Cool Business Cards That People Will Never Throw Away
I’m looking for new business cards. In the past, I have made my business cards out of used Japanese telephone cards. This is a cheap (I’ve gathered a large collection of used telephone cards while living in Japan for free by simply picking them up when I came across them). These tend to stand out (most have very colorful photos on the front) which means that people will generally keep them and remember who I am. An example would be this phone card of Mt Fuji:
This is an effective and cheap way for me to give out business cards at conventions or other large gatherings. The phonecard is more rigid than a typical business card, but not as thick as a credit card. The cards are just unusual enough as a business card that it will prompt several questions, especially since it has holes in it and has Japanese on the back. This conversation reinforces me with the card. I think I have used these quite successfully, although they do take some time on my part to create.
The problem is that they aren’t very “professional” since I simply write my name, url, email address, etc by hand on the back. Thus I’ve been a quest to find a cool business card that people would never throw away that is a bit more professional that would still stand out. Here are some of the ideas I’ve found:
bottle opener business card
shoe scoop business card
toothpick & mirror business card
These three cards are all concept designs by Ji-Young Chun as smart credit type cards, but I think any of them would make an excellent business card - especially the bottle opener card. Not only would a person keep a card like that, they would be showing it left and right to all their friends and family which would be great. If they ever makes business cards like this, I’ll be first in line to purchase them.
Along the same thoughts, another good idea if a lot of your clientele are women would be a mirror business card that was quality enough to allow a woman to put on make-up when they are in a hurry and didn’t have a regular mirror handy. I know this would work because my wife often uses a Japanese phone card which reflects well as a mirror when she needs to put on make-up in a pinch.
Paperclip business card
This is also not supposed to be a business card, but I think it would make a great one. This was actually part of an advertisement for a brand of Japanese rice wine (sake) that I bought a few weeks ago which is the same size as a business card. You can see die-cut into the card are three paperclips. It’s unusual enough that I think most people would keep it and might even show it to friends.
lock pick business card
This is one of those cards you see and just think, “I want one of those.” Putting together something like this would certainly make a huge impression on anyone that received it and you could bet it would be shown to a lot of other people in the future.
USB business card
This seemed like a good idea on first impression, but on further thought I don’t think it would work for me. People would keep it, but because memory has become so inexpensive, it is like putting you name on a pen that happens to be digital. I think if you have a small business that you want to brand, this might be the way to go, but it probably won’t leave the lasting impression that I’d like (especially as prices fall even further).
Here are some more business cards that I came across that I thought were creative. Although I don’t think they’re right for me, they may get your creative juices flowing if you are looking for new business cards too:
cord business card
chocolate business card
CD business card
metal business card
tape measure and level business card
peanut business card
ruler point business card
seeds business card
liquid business card
rubber band business card
ticket business card
I’m still undecided which way I’ll go until I can find out if some of the concepts above can be made for a reasonable price. Any other suggestions on cool business card that you think would leave a positive impression that would help that person to easily remember you would be greatly appreciated.
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Posted: May 2nd, 2008 under Business.
Comments: 37
Comments
Comment from DC
Time: January 4, 2008, 6:33 pm
well…how about making a template or something and printing your information on…like with heavy red ink or something?
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Time: January 4, 2008, 9:28 pm
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Comment from tracy
Time: January 5, 2008, 6:30 pm
Thanks for the post. This has given me some great ideas on improving my own business cards.
Comment from davis
Time: January 5, 2008, 6:46 pm
While the unusual business cards are eye catching, I would stay away from anything that does not fit into a wallet of business car index file. Those strange ones will not be in the right place when someone needs to get hold of you or find your contact information.
I love the idea of the useful business card. That bottle opener idea rocks. I love it. The toothpick one is kind of disgusting unless you want your card in someones mouth.
Comment from tim Rowledge
Time: January 6, 2008, 10:23 am
When I was at the RCA in ‘83-4 someone made a small batch of business cards that were tiny inflatable pool loungers. Not terribly useful I suppose but very noticeable.
Comment from Pissinginthetent.com
Time: January 6, 2008, 10:28 am
I have to admit that is pretty dang cool !
Comment from abe
Time: January 6, 2008, 11:27 am
lockpick card, wozniak’s, and the ruler card are the only ones that are worth two shits.
Comment from Rob
Time: January 6, 2008, 1:43 pm
Some of them are cool. The chocolate one might be a bad idea as you would just eat it then have no details!
Comment from Jenny
Time: January 6, 2008, 8:53 pm
Heh that’s pretty nifty.
Comment from Rafael Slonik
Time: January 7, 2008, 12:48 am
Bottle opener isn`t just cool. Is has a use. I would like to have one.
If you find someone producing those bottle opener card please let me know 
Comment from John
Time: January 7, 2008, 6:20 am
It might not get thrown away, but my wife would have eaten the chocolate ones before anyone got chance to see them!
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Comment from zee
Time: January 7, 2008, 5:20 pm
wozniak sure has the most cliched and unimaaginative “web” logo ever
Comment from Matthew
Time: January 7, 2008, 7:32 pm
Thank you for the post!
Comment from jate saitthiti
Time: January 8, 2008, 5:59 am
very interesting IDEA!
Comment from Elven Soft
Time: January 8, 2008, 11:42 pm
Not all are great … peanut bc? come on
Comment from S
Time: January 9, 2008, 2:12 am
What if you just have a stamp made with all of your info on it. Then you can keep with the Japanese card idea but it will look more professional since the writing will be uniform
Comment from mobile2fun.com
Time: January 9, 2008, 8:12 am
Well I am looking for the availability of these cards in Pakistan
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Comment from Shawn Chong
Time: January 19, 2008, 11:05 am
I was just thinking that I’d mass produce a copy of the bottle-opener business card here in Taiwan and sell a set to you. However, I found this website already in operation:
http://www.garrettspecialties.com/credit-card-bottle-opener-p-150.html
Comment from a
Time: January 20, 2008, 3:36 pm
test
Comment from CatherineL
Time: January 21, 2008, 6:29 am
Brilliant post. I never knew there were so many alternatives to the conventional business card. I’ll be trying out the bottle opener one for sure. Not that I think my customers drink a lot!
Comment from Bob
Time: January 22, 2008, 2:20 pm
I think you’re wrong about the USB stick, it’s the only thing that would be used more than once. One more thing is that you often give/lend it away to someone once you’ve fitted it with information, this way more people would see it. And it is very easy to make, I don’t know how you can call it cheap though, it is still very expensive for those things.
Comment from ChiefShowOfficer
Time: January 23, 2008, 9:38 pm
My business cards can beat up your business cards ;^)
Comment from John Smith
Time: January 25, 2008, 12:37 pm
Have you seen Paul Allen’s card?
Comment from Daniel
Time: January 25, 2008, 2:58 pm
You’re a financial blogger. Print your info on a dollar bill. The price is close to the bottle opener card, and nobody’s going to throw away money. Also, you’ll always have another in you wallet. Just don’t give out too many!
Get new ones, they cost the same. Printing could be an issue, but with a little setup you could bet a printer just running bills through.
Pretty nice site too.
Comment from badad
Time: February 25, 2008, 12:08 pm
these are all cheap and crap
Comment from Alaa Maanawi
Time: March 7, 2008, 4:07 pm
Nice ideas but I think there problem using metal business card as some airports consider it as dangerouse items, there also some items which is hard to have in wallet, but any way nice and clever cards I do like.
Comment from mehmet
Time: March 14, 2008, 8:55 am
What if you just have a stamp made with all of your info on it. Then you can keep with the Japanese card idea but it will look more professional since the writing will be uniform
Comment from Kay
Time: April 16, 2008, 4:49 am
Some excellent ideas here - even if some of them are a bit daft. In the past we’ve tried using T-shirts, pens with calendars on them, and cigarette lighters. All kinda unimaginative stuff. I like the bottle opener idea but I wonder how sturdy it would be. Whatever, the idea to have an interesting and useful business card is a great one.
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Comment from Stephanie
Time: June 1, 2008, 1:56 pm
Most of these ideas are pretty cool, besides a few that are really not convenient to carry everyday (bottle opener, peanut…) but also fairly expensive to make when considering some of the materials used and the die cutting or printing techniques…
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Comment from Andy
Time: June 19, 2008, 5:25 am
Some of them are amusing, but they still have to suggest your business sector to be memorable.
So, the lawn seeds one is great.
But, the lockpick one isn’t (unless you’re in the burgling industry).
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