Business Card Criticism

[praetoritevong]

That's a great idea. I don't know exactly where you would put it on the card but it could be awesome.

Put it on the back, or incorporate it into the design.

I think that having the word magician on your card is actually quite important. Think about it, people collect dozens of business cards in a year. If they want to book you a year and a half later, they should be able to efficiently find your card. Granted the best way to do this is to perform an effect with the card, but that isnt always possible. Sometimes you hand your business cards to some people to give to others and friends and what not, or if youre table hoping have some available at the front counter. I dont think there is any profession in which its not a good idea to have your position on your business card (unless youre a spy I guess..).

I like the simplicity and open-ness of the card because its clean. However, because the front is black, youre basically forced to make the back of it black as well... which takes away from the utility of being able to do effects with it. You need white, or light coloured areas on your card for a lot of effects, and even if you dont do any now, you dont want to be limited in the future. To solve this, I would throw a white border around the edges, which makes the continuation of white onto the back not so drastic. It also means you have to pay less for printing because you dont have to pay for both sides!

Also, you need to understand what its going to look like when its printed. Gradients and the fades and stuff won't print as well as they look on your screen. Keep this in mind when doing graphic design. People who are used to designing for internet dont always understand how important it is for clean simple lines when youre going to printing.

Just a few thoughts.

Cheers,
Lucas

Lucas, you've got some good points. I'll throw in an opposing opinion for the sake of it, and see what everyone thinks. I haven't necessarily made up my own mind on this, but...

Ok, on the finding a card a year and a half later thing...

I don't think this is a problem. I recently spoke to someone who I performed for two years ago. This person related to me the details of my performance, and the one particular effect he enjoyed. He also told me of how his best friend, who was also present at the performance, has been telling the girl he likes about what I performed, and about how impossible it was.

In my mind, this is getting close to the sort of experience we should be aiming to provide. The point is, that neither of these guys would have any problem remembering my name, remembering who I was, or what I did. If I had given them a business card, it certainly would not have needed to have "magician" stamped over it. As far as physically finding the card, it's very easy for them to index it by name or profession - as long as they can recall what I do, and they will, if I've done my job - then it's not a problem.

This continues onto your point about passing the card onto other people...

The second person telling the girl about how impossible my performance was, sold what I do far better than any one word description ever could. I would far prefer that, than someone receiving a card saying "magician", which, as I've previously mentioned, carries all sorts of stereotypes. Suffice to say that what I want to portray is not even close to what that one word suggests. Putting that word on a business card for me makes a performance several times more difficult, as I am instantly introducing a natural stereotype which I then have to fight against.

Bottom line is, in either of these two scenarios, I think that done right, there should be no problem in remembering who you are, what you do, and what you have done - and how they felt. I would rather this be passed on to others through word of mouth, rather than using a stereotyped word to explain. After all - when people tell others about what you do - they want to convey how they felt - NOT what they saw. This is why magic stories get so exaggerated. We're trying to convey emotion. And if they can't remember who you are or what you do, chances are, when they fumble through and find your card, and it says "magician", then they'll skip over it anyway.

As far as the black goes - Ted Lesley has a wonderful idea utilising black business cards to make it part of an effect.

As far as the colour printing goes - agreed with the majority of people here saying that you should test out the printing. Personally, I like the colour scheme, if only because orange is my favourite colour, but that's just me.

 

[Randy]

Whats with everybody thinking you have to do an effect with your business card? The best thing to do is just hand them your business card and simply talk to them. No magic, just chit chat with them after you have done your set. Let them get to know who you are beyond the fact that you are a guy who does magic or whatever, as well as get to know them.

As the old saying goes. People are more prone to hire a friend, than they are somebody else.

 

[praetoritevong]

Whats with everybody thinking you have to do an effect with your business card? The best thing to do is just hand them your business card and simply talk to them. No magic, just chit chat with them after you have done your set. Let them get to know who you are beyond the fact that you are a guy who does magic or whatever, as well as get to know them.

As the old saying goes. People are more prone to hire a friend, than they are somebody else.

I agree with you, but there are some significant and good reasons to use business card effects...

Easy way to get business cards to your spectators.
Used well, it provides another incentive for them to keep it, beyond simply liking you.
More likely to be shown to other people and thus spread word of mouth.
Useful prop, especially in mentalism - if you're gonna use paper and pen, why not just use business cards? It goes to the spontaneous nature of performances.
Helpful when performing walkaround or otherwise with time constraints.

These are just some of the reasons that came to mind straight away...