10 Feb

My New “Business” Cards

Photography cards for a non-photographer, designed as part of my personal branding.

One of several versions of the front:

The shared back for all the cards:

The other versions of the front:

Due to a few random generous offers, I may end up with last minute plans to head to Austin for SXSW Interactive. My friend Julie reminded me that I should order some business cards with current information.

I logged on to Moo with my 50 top flickr photos as backs and my basic text front and got ready to order, before I realized a few things.

One: I am not a professional photographer, nor do I aim to be. Two: I have the inDesign and plain old design skills to customize this card to my liking. Three: I have the time to do so.

My intent was to use my own photos, but in such a way that the negative space took up most of the card, and that the viewer wouldn’t be entirely sure if it was an image or color wash until his eye hit an edge. I feel like that adequately describes my relationship to photography: It’s a huge part of my life, but in a peripheral role.

Then came the challenge of what to call myself. As a self-taught designer and then self-taught editor with a degree in international business, I have a bit of multiple occupation disorder. So I made the checklist on the back — something I’ve been wanting to incorporate anyway. (I love the idea of the receiver flipping through a stack of cards later and actually remembering who I am. “Oh, she’s the girl who wanted me to send her my lasagna recipe!” or whatever.)

The plan is to order a set of 50 Moo cards with 8 (give or take) of each version of the front, all with the same back. The cards are the size of European business cards (similar to US size) and I’m going to go with the recycled uncoated stock so that I can write on the back.

The nice thing about the quantity (50) and price point (under $30 including shipping) of Moo cards is that if I want to try something new after a few months, there’s no reason not to.

Now I just have to get my travel plans to Austin together.

There’s a discussion of the cards on my flickr stream here.