OUGD502 TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS - DIGITAL BUSINESS CARD DESIGNS

The Roots business card:
We wanted to focus on the logotype being the main element, but to showcase our ethical values and our being in touch with nature, using natural products wherever possible. The business card should also highlight how we get back to the roots of design, using analogue techniques as much as possible. This could be reflected in the production of the business card, for example being screen printed instead of digitally printed.

Initial designs. Aiming for a simplistic design, the detail put in with the finishes. The more complex design, with the squiggles around the name, is supposed to represent a trees markings on the trunk when it's cut down, to show the years it has been alive, each ring representing another year. Green was the initial colour chosen, as this is the one that fits in with nature and our natural aspect. The backs were designed very simply so that they can be personalised with a different colour for each member of the studio. There is also a lot of space on the back of the card to leave room for writing notes.

Simple sans serif typeface for the back side text? The Garamond serif looks a bit too complicated with the serifs for a smaller scale, and with the sans serif on the back and serif larger on the front this highlights the variety of work we as a design studio can produce, from sleek digital work to rougher printed work.

Experimenting with different typefaces, to see what effect each different one has on the overall aesthetic and feel. All but one are sans serif. This is to contrast with the serif of the logotype, and relating to how we can do both digital and analogue design work. 

Experimentation was undertook into the kind of stock to use. I really wanted to use a recycled stock, something with grains and vegetation still in it. This however proved extremely difficult, so instead I found textures to demonstrate how this would work. The textured stock would only be on one side, so this is to see which works best. At the moment I'm thinking on the front with the logotype. This is due to the coloured section on the back, and this combined with the texture and text makes it look like there's too many different elements to it.

This experimentation digitally has been really beneficial. The next stage will be to print some of these off and see what they look like in physical form.