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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 the only boy in a family
of seven girls!
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.
Resources
Business Card Checklist and Resources
Steps
- 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? It may help to
list everything about yourself then pick one topic.
- 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.
- Decide if you want a "serious" or formal card or something more light-hearted
or informal.
- Using the Business Card Checklist, list the major components of your
business card. Note any special instructions from your teacher. 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.
- Look at sample business cards you or your class have collected. Identify
those that have a style you might like to imitate or borrow.
- Sketch out some rough ideas of how you want your business card to
look — including any graphics you think you want to include. (Your software may come with a collection of clip art;
if you have access to a scanner you may be able to scan artwork from clip art books; if you have access to graphics software
you may be able to draw your own graphics.)
- Using the page layout or business card software available to you,
transfer your rough sketches to the computer. Your software may have templates or wizards that will provide you with even
more ideas.
- Print your final design on business card stock, index card stock,
or plain paper. Tear apart or cut with scissors or paper cutter as necessary.
- Exchange business cards with your classmates and teacher.
Evaluation
When you give your teacher your business
card, attach the following checklist with your answers.
- What is the focal point of this business card? (What part is supposed
to catch the reader's eye first?)
- What job, role, or activity does this business card describe?
- Is this supposed to be a formal (serious) or informal (casual) business
card?
When you exchange business cards with classmates give them the following
checklist to complete. Your teacher will use these completed checklists (yours and your classmates) to help evaluate the effectiveness
of your business card. Be fair and truthful when evaluating the business cards of your classmates as well.
- When you first look at this business card what catches your eye first?
(the graphic, the name, the color, etc.)
- From reading this card, what job, role, or activity do you believe
this person does?
- Is the business card easy to read? Is the type large enough? Is there
too much information or not enough information on the card?
- Do you feel that this is a formal (serious) or informal (casual)
business card?
- Do you like this business card? Why or why not?
Conclusion
"The business card... is kind of an extension
of yourself. It's a little bit of giving yourself to someone else."
— Ken Erdman, founder of the Business Card
Museum, Erenheim, PA
It is not easy to condense yourself down to the size of a business
card but doing so may help you to focus on the most important aspects of yourself. It can also help to develop your vocabulary
as you search for new words to describe yourself. It should also be clear that it is almost impossible to tell everything
there is about a person from a single piece of paper.
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