Anatomy of a business card

[Cross-posted] I am getting new cards tomorrow—digitally printed. While I prefer offset, the cost is just too unreasonably high compared to digital. And they mark another little step at Lucire as we retire the “eyes” screened image that has been part of the stationery since the 1990s.
   The eyes were put on to the stationery to save costs. When the cards were designed, in an age of offset printing and spot colours, we had a plate already made featuring the eyes from the corporate ones (at Jack Yan & Associates). They contributed to the cards and actually lifted the design, plus they gave a clear link back to the parent.
   After nearly a decade (the first years of Lucire saw us simply use JY&A cards), it was time to abandon the image, given that the reason for their use no longer existed. Digital printing is a very different creature, allowing for endless customization. And most of the team favoured a clean look. I just wish the type was sharper with digital, but the layman will never notice.
   We used the traditional Lucire typeface for most of the sans serif details, including the ‘A JY&A Media publication’ endorsement. A second title will follow pretty much this look. The serif typeface is Kris Sowersby’s Slabb, which was launched in Lucire’s print edition just under a year ago.
   I was tempted to see a watermark, featuring the cardholder’s name in 48 pt type, slanted at 8 degrees, as the background for the left half of the card, but we removed it after discussion. I think the removal of all screens was the correct decision.
   The cards are also multilingual: they are meant to reflect the languages spoken by the cardholder and most Swedes will agree I am a long way away from being able to feature their language. It does mean that my degrees no longer feature on mine—I may have to give out my corporate ones if I need something in a more academic context. Having fancy-pants degrees seldom comes up in a fashion magazine discussion.
   Bored with this design? This link will alleviate that. The creative business cards there are clever, just not totally practical for our purposes.