I'm a sucker for business cards. Good, ole' fashion, made-of-paper, fit-in-your-wallet, lose-in-your-desk-drawer business cards. Don't make it an odd size or a unique shape. Don't digitize it or virtual-ize it. Just give me a nice, heavy, 3.5 by 2 piece of paper with your information on it, and I'm a happy camper. Some people become too obsessed with "thinking out side of the box," but there are times when there is nothing wrong with the box and the true creative challenge is to think of something fresh that fits in it. One such idea has become a bit of a trend, and I love it. What is this novelty? Why, utilizing the backside of business cards, of course.

Why?
If you're like me, you have stacks of business cards that you absolutely refuse to trash. On occasion, you will rummage through looking for the card of that guy who was at the place who can do the thing that you need done. And you want to use someone you know, right? So, you look for his card. What was it? It was white ... and it had black writing ... and a logo. It can be be difficult to be set apart in the business card world without feeling like an American Psycho choosing between ivory and off-white, 13lb and 14lb paper. So why waste an opportunity? Make your business card easier to notice, easier to remember and easier to find.

In addition to setting yourself apart visually, utilizing the back of your business card can set you apart professionally as well. Last week I was out meeting a bunch of new clients. We spoke briefly, and at one point or another they would offer up their cards. Your card can say a lot about you (more than just your contact information). It can say what kind of care and detail you put into your business. It can say how much you asked of and listened to your marketer or designer. This past week it honestly made me happy to see a card with a bold back to it. More times than not I walked away with the impression (right or wrong) that this person knew what they were doing.

What?
When I was designing my card I wanted to have some sort of icon presence on the back of my card. My logo is pretty well iconized, but not in the most effective way. My icon reads "DT.com" which is great if you are already here and know that the true address is DanielTitus.com unabbreviated. Putting that on the back of a business card and sending them out to a slew of new clients would not have been a wise move. So, I went with a solid black background. Plain? Yes. Boring? Perhaps. But, I've never seen another card like that. In fact most of the people I talked to this week said, "Hey, I got your card. Real dark one, right? Yeah, here it is."

A solid color, your logo, a clever saying even a parenthetical design can be enough to keep your card at the top of someone's mind.
Daniel Titus