Assignment: Creating a Business Card

 As a student (or photographer!) you share many of the same attributes of someone in the business world. You may meet people in the course of a day whom you do not know and who do not know you.It is not always possible to spend a great deal of time talking with and getting to know the people you meet. Even when you do have time to talk, people are not always going to remember everything they learned about you.

People you see everyday — teachers, other students, parents, and family members — may not know things about you that you'd like them to know. When business people meet they exchange business cards. These small pieces of paper usually contain a person's name, the name of their business, and a title or description of the work they do, and a way to contact the person, such as a phone number or address.

Task:

Create a business card for yourself. Your card should help others know and remember you. Ideally it should convey a sense of who you are, what you do, or your interests — cheerleader, history buff, teacher's assistant, class president, hall monitor, avid reader, or a photographer!

A business card generally focuses on a single facet of an individual or business. You may be a cheerleader who also raises rabbits and tutors younger students afterschool. Create a business card for just one of those aspects of your school life or extracurricular activities, or the life you WANT to lead when you are out of school.



Checklist:

Many of the items in this list are optional. You must decide which ones are appropriate for your business card.

• Name of Individual.
• Name of Business or Organization.
• Address.
• Phone Number.
• Fax Number.
• Email Address.
• Web Page or Social Media Address (Twitter, Facebook, etc.).
• Job Title of Individual.
• Tagline or description of Business or Organization.
• Logo.
• Graphic Image(s) (including purely decorative elements).
• List of services or products.

The items listed below are to aid in designing your business card. Some may not apply.

• Horizontal or Vertical Layout.
• Emphasis on Business or Organization (name and/or logo).
• Emphasis on Individual.
• Emphasis on Title of Individual.
• Emphasis on a particular part of the contact information (phone, address, email, etc.)
• Size of Logo or other graphics — large (dominant) or small, etc.
• Number of Colors.
• White space (blank spaces) toward the middle or toward the outer edges.
• Conservative typeface (such as those used in the stories in your textbooks) or Fun, Informal typeface (such as crooked letters, funny shapes, odd sizes, or type that looks like handwriting) or a mix.
• SEE ALSO 11 Parts of A Business Card



Steps:

1. First, decide what you want your business card to tell others. Do you want to focus on your activities with the Art Club or do you want to announce that you are class leader or that you are a skateboard enthusiast? It may help to list everything about yourself then pick one topic.
2. Describe yourself. After deciding on what aspect of your school life or activities that you want to focus, make a list or write a description that tells about that part of your life.
3. Decide if you want a "serious" or formal card or something more light-hearted or informal.
4. Using the Business Card Checklist, list the major components of your business card. Mark out any components you wish to omit from your card. If appropriate, come up with a title for yourself. To put everything you want on this small card you may need to come up with different ways to say the same thing. Look for shorter words in place of long ones. Use a single word in place of two or three different ones. Experiment with abbreviations.
5. Look at sample business cards. Identify those that have a style you might like to imitate or borrow, but DO NOT PLAGARIZE!
6. Sketch out some rough ideas of how you want your business card to look — including any graphics you think you want to include.
7. Using Photoshop, create a new Jpeg file, sized according to the specs below, 300 resolution, and 'transfer' your rough sketches to the computer. 
8. POST final buisness card design (front AND back if you have a back) on to blog

 



Evaluation:

When POSTing your card, attach the following questions to the post with your answers.

1. What is the focal point of this business card? (What part is supposed to catch the reader's eye first?)
   
2. What job, role, or activity does this business card describe?
   
3. Is this supposed to be a formal (serious) or informal (casual) business card?