Business cards. In the age of LinkedIn, smartphones, and a million contact apps, they can seem kind of anachronistic. But they're still the preferred way of handing over your contact information at job fairs, expos, and conventions, and a key part of the job hunt. Business cards may seem out of date, but they're actually more popular than ever. In fact, they're so popular...

...it can be kind of a problem. Many VIP's, recruiters, or vendors end fairs or trade shows with hundreds of cards, which they either summarily throw away, or scan into their app of choice and then promptly forget about. You can try to make your business card flashy or colorful to get attention, but there's a lot of flashy cards out there now too, and you run the risk of looking unprofessional. The school does provide us with an "official" business card template:

 

Not bad, but I think I have a cool alternative:

 

After doing some research, I think the best alternate card option out there is metal. They're standout and impressive without being flashy or unprofessional. Metal business cards are laser cut out of stainless steel, which fits the technological "vibe" of the program well, and the minimalist look is definitely "in" in tech right now.

 

 Metal cards also offer options that are impossible on paper cards, like a logo cutout or alternative interior shapes:

 

Bottom line, we're all here to build an amazing program and get awesome jobs doing it, and if some cooler cards will help that goal, we can make that happen!

Awesome cards, got it. So how does this work?

Metal cards aren't that expensive (about $2 each), but the template for them has to be custom made. If we want a really good designer making our class cards (and we do), it'll be a few hundred dollars total. This campaign will raise the money to create a fantastic class card template, and help us stand out from other job applicants.

Couldn't someone in class design them? We have a few graphics artists.

Very possible! But excellent design takes time, and time is not something we have a lot of right now. The design will run through several iterations, during which the artists in class (and everyone else) will be able to offer feedback, but I didn't think it was practical to ask any of our resident artists to also take on a big design project.

So what is this card actually going to look like when it's done?

Suggestions are welcome, and there will be multiple iterations of design for the class to choose from, but right now, the notion is that it's going to look something like the three cards you can see above. It needs to include our school logo, a unique identifier for Johnson and NYC tech, and an elegant incorporation of our LinkedIn information that many traditional cards lack. The goal is something elegant and simple, the same size and dimensions as a standard card, but with a clear theme. As the card says:

 

 Who is actually going to do the design?

I intend to solicit drafts from MyMetalBuisnessCards  , PlasmaDesign  , MetalCards  , eLance  , and 99Designs  , with the final selection (after filtering and review of some of our artists) to be made by the class.

What if I want more than 20?

The template, once available, can be used to print all the cards you like at your leisure! Every student who backs will get a copy with their contact information.

Can I order cards later if I don't donate now?

Sorry, but each card file is designed with a specific name and set of contact information on it, so it won't be possible to simply print out your own variant later. No free riders here—if you want the cool cards, you need to chip in.

What if there's not-enough/too-much money?

I've padded the budget fairly heavily, so I'm not seriously concerned we'll fall short. If there's money left over, it'll be used to create additional variant cards, such as plastic, RFID enabled, etc.

Are there any stretch goals?

Just one! At $3,000, we get other cool card designs, like RFID enabled cards, plastic, mini-metal, etc.