Above: Jeff Greenspan, consultant and former chief creative officer, BuzzFeed, New York
"For a 'That guy I met' card I have I bought a URL that anyone could remember if I were to meet them and didn't have my business card on me, since most people had trouble remembering jeffgreenspan.com (thatguyimet.com redirects to jeffgreenspan.com). Eventually, I made a card with just that simple URL on it. It also creates a bit of a mystery when someone goes back into their business-card collection if it's been a while since we've met, and at that point they generally seem intrigued enough to visit my site and reconnect. For the punch card I hand them out prepunched. This is a riff on coffee-house loyalty cards"
Geneviève Gauckler, illustrator, Paris
“It usually takes a graphic designer or illustrator a lot of time to come up with a business card, as we know it’s a self-portrait. Then choosing a colour, a typeface, a character. Here I’ve chosen the yellow because it’s bright and energetic. The typeface is Jean-Luc, a Dutch typeface that represents strength. The rounded character looking to the side represents curiosity: always looking at what’s going on, searching for new things”
Louise Cornally, Brown Bag Films, Dublin
“Our cards are pretty similar: matt laminate with metallic back print showing our LA office. We’ve had the same graphic designer for 20 years, so there have been lots and lots of different bags, but we settled with the geometric shape back in 1997”
Ingi Erlingson, Golden Wolf animation production, London
Mark Waites, creative partner, Mother advertising agency, London
Jon Burgerman, artist, New York
“I’ve always made stickers, so inevitably I give them to a contact along with my business card. The reaction is the always the same: delight and a smile at the stickers. I started to think of the stickers as a Trojan business card. It shows off my work and is more likely to be kept around and seen. People put them on their notebooks, diaries and even laptops. I still carry the occasional business card, but more often than not I just give out my stickers, either individually or, if I really like you, the whole pack”
Jessica Walsh, Sagmeister & Walsh design, New York
“Our business cards are condoms. They are functional in several ways.”
Mike Perry, artist and creative director, New York
“I don’t have any insight other then I try to keep my cards simple and easy. No overthinking.”
Marina Willer, partner, Pentagram design consultancy, London
Sarah Illenberger, multidisciplinary artist, Berlin
Offset 2014 is at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, March 21st to 23rd. iloveoffset.com
