Business Card Redesign [in-house graphic and web design specialist at Cobalt Credit Union]

Business cards are the quintessential networking tool of businesses far and wide. What your cards says about you and your company carries on long after you have parted ways with those potentials partners or clients. Cobalt’s business cards were getting a bad reputation. The print quality was so low that when employees received their cards, they thought there had been an error and when assured that there was not, refused to hand out cards. After hearing just a few of these complaints, I began to make the case to my superiors that we needed a new business card printer. After trying for months to find a cost effective way to upgrade the cards while staying with the current printer, the powers that be finally relinquished and let me seek bids for a new partner. While I was at it, I pitched a card redesign that was more in line with our brand identity. How the cards had gotten so off track was an untold story, but Ii felt that as the graphic designer, it was my duty to steer the elements under my control toward brand compliance.

Then, overnight it seemed, the rubber stamp of approval fell and I was triumphant. At the same time, I faced a new challenge: update the business cards for every card carrying employee in the credit union. I instituted a phased approach and utilized our existing work order system to gather requests in bulk from branch and department supervisors. Unfortunately, the vendor that offered the best quality at the best price did not offer a way to order online via portal, so each card was processed in-house by me. A comprehensive spreadsheet kept me on track with order requests from employees and my orders to the vendor as well as the date of receipt and when they were forwarded on via interoffice mail to the employee.  Creating location specific InDesign templates cut down on time to complete multiples with similar information and set the department up for future success. This was a daunting task, but one that was overcome with organization and patience.