this step right. You have basically two possibilities : either go for a classical template, or create differentiation. This choice is yours and will obviously depend on the business your are in.

I believe you should respect two rules to create a great business card :

1. It must be visual : keep one side of the business card to create a great visual. Use it to surprise your prospects; yet make sure it has a direct and obvious link with your business. In the case of OneBite consulting for instance it’s obvious. You see people “biting” and that’s the name of the company.
2. It must tell a story : a business card can help you tell a story. It can be an object you use to make your sell speech. Don’t use it only to communicate your contact details. That’s way too simple. The Guldsmeden card tells a story because it’s not made out of cardboard. People will be curious and will ask about it : when they ask, you just have to tell your story. In one word : the business card should make people ask about the story behind it.

A last hint I’d like to give you is to discuss the design of your next business card with a graphic designer who knows about printing technique. There are myriad printing techniques that remain seldom used on business cards : selective coating is one of them, embossing is another one. It’s up to you to make a difference.

By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab is the founder of IntoTheMinds. He specializes in e-commerce, retail and logistics. He is also a research fellow in the marketing department of the Free University of Brussels and acts as a coach for several startups and public organizations. He holds a PhD in Marketing, a MBA in Finance, and a MSc in Chemistry. He can be contacted by email, Linkedin or by phone (+32 486 42 79 42)