Here... Take My Card

I crossed a big project off my To Do list today by finally creating my business cards!

My stamping aesthetic has increasingly moved towards single, detailed images in dark ink against lighter backgrounds and I wanted to maintain this look with the cards. This morning's session began with my continued search for the best image to stamp on the cards that would be small enought to provide room for text, but large enought to showcase a print style similar to the detail and texture of the greeting cards. After dismissing a long list of potential images, I settled on three: a branch, a lotus, and a typewriter.

I started with the typewriter stamp.



I tested the stamp a few times in my notebook, but didn't really like the image and decided to move on to my other ideas.

Next came the lotus stamp.

The resulting image was clean, but generic, and didn't really convey much about my broader style or purpose. In fact, this card immediately gave me a 'hotel' vibe, so I scratched it off the list and moved on to my third image: the branch.

I liked this image better, but still didn't think it worked for Sonnet & Mayhem. So, I decided to go back to the typewriter stamp and test it out on an actual card before venturing back to the kitchen table for a fourth carving session. To my surprise, when I stamped the typewriter image on an actual business card I liked it much better.

An hour or two spent bumbling around with my business card template, various typewriter fonts, and my printer, and the first offical Sonnet & Mayhem business card was born.

Not only am I really happy with how the overall layout and look of the card turned out, but I'm also releaved that the typewriter stamp has proved to be an easy print to replicate. The image looks good in dark, heavy ink, but also works well with a lighter, water down mix, and it's also easy to place in the right spot on the card. This makes for a quick printing process, which is a must if I'm going to be producing these things in larger batches.

The one downside of having the typewriter image and business card text work out so well is that I may need to rethink my other business designs to make sure the overall image of Sonnet & Mayhem remains consistent. That, however, is an issue for tomorrow. Right now I need to get some sleep.