Business Card Assignment

“The business card... is kind of an extension of yourself. It’s a little bit of giving yourself to someone else.”—Ken Erdman, founder of the Business Card Museum, Erenheim, PA

When business people meet they exchange business cards. Business cards are a relatively modern invention designed to quickly introduce a person and provide at least a minimum amount of information about themselves or their business. Some individuals and businesses have simple cards. Others get very creative using business cards with unusual colors or shapes that reflect what the person does.

A card should help others get to know and remember the person or company depicted on the card. Ideally it should convey a sense of who the person / business is and what is they do. A business card generally focuses on a single facet of an individual or business. Business cards usually contain a person’s name, the name of their business, and a title or description of the work they do, and a way to contact the person, such as a phone number or address.

Sometimes a single business card is not appropriate for all aspects of a business. People may have different business cards for different occasions or aspects of their business and present a different “face” depending on their surroundings and activities.

Part 1: Collection of Cards

• From the Internet, collect a minimum of 10 real business cards (5 horizontal and 5 vertical). Alternatively, you can gather cards from family members, friends, local businesses, or organizations.
   
• The cards are to be visually different and from different people or businesses.
   
• Present your cards in a webnode page. For each card, you must discuss in detail what you like and / or dislike about the overall design. Be sure to include pictures of your cards. You might want to consider linking the cards back to the site(s) that you collected from.

Part 2: Card Creation

• Create a series of  3 - 5 business cards for yourself, a historical figure, a business, or organization.
   
• Cards must be for the same person or company.
   
• You must create a minimum of one horizontal and one vertical card.
   
• After careful planning (see below), create the cards on the computer. 
   
• On your webnode page (below the collection analysis outlined above), complete the following for each of your cards

• A "before" image of your completed card. 
   
• A forum where at least two of your peers can add their comments about your card. (See example below)
   
• An "after" image of the card that shows how your card was modified after reading the forum responses of your peers.
   
• A discussion of your project that includes the following:
  • What you like most about the card
  • How you applied the principles of CRAP to your work
  • What further changes you would make to the card if you had an opportunity to redo the assignment.
  • What mark you would give yourself on the card

Part 3: Peer Evaluation of Cards

• In a separate section of your webnode page for this assignment, you must show evidence that you peer edited the cards of two students.
  • To do this, include a link to the student's web page where I can find the forum discussion entry you created for each of their specific cards.
     
• When proofing a peer's cards, consider the following:
  • Be fair and truthful when evaluating the business cards of your classmates.
  • When you first look at this business card what catches your eye first? (the graphic, the name, the color, etc.)
  • From reading this card, what job, role, or activity do you believe this person does? 
  • Is the business card easy to read? Is the type large enough? 
  • Is there too much information or not enough information on the card? 
  • Do you feel that this is a formal (serious) or informal (casual) business card? 
  • Do you like this business card? Why or why not? 
  • If you were the client and you hired your peer to create this card for you, what would you want them to change.

Planning Steps:

• Decide what you want your business card to tell others. It may help to list everything about the person or company and then pick an important aspect(s) to focus on. Use clear and concise vocabulary.
   
• Decide if you want a “serious” or formal card or something more light-hearted or informal. What is most appropriate to your subject?
   
• List the major components to be included on your business card. Many of the items in this list are optional. You must decide which ones are appropriate for your business card.

• Name of Individual
• Name of Business or Organization
• Address
• Phone Number
• Fax Number
• Email Address
• Web Page Address
• Job Title of Individual
• Tagline or description of Business or Organization
• Logo
• Graphic Image(s) (including purely decorative elements)
• List of services or products

• Other design considerations to consider:
   
• What information do you want to emphasize (What is supposed to catch the reader’s eye first?)
• Size of Logo or other graphics—large (dominant) or small, etc.
• Colours to be used (values and quantity)
• White space (blank spaces) toward the middle or toward the outer edges.
• Conservative typeface (such as those used in textbooks) or fun, informal typeface (such as crooked letters, funny shapes, odd sizes, or type that looks like handwriting) or a mix.
   
• Sketch out some rough ideas of how you want your business card to look—including any graphics you think you want to include.

Computer Steps:

• Transfer your rough sketches to the computer. (Measure the provided cards to get the right dimensions. Please note that your horizontal and vertical cards will each need to be in different files.
   
• Have a minimum of 2 classmates peer edit and offer suggestions for improving the impact and quality of your business cards. Edit your cards accordingly.
   
• Print out each of your final designs in color. Hand into the teacher.
   
• In a new document, create a page for final printing that shows your completed cards. Document setup as follows:
  • Paper Size: 51 p X 66 p
  • Top / Bottom Margins at 3 p
  • Left / Right at 4p6
  • Divide document into 2 columns, 5 rows setting gutters to 0 (pull guides or create automatically)
  • Place each of your completed cards accordingly. Note you will need to rotate your vertical cards.

Considerations for the final designs:

• Utilize internal margins for each card. A suggestion would be to create guides ½ to 1 pica from each card edge and to make sure that text or other critical elements do no cross over into the trimming area
• Designs should each be visually different. Don’t merely resize, change, or move elements or images
• Each card should adhere to the rules of CRAP (contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity)
• Utilize concepts we have covered in class: text formatting, alignment, drop shadows, kerning / tracking, leading, strokes, font manipulations, feathers, corner effects, opacities, rules, etc.
• Be sure that all images have been scaled or cropped proportionally (width % = height %) and that the total transformation does not exceed 120 %
• Each card should include full name and contact information. Be sure address is in the correct format necessary for the postal system.
• Once cards are done, have 2 peers check over your assignment and offer critical suggestions.
• Edit your cards accordingly.