Thursday, August 4, 2011

These Ain't Your Daddy's Cards, Kids...


Since the very first time a business card was exchanged, very little has changed in its evolution of design. Sure, designers have done their best when working on a surface that's 2 x 3.5 inches... but, there's only so much you can do with such limited real estate. 


Or, is there?


Sure, somewhere along the way designers began incorporating some color here and some embossing there. It was a creative step in the right direction so I give them an "E" for their effort. However, their creativity was still somewhat limited to what could actually be produced on the printing presses. Think about it this way: in the 1950's, we knew we wanted to put a man on the moon but hadn't quite got that whole spaceship thing figured out...

Alas, there have been some major advances in printing in recent years. This allows for some pretty sweet designing that incorporates inks, papers and textures that were pipe dreams just a decade ago.


A design studio out of of Scottsdale, Arizona by the name of Taste of Ink has embarked  to forever reinvent the starchy and outdated business card. They're breathing new life into a design niche that's been pretty stale for far too long. Check out some of the pieces they've designed recently. But beware... as in most cases, very cool = very expensive! 


This luxurious business card is printed on 100% cotton and contains a subtle blind deboss pattern. The cotton card is pressed with decorative silver foil and black ink.

This elegant die cut business card was designed custom for a poker company out of California and incorporates decorative silver foil for the aces and spot gloss highlights for the ornamental design.

The Avante Swim business card design is one of our Layer Cards. This modern design features two silk matte finish business cards glued together by adhesive. One of the cards has a punch out to create visibility to the card below. The design calls for spot gloss highlights and decorative gold foil.

The Lady BonBon card has a retro-chic appeal that blends perfectly with the custom die-cut cupcake shape. Spot gloss is used on the front and back to add an extra highlight on certain elements on the card.



The above card samples were graciously "loaned" to MWD for the exclusive purpose of highlighting new ink and printing technologies by Taste of Ink. All images are copyrighted and the exclusive property of TOI and their clients.

Friday, July 29, 2011

It's About Time...

After years of stalling, I finally got around to creating my own little space in Cyberland dedicated to McCarroll Williams Designs. It's a good thing because there's been a lot of inquiries come my way in regards to the new services that will soon be available.


Stay tuned as it's my intent to update and add content to the site daily. Have a look around and get acquainted with what MWD has to offer.