If you’re a freelancer or small business owner (like us!), you know just how much is in a business card. Jobs can be gained or lost based on the impression your card makes. In addition to the practical purpose a card serves (relaying your contact info to potential clients/colleagues/friends), there also exists an interpersonal purpose– your card can non-verbally communicate so much about you and your business by virtue of being sharply designed and executed.
In addition to the design variable, though, small business owners and freelancers often bump up against prohibitive design or execution costs. In response to the growing freelance market and the ailing economy, many are opting to designing their own business card rubber stamps.
Here are some examples we find particularly inspiring:
Stamp by Sassen Design c/o underconsideration.com
Stamp by Whitney Stroupe c/o ohsobeautifulpaper.com
The Tea Coup Stamp c/o muldersdraper.blogspot.com
Eco friendly business card c/o trileafdesigns.com
The benefits of a rubber-stamped card are obvious and manifold –
1) Switch up colors and paper weights at your leisure — you can buy your own card stock in varying weights, colors, and sizes whenever you feel the need to shake it up. No need to re-order or make several orders at one time.
2) Harder to run out and quicker to restock — instead of ordering new runs of your cards online and waiting for them to be shipped, all you need is to run to the stationery or home office store and “print” a few cards at home.
3) A uniquely “you” quality — not only will each card have a slightly “handmade” quality to it (which, coupled with the machined-precision of the stamp lettering, will be very aesthetically pleasing), but your stamp will also be one of a kind.
4) Cost effective — except for the initial “set up” cost of having your rubber stamp made, your business card printing expenses will be limited to the price of paper and the occasional ink pad. And, as one of the example photos shows, you can even get green with your stamping surfaces and use recycled materials!
For those of you whose interests are piqued, some of our sources have had great experiences with Simon’s Stamps ( http://www.simonstamp.com ). Also, we’re going to give a shout out to the gentleman responsible for our own logo design, Steve, whose work you can check out here if you’re in need (email him at steve@iscicommunications.com )! If you’re already set up with a rubber stamped card, send us pictures on our Facebook Page; we’d love to see them!
Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check in with us often for more Task Runner Tips! ( #TRTip )
-The Task Runners
