Image: Cardnetics

Business cards are an important part of a company’s identity. They can be a shop window, a blank canvas, a chance to impress a whole new market (including people you’ll never even meet) and a way to show off your creative talents. Witty and imaginative cards are often passed around thousands of people – like a great viral marketing campaign – and shown to friends, family and colleagues. Not only can they help to get your business known, but they also provide a 3.5 × 2 inch opportunity to inform a potential client just how good you are and what you can do for them, quickly and effectively. Simply put, they can do things you can’t and can have an effect that money can’t buy, so let them work for you.

Inventive and attractive cards make your business stand out from the crowd and keep your details on desks and out of waste-paper baskets. Time spent designing a knock-out card can reap huge rewards and even accomplish the same results as an expensive advertising campaign: what more efficient way is there of reminding someone about who you are and what you do?

12. Google

Image: Jeff McNeill

For most people, the first stop when they need to find a new service is a search engine like Google. So you can save time by cutting out the middle man and printing your cards within a screenshot of the Google search engine, with your website as the top result. Simple, modern and effective. It’s also very clear and wittily emphasizes what the business is about.

11. Penny Shooter

Image: Cardnetics

The Penny Shooter by Cardnetics is a business card with a mechanical twist. Usually flat, the card has a fold up magazine allowing ten U.S. pennies to be loaded and fired in turn by its dual rubber bands. Not only is it quite effective at launching loose change, but it is also makes for a fantastic advert: nobody is going to throw this card in the paper recycler. Who would think up a card like this, and who could forget it? It is the ultimate discreet business toy to help while away the hours at conferences; and once you have caught hold of someone else’s attention, you know you are managing your own time effectively!

10. Sheetseat

Image: Emily Berry

The Sheetseat uses a simple production process to create a stylish seat from a single piece of wood laminate, creating almost no waste in the process. It’s green, clever and modern. The innovative design allows the seat to be stored completely flat, saving space and easing transportation, while remaining a pleasing product to use and view. To help demonstrate this, Sheetseat asked designer Emily Berry to recreate their product for their business cards. The result is a fantastic way to make sure Sheetseat cards stay on clients’ desks, and in their memories too.

9. Metal

Image: Affiliate

In a world of paper, a metal business card like this one stands out. It is a bold statement about reliability, confidence and creative thinking, and it also looks and feels great. It gives the impression of quality and success. Metal cards are usually relatively expensive in comparison to their paper cousins, but many will think them worth the extra cost for the added impact that they have. Who would want to throw this Affiliate Summit card, by PlasmaDesign, away?

8. Photographs

Image: Brian Moore

Another way of making sure you’re remembered is by actually having a photograph of yourself grace your card. What’s even better is if you can make it amusing. Brian Moore’s business card is simple yet effective, informal yet informative, and, all the while, it exhibits what he is good at.

Image: Brian Moore

He says: “The front is a combination of a fun picture I took of myself and photoshopped (clearly). I added my name and the things I do, and I think this card is a keeper. I used the funny picture because I had a feeling it would [help] it stand out from the others (no pun intended).”

7. Humor

Image: Podknox

Sophisticated design isn’t the only way to get your business card noticed: humor works well, too. Make a potential client or patron laugh and it can be a great way to make your details stick in their head or get passed around by like-minded people.

6. Languages

Image: Paul Downey

Richard Ishida is the ‘International­ization Activity Lead’ at the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), and his card is, at first, something of an enigma to non-polylinguists. While it includes some less well-known languages, this card highlights one of the perennial problems of international business communication, and deals with it successfully and simply. The languages printed are Arabic, Hebrew, Inuktitut, Chinese, Kazakh, Hindi, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Punjabi, Telugu and Thai. An English translation reads: “Richard Ishida, Internationalization Activity, W3C”.

5. ED Patch

Image: Ed McCulloch and Eric Kass

Photographer Ed McCulloch and brand designer Eric Kass created an ‘Ed patch’ to help promote the ED brand. It’s another calling card that stands out from the ubiquitous white paper that comprises most business cards, and it certainly remains memorable – especially if you sew it into your clothes. You can even get your own. As Ed says: “You don’t have the highly coveted ED patch? No worries, copy the form below and drop us an email. And don’t forget to say you want your very own ED patch.” It’s a viral business card; what could be more effortlessly productive?

4. Fabric

Image: Francesca Pasini

Francesca Pasini’s business cards have a more feminine touch than some of the other entries in this list. Created from old fabric samples her mother collected, the ‘cards’ have a tactile and visibly interesting quality; they are homely, reassuring and yet also manage to be inventive and new. What’s more, each one is unique in its own way.

3. Rye Bread Biscuit

Image: Mark Cossey

Graphic and web designer Mark Cossey created this stand-out ‘card’ for his friend Alex Backhouse. The card itself is unremarkable, but being backed by a Rye bread biscuit transforms it into an entertaining and noteworthy statement for a person promoting his talents as a personal trainer and nutritionist. This could be described as the carrot and stick approach to getting yourself noticed.

2. Lockpick

Image: Mike Norman

What better business card for a computer security consultant than a set of lockpicks? Reformed computer hacker and author Kevin Mitnick’s creation is a highly original reminder of why you should employ him to guard against theft and unlawful entry (both in the real world and IT). The card has proven very popular on websites like Digg, Flickr and Stumbleupon. You can even own a Mitnick card by writing to the address on his website, or by attending one of his speaking engagements.

1. Cardapult V2

Image: Cardnetics

Another ingenious card by Cardnetics is guaranteed to be shown around any office. The Cardapult V2 transforms from a standard-sized card into a rubber band-powered catapult that would make any gadget fan happy. It is a great example of how creativity can translate into publicity and brand awareness. Mechanical Engineer Bryce Bell says: “It started as just a fun project when I designed and built the Cardapult mainly just to see if it could be done.” It turned out that could – and should one arrive in your hands, you’re unlikely to throw it away any time soon.