Jeremy Kaplan
Thanks to social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, a lot of folks these days are interested in engraved business cards. Engraved business cards have been around for a while, but it’s incredible what people are doing with them these days. The process of creating engraved business cards lends itself to materials other than heavy cardstock. Nontraditional materials such as wood, metal, and plastic are now being used to created elaborate engraved designs that simply couldn’t be done in quite the same way on paper. The possibilities are endless.
Over the decades we’ve been making traditionally crafted business cards, we’ve noticed that the medium seems to be popular with certain kinds of customers. Users of engraved business cards tend to fall into the following categories:
Traditional businesses
Businesses that build their brands on years of tradition are a big market for engraved business cards and stationery. Since engraved cards have been around for centuries, these cards have quite a traditional, Old World look and feel that suits those businesses. Handcrafted cards like these can are a subtle callback to earlier points of that business’s history, showing that the enterprise is a rare constant in an ever-changing world.
A business doesn’t need to have an actual history to enjoy this benefit either. Engraved cards can give your business an old-timey vibe, which can be great if that’s the kind of brand image you’re going for.
Creative professionals
Engraved cards aren’t just for traditionalists either. Just as painters these days continue to do new things with old techniques, creative professionals today continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible with age-old techniques such as card engraving. The art of making engraved business cards lends itself well to new aesthetics and materials, allowing clever designers to create entirely new looks with techniques that are grounded in centuries of tradition.
Minimalists
The problem with many business cards is that they’re too flashy — grabbing your attention because they stand out like a sore thumb. The opposite, however, can also be a problem. Business cards that are too minimalist can look boring, and not stand out enough. The latter is an ongoing problem for minimalists, who want to stand out without cramming too many extra elements into their business card designs.
Engraving has become a favorite solution to this predicament, adding a subtle depth to business cards without calling too much attention to themselves. One nice thing about engraved cards is that they look slightly different depending on how you hold them up to the light, giving your cards an eye-catching but not immediately noticeable quality.
Anyone who appreciates craftsmanship
While it takes mere minutes to create a basic business card, it takes years of experience to reliably produce engraved business cards with traditional techniques. While this might not matter much for some people, for others, it’s this human aspect that makes all the difference in the world. Good craftsmanship translates into authenticity and commitment, things that many feel are lacking in today’s increasingly impersonal world. For these people, engraved business cards can represent a bit of that human aspect that is hard to find these days.
