It seems one of man's most basic needs is to be recognised. Of course, as soon as you are recognised you start to become typecast. This is a typical Mac user's dilemma. 'Oh, you're that designer,' someone will say, and you will cringe and want to reply, 'Well, I also invent, sculpt, write poetry, build websites, raise children, create music, write books and publish newsletters.' I used to have a business card that listed all the professions from which I made money. Down the right-hand side was a list in soft grey type that recounted my marketable talents. One of the items would be in black to highlight the profession I was pitching at that moment. People would spend a long time reading the card and remember it for months afterwards. Its only drawback was it rarely presented me as an expert in any one subject and, therefore, failed to secure employment. With my new company I needed new business cards and I had a new set of requirements. The card had to deliver an introduction that was immediately memorable while supplying all the needed contact information. Ideally, it would be so attractive that when I gave one out, people would ask for another just in case they lost it. (If you don't set your sights high, you will never hit your target.) I got a hold of the two most highly rated Mac business-card-design applications, Business Card Composer ( www.belightsoft . com/products/composer/overview.php; US$39.95) and SOHO Business Cards ( www.chronosnet.com/products/sohobc_product.html ; $29.95). The applications are perfect for the task and offer almost exactly the same features. The primary difference is the additional art content they provide. SOHO delivers more designs but less content. Both interact with all Mac iApps; both connect directly to online printers; both print fold-out and two-sided cards as well as name tags and CD labels. Both print to 700 business-card-template papers and both are easy to use and allow full editing of the card designs, including transparency, object rotation and gradients applied to any object. SOHO has the more exotic, prettier, more photographic designs, while Business Card Composer has the more traditional design collection. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with either option. The purpose of these applications is to select a design that portrays your company's persona. You should design your logo in a separate graphics application such as Adobe's Illustrator and import that into your card. Also feel free to use a preferred font. The resulting card should be beautiful and easily readable from a distance of 60cm. To make my new card highly desirable, I created a version of my logo - which is two D's facing each other with a test tube in between - in 3D and coloured it as though the Ds were made of gold. The card has a black background with a golden border and golden type. It's beautiful. Now, people who have previously received my new card, on seeing me again, say, 'Oh, you're the guy with the beautiful business card.' In this case, I don't mind being typecast.
