The Untapped Rewards of the Shaped Business Card

“Good design is like a refrigerator—when it works, no one notices, but when it doesn’t, it sure stinks.” – Irene Au, UX and design innovator

It doesn't matter what your expertise may be, what sector you work in or what your personal, professional or commercial goals may be, having a well-designed, visually-striking business card is one of the primary keys to success. If you don't have a quality business card that represents you, your ideals and personality, you're missing an enormous opportunity to promote yourself and achieve your most important goals.

In fact, on a corporate level, for every 2,000 business cards that are handed out during meetings and networking events, a company enjoys an average sales increase of 2.5%. Moreover, according to a host of industry leaders, a quality business cards make you look prepared, ambitious and encourages trust.

While using sustainable, high-quality material for your business cards and making sure you include all of your key contact information is a must, it’s recently been brought to our attention that having just one rounded corner on your business card can increase your lead generation or networking efforts by double.

Yes, you did read that right.

How do you know, you ask?

Well, recently, one of our happy customers ordered a batch of new business cards with one rounded corner, and headed on over to a networking event to gain new clients while showing off her new creations. By opting for a unique design and just having one rounded corner, she gained instant celebrity status (at the networking event), grabbing incredible levels of attention and earning twice the amount of leads than she usually does. And of course, this success was largely down to her shiny new rounded business cards.

It's plain to see that the shaped business card has the potential to turn heads, earn attention and seriously increase your personal, professional or commercial prospects. But while even one rounded corner will work wonders - striking the perfect balance between shape, novelty, content and functionality is essential if you don’t want your business card to end up on the scrap pile.

Speaking to Time Magazine, Ama La Vida's Nicole Wood says, "You don’t want to try to make it so much fun that it’s actually overriding the content of the card. Make it clear how to get ahold of you."

That said, guys, to help you inspire your own shaped business card creations for supreme success, here are some examples fresh from the Jukebox printing house…

Round edges, gold finished

A double-threat shaped business card if ever we saw one, A&D Woodturning chose a traditional rectangular design but with four of those all-important rounded edges to gain a cutting-edge on the competition. Plus, the forward-thinking company also opted for gold embossed text and an oak-effect finish to dazzle their prospective clients while representing the very nature of their business - well, wood.

The long game

Unless you’ve been living underneath a giant disused business card for the past four or so decades, you will know about Pocky, the chocolaty Japanese confectionary giant. To showcase their innovative, industry-leading nature, the mighty Pocky went for a rounded, rectangular card. But, the brand flipped the script by tilting the text and graphics sideways for a strikingly lengthy look, complete with iconic company logo and a distinctive red color scheme, finished on bamboo.

The baggage tag

Online classified ad and listings innovator, Kijiji, chose a functional, clean and distinctive 28pt Mega baggage belt-tag-style design to represent its quirky tone of voice as well as the travel, leisure and aspirational-theme of the business. And let’s face it, you won’t forget a design like this in a hurry - great job, Kijiji.

The circle

Unique, inspirational, textured, and totally stackable, these inspirational cards were designed for Jukebox by the prolific illustrator, Dan Jazzia, and printed with a letterpress finish for an additional dimension of complexity. If you’re looking to stop people in their tracks while maintaining a solid level of functionality, the circular letterpress design is a solid option. Plus if you like Pogs, you’ll love these cards.

The pineapple

Bespoke party organizer and event curator, gala tuesday, went all out with this pineapple-inspired, and shaped, design complete with a vibrant color scheme and classy gold embossing to boot. This out-there, left-field, wonderfully OTT design, while potentially risky due to its unusual nature, has gone down a storm and has even helped to increase the company’s new client acquisition efforts a great deal - it looks amazing too.

The clam shell

Opting for a 3D Embossed printing finish, this ambitious Brazilian venture dazzled their prospective customers, clients and partners with a striking shell design, complete with life-like ridges - a design that falls in-line with the company’s sense of adventure, escapism and wanderlust. A real one-of-a-kind creation that is as rare as a deep sea pearl.

The paper bag

Perhaps one of the most unique, inspired and multi-functional business cards we've ever seen, hip general store business, The Urban, threw caution to the wind with this 100% recyclable, traditional paper bag-style design that converts seamlessly into a functional grocery carrier. At first, the card is delivered in a flattened format, detailing the business's address, details and credentials, but then the recipient can morph the card into a miniature shopping bag to use in-store - a stroke of pure genius.

“Design transcends agenda. It speaks to the politics of optimism.” – Paul Bennett, design leader

By sitting down and brainstorming potential shaped designs for your business cards, and opting for a shape, style and key features that best represent you, as well as your goals, aims or beliefs, you’ll have a jaw-dropping, head-turning, award-winning business card of your own in no time.

We hope these real-life shaped business card examples have served to get your creative juices flowing, you and for more mind-blowing inspiration, take a look at our full library of fun, creative and cutting-edge business designs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Huges

Dan Huges is a bass player, content writer, fiction scribbler, and oddball tech enthusiast from the UK. Originally from the London area, he now resides in the wilds of North Staffordshire with his wife, Lynsey, and his son, Sidney. You can find out more about his on Twitter or by getting lost in his Catchy Space.