15 Beautifully Minimal Business Cards
Following yesterday’s business card giveaway kick-off, I thought it would be appropriate to show some more beautiful cards from Card Observer. This time we’re going to look at those cards that are both minimal in color scheme and design elements. This minimalism in design is what makes these business cards so beautiful and effective. But since there’s not a lot going on with the design of these cards, the elements that are printed have to spot-on. That’s why it’s so important to find the right business cards printing services.
If you want to see more details about the cards, just click on the images.
Bryon Darby
Job Design
February
Aaron Kapor
Portsmouth Tea Co
Frederick Van
IQ Videography
Fuse
Agency ND
Bellucci Stores
Justine Ungaro
Elemental Architecture
Playful
Precision Networking
Another Limited Rebellion, Inc.
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Apr 16, 2009
Fuse is lovable.
Bump/relief cards look good when you give them, but are not very practical in a long run as they age pretty bad.
Apr 16, 2009
Awesome post – I’ve been needing to design business cards for myself for quite some time – maybe I’ll get started today… and I’ll keep it minimal. Thanks!
Apr 16, 2009
These are little works of art. Amazing!
Apr 16, 2009
Lovely.
Biz card fetish can be taken too far (viz. American Psycho).
These err on the side of great taste.
Good list…
STH
Apr 16, 2009
They are all great, but the best has to be Frederick Van. Simply fantastic!
Great post, thanks
Apr 16, 2009
wow, beautiful designs!
deliciousing this *
Apr 16, 2009
nice clean business cards, thanks for share..
Apr 16, 2009
I am a huge fan of texture, so Bryon Darby’s is my favorite. Thanks for the post Henry!
Apr 16, 2009
All of these cards are stunning. This post also reinforces for me the importance of good presentation and great photography to really make the designs sing.
I love the use of camera angles and depth of field and contrast in so many of these pictures. It’s the difference between the perception of a merely good card and a truly great design.
Apr 16, 2009
A L R f t w
Apr 16, 2009
I am looking at my cards right now and feeling sorry for them… Poor things never had a chance! LOL. Maybe we should do a HandBookLive video manual on business cards. Doesn’t quite fit our format though
Anyway, I feel inspired, so thanks!
Apr 16, 2009
These are beautiful. I just love minimal.
It’s not simple and it allow you to just feel everything else instead of what is through the eyes. The texture, the quality of the wording…
Apr 16, 2009
nice business cards…
Apr 16, 2009
Thanks for compiling this list, good work. I really need to make some new business cards. I like to go to http://cardobserver.com/ for inspiration.
Apr 16, 2009
Fully a third of these are awful. Pretty fonts, reverse type, and embossing do not make something beautiful – and certainly not useful! Pretty things get looked at and then tossed. If your business card has ceased to be a card to both brand and contact your business with, then you have failed.
Apr 16, 2009
I’m going to a conference soon and I could use some business cards.
Apr 16, 2009
Ugh. Hint to designers: Business cards are white. White, white, white. Or maybe some light pastel shade. Business cards are not black. Why are business cards not black? So that we can make notes on the back about who this person is. A black business card is useless, and I toss them in the trash.
Same for non-standard sizes and shapes. Design is above all about working within the requirements.
Apr 16, 2009
muito maneiro vou providenciar rs
Apr 16, 2009
Minimal ? What is your definition of minimal I am wondering. Embossed cards are anything but minimal in my regard. Minimal is what I can print out of my inkjet printer, not $3 per piece business card wanna-be.
Get your facts straight dude(ette)
Apr 16, 2009
I really like the IQ Vid, but most of those are outstanding. I’m really a fan of clean and simple, I think it makes a strong statement.
Apr 16, 2009
Awesome business cards, I’ll have to keep these designs in mind for the next time I need new cards.
Apr 16, 2009
Guy Kawasaki’s cards should be on this list :
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2008/05/the-art-of-the.html
Apr 16, 2009
Agency ND is my favorite. although as Mike says, its black on the back which makes it difficult to put it for good use.
take a look at our business card. we like to think of it as simple and elegant.
here : http://tinyurl.com/dzcr34
Apr 17, 2009
Thanks for posting some of our letterpress work, great list!
For anyone interested, you can see more of our letterpress business cards here: Letterpress Business Cards by Dolce Press
Apr 17, 2009
Amazing examples of really beautiful business cards,..
Apr 17, 2009
Good inspiration for people who get caught up in adding too much to their business card. Thanks.
Apr 17, 2009
Hi,
Does anyone know where some of these cards were printed? I’m looking for an online printer that will print on a wide selection matte black paper and maybe even offer spot glossing.
Maybe I need to go to a local print shop…
Thanks.
Apr 17, 2009
These are really great designs. I always prefer business cards that are not too fancy but have a strong character and aesthetics to them. This is delicious-worthy.
Apr 17, 2009
Very nice cards, love the Elemental architecture.
Apr 17, 2009
These cards sure do look pretty, but my engineer’s eye just sees a lot of wasted space. Where’s the person’s email, phone, website, pager, and other contact info?
What is a business card, if not a way to pass contact info in a standardized form?
Sorry to say but as beautiful/artistic as these cards are, they’re useless beyond that
Apr 17, 2009
I do did the minimalism. However, the cost of not having the contact information on some of these cards (like Frederick Van) negates the advantage of a neat design.
Do we expect people to google the name? Why make it harder for potential customers to find you?
Apr 17, 2009
truly beautiful. Thanks for the post.//
Apr 17, 2009
real classy design here. really helps on my latest project
Apr 17, 2009
@Mel Minimal refers to the design not the price. I the only thing on the card is a name, I don’t care if it’s embossed, foil stamped, diamond encrusted, it’s still minimal.
Apr 18, 2009
I have to laugh at some of these negative comments. A business card should represent you and your brand. And that’s not always “white, white, white”. In fact, if you’re an agency, that will likely get you “ignored, ignored, ignored”.
Business cards have a rich history, and for practicality’s sake, they’ve been replaced by smart phones and computers and such. Now they are small introductions and say volumes about the person presenting them and who they represent.
So I for one find many of these sublime, beautiful, and very very purposeful. I personally don’t want to give a card to someone who needs to write notes on the back. Obviously I’ve not made the right impression.
Rock on!
Apr 19, 2009
Hi,
Nice cards
I made also a list of 100 + nice looking or highly creatives business cards
http://www.conseilsmarketing.fr/communication/comment-reussir-ses-cartes-de-visite-en-8-points
Have fun !
Apr 19, 2009
RED ALERT! You will regret your black/dark business card the moment you try to write down a note on it. And you can be assured your prospective client will be frustrated as well!
At least make the back solid white or close to it.
Apr 20, 2009
This is a nice collection of great designs of business cards…loved few of them. Anyways, will look forward for some further posts on this.
Apr 20, 2009
Most of these are clearly not designed with the recipient in mind. Reverse type and embossing are not friendly to middle-aged eyes!
Apr 20, 2009
These are all classy, but why are they all shades of charcoal and gray? Are they all made BY designers FOR designers?
Apr 20, 2009
That’s ‘bone’.
Apr 20, 2009
Fuse is fantastic, very nice design.
Apr 22, 2009
Really minimalistic…
Apr 23, 2009
Hi,
Excellent collection of cards, so thanks for that.
Perhaps it might be worthwhile having a standard method of photographing these cards? The way they’re done now it’s hard to easily compare or judge how the card would look in “normal” lighting and angles…
-zsh
Apr 25, 2009
Great cards i love the logo for Precision Networking and the card design as well.
Apr 27, 2009
Yeah, but what do these business cards GUARANTEE? They’re not dye-cut, foil stamped, OR embossed. They are crap. They probably didn’t even take 25 years to develop.
Apr 28, 2009
What a nice design! I’d love the name card of Precision Networking as well!
Apr 29, 2009
Great collection! Thanks!
Apr 29, 2009
Very nice and classy. I love it!
Apr 29, 2009
Very cool, my kind of style! My cards probably fit in this category. http://mattfouty.com/blog/?p=71