We’ve been looking at business cards for a good while now; every week seems to bring another highpoint for the medium. Occasionally though we come across some that are so out there, they stop us in our tracks. This week, we get all diecut up over a duplex, put our palm out for a coin, and wonder what to make of a card inspired by Barcelona’s architecture. (You can also find more Cool Cards of the Week here.)
Duplex Diecut Business Card
If there’s such a thing as a love-hate relationship with a business card, you might well experience it with that of Greek designer Andia Angelidou. With two duplex versions of Arjowiggins’ Curious Matter paper – red and white & blue and white – along with idiosyncratic die cuts, the cards are both beautiful and just a bit…off. Yet try as you might, we’re betting you can’t look away. Success? Absolutely!
Metal Coin Business Card
Let’s get something out of the way right off – eco-cred is not something this business card has. But if you’re going to go down the metal route like this, you’re going to really have to come up with a design that “offsets” its environmental impact by being awesome. Fortunately, everything Fabien Barral (AKA MR CUP) touches turns to design gold. From the strength of the front design to the tiny mottos that run along its circumference (“Emotion, Creations…”), it’s worth its weight in the coin of the realm.
3D Map Business Card
Three-dimensional printing is very much in its awkward stage at the moment, with results ranging from the sublime to items that look like something out of a David Cronenberg film. While the 3D printed business card for architecture blog zoomcity Barcelona – designed by Studioclam – may look like the latter at first glance, it quickly grows on you. This writeup from PSFK will give you some idea why:
“Printed in 3D out of ABS plastic, the business cards feature a raised map of the city where both ZoomBCN and Studioclam are located. A set of four cards joined together recreates some of the most significant places in Barcelona: Ciutat Vella, Gràcia and l’Eixample.”
No doubt more business cards will be dipping their toes in the 3D tidal wave very soon. When they do, they will have trailblazers such as Studioclam – and their Cronenbergian prototypes – to thank.
