The ingenious individuals use their business cards to help them stand out from the crowd.
In the design world, a standard business card based on one of the many business card templates out there just won’t cut it. Like a mini creative resume, a business card is a small but powerful marketing tool that enables you to showcase your unique identity and help you stand out.
Your business card should leave a long lasting impression and reflect a little piece of your personality. To inspire you, we scoured the web to find some innovative business card designs. Here goes!
01. Gong Kantapon
New York City-based illustrator Gong Kantapon went all out when it came to getting his business card noticed. Kantapon covered a poster of a woman in mini cards, that passers-by could peel off and take away. It got everyone’s full attention by leaving people wondering just what would be revealed when the cards were removed.
02. Lego business card
Not only do the guys who work at Lego have a super-cool job, they also get these awesome Lego minifigure business cards. It’s been reported that the company does its best to match each employee’s features, even down to their hair and accessories. The individual’s name, email and contact number are then printed on the figure’s clothes. Best business card ever!
03. Bon Vivant
We love this business card, which doubles as a tiny cheese grater, for Brazilian cheese store Bon Vivant. Created by ad agency JWT, the clever networking tool had proved extremely popular, with the owner having to tell customers to wait a few days before returning to take another. The awesome design also comes complete with a protective sleeve. All in all, a simply grate idea! (See what we did there? OK, we’ll get our coats…)
04. Flow Yoga
The innovative business card for this Vancouver-based yoga studio has been designed to leave a lasting impression: it has been fashioned from flexible foam, and rolls up just like a real yoga mat. A great example of a designer cleverly using a material to communicate their message.
05. Engraved
The clue is in the title of these ‘Engraved’ unique business cards by New York-based designer John T.Kim. Created by laser cutting and etching basswood, the woodgrain pattern makes every card truly unique. Engraved started life as a kickstarted project with a funding goal of $1,500. It ran for 30 days, and during that time garnered enough attention to raise nearly $24,000.
06. MODHair
When its owner runs their fingernail along the teeth of this musical comb, it plays a classic rock theme. The innovative concept was developed by Amsterdam-based designer Fabio Milito for MODhair, a rock’n’roll hair salon in Rome. A brilliant way to encapsulate the brand’s identity in a single card.
07. Bentply
What you see here is a neat letterpress business card and mailer for furniture shop Bentply in London that can be made into a mini plywood chair. The ingenious card was created by designer Richard C Evans and produced by Elegante Press in Lithuania. Just follow the instructions and the kiss-cut card can be folded into a miniature of the iconic 1934 plywood armchair designed by Gerald Summers.
08. Greek
OK, so these probably aren’t the most practical business cards in the world, but the idea is pretty cool. Developed by Cape Town-based creative agency FCB, these creative cards were crafted for a Greek restaurant, and play on the traditional Greek custom of smashing plates. Made from broken pieces of pottery, the unique design is decorated simply with the restaurant’s name and telephone number.
09. Yuka Suzuki
The hair and make-up industry is a competitive one, so Yuka Suzuki decided to develop a business card that would make her stand out from the crowd. The clever design uses different coloured hair grips to create colourful hair styles, and the owner gets some free hair accessories to boot. Cool huh?
10. Choko La
This candy wrapper business card is, unsurprisingly, a popular design. Another entry by ad agency FCB, this time to promote a range of delicious chocolates. This design incorporates two treats; a chocolate and a brilliantly creative business card. Genius.
11. Elena Mirosedina
This simple but brilliant business card design leaves you in no doubt as to the profession of its owner. The clever concept was developed by Ukranian graphic designer Tanya Kozlova, who opted for a simple, black card with stand-out red and white type for the artists name and contact details, shaped like an artist’s paint palette.
12. Techkeys
We’ve come across what might be the world’s geekiest offering; it’s a business card that also doubles up as a computer keyboard, created by Techkeys. “This PCB with on-board re-programmable ATMEGA16U2 allows for full flexibility for hackers, tinkerers, and makers,” says the company. “Take home one of these as a project, keycap display, switch tester, or a shortcut to yours truly, TechKeys.us.”
13. Martyna Wędzicka
Polish designer Martyna Wędzicka has created these gorgeous business cards to highlight her hands-on approach to projects and design in general. The clear canvas allows Wędzicka to add a personal touch with some brilliant doodle art.
14. Elfriede-Lilly Friedeberg
Elfriede-Lilly Friedeberg is a Berlin-based illustrator and graphic design student who creates inspiring, colourful and cute characters and patterns that are guaranteed to raise a smile. Packed full of pastel tones and handmade style, these brilliant business cards sum Friedeberg up perfectly.
15. Cerovski
These business cards were created for Cerovski – a Croatian print production studio that revels in the challenge of “nebulous finishing, microscopic editions, absurd materials and crazy deadlines”. London design agency Bunch was responsible for developing its entire brand – which included a custom logotype and typeface – but it’s the business cards that we’ve fallen in love with.
16. Doctor Zamenhof
Spain-based design studio Doctor Zamenhof aims to ‘diagnose’ design problems and prescribe remedies and solutions. Continuing this medical theme, the team has designed this rather brilliant set of business cards that mimic tongue depressors. The stick shape features all of the design studio’s contact information and will certainly stand out from other business card offerings.
17. Vitor Bonates
How cool is this personal buisness card for designer Vitor Bonates? A self-confessed lover of music and vinyl, Bonates based his card on classic vinyl records, replacing track name and details with his own and finishing off the design with a sleeve that holds the replica record. A simple but brilliant idea.
18. BDH Millwork
anadian advertising studio WAX are the team behind these sophisticated buisness cards for cabinet-maker Brad Haniak of BDH Millwork. On a tiny budget, the WAX team came up with the idea of rubber-stamping Haniak’s business card information onto pieces of leftover wood, available in abundance at his carpentry workshop.
19. Powell Peralta
We’re a little in love with these miniature skateboard business cards for American skateboard company Powell-Peralta. The design follows true skateboard style, made of thin wood and featuring grip tape on one side surrounding a skull design. Created by the talented bunch over at Jukebox, all it needs now is a set of wheels!
20. Myung Dong Opticians
If you live in South Korea and need a sight check, you can save yourself some money with this brilliant self-optometry buisness card for Myung Dong Opticians. Created by Seoul-based ad agency Black Pearl Creative, you simply hold the design an arm’s length away from your face to transform it into an effective eye chart.
21. Ritornell
This is one of the coolest business cards we’ve come across to date. As an integral part of its set list, Austrian duo Ritornell invites the audience to bring along their private music boxes. Katharina Hölzl designed the very special business cards, with the aid of laser-assisted milling. They feature nine micro compositions consisting of circles, triangles and Ritornell’s contact information applied to a long music box paper stripe.
