Bring it! Business Card Inspiration

By Brittni • Updated on 07/07/2021

When I started writing this post, it was all about tips for the best business cards and what to think about when you are designing your own. But then I realized the cards kind of speak for themselves. So I’ll just tell you a few stories about the amazing people I met and share a handful of the best business cards that I received at Alt…

Letterpress. (above) One of my favorite cards from all of Alt was this one above. It’s a double-sided letterpress card (husband and wife team). One side shows Mike with his website and the other shows Alma and her website. I had dinner with them the first night. I didn’t really get a chance to talk to them (there were 12 other people at that dinner), but they seemed very nice.

Perfectly minimal. Piper from One Sydney Road (bottom left of image above) is really good friends with someone else I met at Alt, Lillian (who I’ll mention later) and we had lunch together the first panel day and hung out throughout the rest of the time in Salt Lake City. Love her. She was also speaking on a panel one of the days and I heard it went really well. Go Piper!

And right next to the One Sydney Road card is Studio Sweet Studio. This card is proof that you don’t need tons of info – the only info you really have to have is your url. People will find the rest on their own after some investigating.

More Perfectly Minimal. Bow Tie and Bustle is Jenn’s event planning business and blog. I met her at the Seattle airport before jumping on the plane to SLC. Isn’t that logo sweet?

Oh, and you can see Ghostly Ferns in this image too. Meg is awesome! She has tons of projects going on (like Studio Sweet Studio) and plenty of business cards to go around.

Pushing Packaging. This one came in a sealed envelope and held not one but two cards inside (a team of two fab ladies with an event planning business). Below is what was inside the envelope. They were at dinner the first night too. And they were having a good time. Definitely the life of the party.

More cards…

Unique Materials. Heather from Joy of all Crafts is someone I met through Danni. Cute card! Each one had a piece of vintage fabric sewn to the back.

More Unique Materials.  This card from Katie of Salt + Pine is amazing and as it turns out, I almost had my cards printed on the very same wood from the very same Etsy shop. But then I chickened out (didn’t think I could get them in time). And as luck would have it, the first person I met for Alt (before even getting on the plane) had the exact cards that I had originally planned on getting (or course the design was different). This card is beautifully designed + it’s letterpress + it’s printed on balsa wood. So amazing.

I met Katie at the airport on the way to Salt Lake City (she lives just outside of Seattle). We talked for hours, sat next to each other on the plane (along with Jenn) and then met up with Brianne later that night. Slumber party!

Represent! Jenean is another woman that I met at dinner the first night. Once she passed out her cards and I saw her last name, I realized we already knew each other. We had worked together via papernstitch a while back and she is such a lovely person.

Her cards had tiny holes punched in them all the way around. Fun and colorful – just like her.

More Representin’. Love the signature on Miya’s card. And the gold. This is actually the back of the card, but it’s my favorite part. Miya is one of the founding partners at You + Me.

Freebies. Unstitched is Lillian’s blog, who I met thanks to Danni. And she is absolutely adorable. Her card came in a glassine envelope with a wooden bookmark, which I love, but forgot to take a picture of that part. Woops.

More Freebies. And finally we get to Danni (above and below)! Danni’s blog is Oh Hello Friend. I hung out with her quite a bit in SLC (though it seemed like not enough). Of course, her business cards are awesome. Perfectly packaged with extra goodies – a little dala horse paper clip and an inspirational decal, along with her card. So lovely! Just like her.

Final Advice: In terms of business cards, I’ll tell you one thing…

The final design that you choose can help you make a great first impression. BUT if you don’t stick around and talk to a person long enough for them to remember you, your amazing business cards aren’t going to make a lick of difference.

You want people to remember YOU – your amazing personality, kick ass shoes, and beautiful smile. Not just your card, right?

The more they remember (and like) about you, the more likely they’ll be to do business with you in the future.

34 comments | Click here to reply

[…] for inspiration? Papernstitch did a good post here where they discuss some types of business cards and the designs and layouts. They also have a fun […]

The Business Side of Blogging - Business Cards

[…] for more business card inspiration? Check out part 1 and 2 from the biz card series here and here & my business card inspiration board on Pinterest for more. var […]

Bring it! Business Card Inspiration | papernstitch

thanks so much for including me in your biz card round up! so glad we got the chance to meet and so happy you’re here in seattle! let’s connect soon!!!

jenn {bow tie & bustle + scout}

So nice to meet you too Miya. My pleasure to include you. Love your business cards!
-Brittni

papernstitch

Thanks for including me, Brittni! So nice to meet you, and love your work!

Miya

I love a tastefully designed business card. http://t.co/TfBUhy89

Katie Owston (@VioletsForLou)

[…] all the amazing business cards I collected at Alt, I’ve been thinking about changing my own business cards lately. So I started a new […]

Looking Elsewhere for Inspiration | papernstitch

These are SUPER GREAT! I’m loving the inspiration!! 🙂

cindy

I have an obsession with business cards and have them for many places and people so I LOVED with post.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweeteststrawberry

Nancy

Yep, they sure did Colleen! And yeah- you are in there too. I should have taken a better shot of your card. I loved the design. So glad we were able to meet at Alt.
Have a good one.
-Brittni

papernstitch

Such lovely cards!! I agree that the Lovelands NAILED IT. And yay! I see mine in there! : )

Colleen / Inspired to Share

Hey Muffin. I am sorry that we weren’t able to meet! That’s great that you hung out with Jenn so much while you were there. She is a sweetheart! I only roomed with her on the first night, but she is great!

Love those Valentine’s downloadables you have been running on your blog! Off to pin a few of them. I’d love to meet up sometime.

-Brittni

papernstitch

I’m so sad I never got to meet you. When I found out you were rooming with Jenn from BowTieandBustle, I about lost it!!! We hung out a lot during the conference. What a shame I didn’t get to meet you! We’ll have to plan for it another time. Getting to meet 500 women in 2 days is rather difficult!

Love all of these business cards! So great!

Muffin Grayson

Great inspiration. I love collecting fun business cards. xo, rv

http://aneclecticheap.blogspot.com/

Rae Veda

Thanks Lillian! You are such a sweetheart. So glad we met.

Yes! Jessica, I totally agree.

And Natalie. Yes! I do have some advice if you’re considering attending a conference. I think my number one tip would be to reach out to people that you “know” in the community or admire before you go to the conference that you know will be there. Make plans with them ahead of time if possible to meet up while at the conference. Things can get hectic at those kinds of events, and it can become difficult to meet up with people you really wanted to interact with, so making plans ahead of time is always a good thing. Also, don’t be afraid to sit right next to someone new at lunch or during a panel and introduce yourself. This is an awesome way to meet new people. I always look for someone whose style is similar to my own if I am in a situation like that because chances are you’ll have something in common and networking and future partnerships will be that much more likely. If you any other specific questions, feel free to aks away. 🙂

-Brittni

papernstitch

Thanks for sharing all of these beautiful examples. There are so many creative directions that one can take business card design in. It sounds like you met many interesting people at Alt. I was wondering if you had any networking advice for those of us considering attending a conference in the future.

Natalie

Such a great round-up! I think the business cards at Alt are on a different level- never in my life have I loved every single card I received at a one event!

Jessica

Brittni, you are SO sweet! 🙂 Thanks for your very kind words – and you are so spot on!! It’s so true that if you don’t hang around and have a real conversation, then it won’t matter how amazing your card is. That was the saddest part, when you get a great card and can’t even remember who gave it to you. You are so knowledgeable, Brittni…I always love reading what you have to say! 🙂

Lillian (Unstitched)

My pleasure Heather. Great to meet you too.

Faith. Totally agree – Danni always has amazing cards and goodies.

Thanks for all the comments everyone!

-Brittni

papernstitch

I love Miya’s card!

Deidre

I should have known the card with the horse paper clip was Danni’s! That envelope caught my eye way up in the second photo. So much inspiration here!

Faith | OrdinaryMommy

Hi Katie! Absolutely – I would love to be able to meet up again soon. I had a blast with you. Only wish I could have hung out more after the first night. Hope your week is going well.
-Brittni

papernstitch

Brittni, I loved your final advice! So very true. I’m so happy we got a chance to hang out at Alt (especially before all the action began). You a such a sweet, creative person with an excellent business, too! 🙂 Thanks so much for including my card in your roundup. Hope we’ll have the chance to get together soon!

katie//salt+pine

Thanks so much for featuring my card! It was great meeting you! 🙂

Heather

Oh i needed that article a lot! 🙂 Thank you 🙂

Nihan

Jenean! So nice to have met you as well. I love your business cards and your bubbly personality. The same thing happened to me- if I didn’t have a real conversation with someone I have no idea what their business was (or what their card looked like for that matter) and I didn’t look in to it any further once I got home.

I had so many cards I didn’t feel like going through every single one. So I just tossed the ones I didn’t recognize as people I had actually spoken with to the side (I didn’t throw them away but I am not going to look up their websites).

Goes to show that the interaction is key to making a connection that last longer than the conference.

-Brittni

papernstitch

Thanks for including me in your round up! It was so nice to meet you in person! I was so excited when I realized who you were at the dinner. How nice that we had that time together. And I love your advice about sticking around and getting to know people. I have several cards that were handed out during our round-table group discussion, and those cards were just passed around the table in stacks. I can’t put a face or a conversation with these cards. I remember the people that I had face-to-face time with. Again, so nice to have met you!

Jenean

Glad this post provided some inspiration for you lovely ladies!
-Brittni

papernstitch

A business card can say so much! What a very interesting and inspiring post 🙂 thank you! Jen@madeinminch

Jen

These are so cool! I am totally in need of some new business cards. Thanks for the inspiration!!!

Happy Thursday – Brandi

Keeping It Indie

You got SO many awesome ones!! I am a true sucker for a good lookin’ card!!

Nicole Underwood

I am in the middle of a re-design so all of these have really got me thinking and the inspiration flowing!x

rebecca

Definitely about the interaction Emily! Couldn’t agree more. Didn’t even realize we didn’t exchange cards. Ha!
-Brittni

papernstitch

OOo! More Alt business card eye candy!

I just realized that in all our little meetings, we never exchanged cards, but I remember you anyway! Just goes to show it’s all about the interaction.

But a cute card definitely helps. 😀

Emily
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