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geekhack Marketplace => Vendor Forums => techkeys.us => Topic started by: i3oilermaker on Tue, 16 December 2014, 10:39:50

Title: Design Contest
Post by: i3oilermaker on Tue, 16 December 2014, 10:39:50
Design a new Business Card for TechKeys.  Size - 86mmX54mm

Contact me if you are looking for artwork or fonts.  Or redesign it yourself!

Feel free to post your submissions, or submit them privately.

If your design is chosen, a hefty reward will be given.
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Lastpilot on Tue, 16 December 2014, 10:42:06
Very cool.  ;)
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Joey Quinn on Tue, 16 December 2014, 17:37:27
Great idea! Too bad I suck at art.  :(
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: geniekid on Wed, 17 December 2014, 07:34:55
Is it possible to see the existing business card?  What don't you like about existing one?  What information should be included on the card?  You said we could design our own artwork or fonts but is there a preference for sticking with a style that matches the website?
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Evo_Spec on Wed, 17 December 2014, 08:32:29
Is it possible to see the existing business card?  What don't you like about existing one?  What information should be included on the card?  You said we could design our own artwork or fonts but is there a preference for sticking with a style that matches the website?
Stole this pic from raymonddd over at Reddit.
(http://i.imgur.com/znpRPD0.jpg)
He also has one with red reflective material.



Also this is super cool and hopefully i can work on one with the GF
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: i3oilermaker on Wed, 17 December 2014, 09:03:39
Is it possible to see the existing business card?  What don't you like about existing one?  What information should be included on the card?  You said we could design our own artwork or fonts but is there a preference for sticking with a style that matches the website?

A lot of older versions have been posted here: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=33513.0

Its not that anything is wrong with them, I actually like that latest iteration a lot (above) but I'm always making more cards, and always looking for a fresh look. 

The bare minimum info required is the website techkeys.us and email info@techkeys.us.  Nice to haves are the facebook page /techkeysus and twitter @techkeysus

Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Evo_Spec on Wed, 17 December 2014, 20:43:41
So i kind of came up with a design but i foresee it being an expensive thing to produce, should i scrap the idea? (i have no idea how expensive since i have no experience with that, it's just an assumption)
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 17 December 2014, 20:52:06
So i kind of came up with a design but i foresee it being an expensive thing to produce, should i scrap the idea? (i have no idea how expensive since i have no experience with that, it's just an assumption)

Post it anyway - i3oilermaker can decide whether to make it or not :p
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Evo_Spec on Wed, 17 December 2014, 21:31:19
So i kind of came up with a design but i foresee it being an expensive thing to produce, should i scrap the idea? (i have no idea how expensive since i have no experience with that, it's just an assumption)

Post it anyway - i3oilermaker can decide whether to make it or not :p
That's true, although while doing this i realize that i'm really unoriginal and lack creativity.....
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: i3oilermaker on Wed, 17 December 2014, 22:34:53
Post it!  I have made business cards that range from cents to 30 dollars each - no idea is too crazy.

I will say I am primarily looking for artwork/design for a simple card, but if someone has a feasible idea and I like it I might just run with it!
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Evo_Spec on Wed, 17 December 2014, 23:08:25
Post it!  I have made business cards that range from cents to 30 dollars each - no idea is too crazy.

I will say I am primarily looking for artwork/design for a simple card, but if someone has a feasible idea and I like it I might just run with it!
I'll attempt something simple as well.

I'm actually pretty unhappy with this design since there's several problems mainly being that it's basically your current card design with a tool added up top.
Another real problem is the material needed to have the tool actually be functional would probably be expensive and it would be too thick to easily snap off tool from the card.

So i imaged this card being lasered or something being cut along the lines while the text and logo were just on the surface.
[attach=1]

This shows the bend how it'd be cut
[attach=2]
[attach=3]

This shows how the tools would be, i imagine they'd need to be bent and filed be the owner though.
[attach=4]

Yeah, i'm probably just gonna attempt a regular design idea rather than this, it just seemed fun at the time and i was further ahead with it than i wanted to take it so i just finished it. Would had been better if i knew how to AutoCAD
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: i3oilermaker on Wed, 17 December 2014, 23:11:54
I love your mockup and concept - I have had this idea before and the problem I had with it (and perhaps you have a creative solution) is that the switch tools need to be bent to work well, but if the metal is too thin, it will bend too much and not function, and if the metal is too thick, it will be difficult to separate from the card.
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Evo_Spec on Wed, 17 December 2014, 23:23:25
I love your mockup and concept - I have had this idea before and the problem I had with it (and perhaps you have a creative solution) is that the switch tools need to be bent to work well, but if the metal is too thin, it will bend too much and not function, and if the metal is too thick, it will be difficult to separate from the card.
Thank you.
And yeah i was thinking about these problems which lead me to be unhappy with it. As for a solution well it's not all that hard for someone to have to bend the tool themselves so i don't imagine that being an issue, i could also slightly change the design of the tool to give users a better idea of where the tool should be bent. My only decent solution for the thickness is to use a thicker material and laser it so that there's only one connecting point between the card and tool and then make a gap between the card and the tool large enough so that a hacksaw could fit between the 2 to be cut off, then the user can just file down the one point.

I could make some more paper templates if you're interested.
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: nubbinator on Wed, 17 December 2014, 23:41:51
I love your mockup and concept - I have had this idea before and the problem I had with it (and perhaps you have a creative solution) is that the switch tools need to be bent to work well, but if the metal is too thin, it will bend too much and not function, and if the metal is too thick, it will be difficult to separate from the card.

Make it plastic and to be used from the underside, not the top.
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: Evo_Spec on Fri, 19 December 2014, 05:41:21
Okay so it turns out my GF doesn't like doing business card designs and i'm not an artist nor am i really creative so this is probably my last shot at this.

Make it plastic and to be used from the underside, not the top.
So i went with this idea since it could be done in metal because it wouldn't require the metal to be too thick to break off but at the same time if it was done in plastic it would be easier to file to get a tapered edge.
My guess is around 0.5-0.8mm in metal or 1mm in plastic with filed edged. (obviously would be a better idea to file the metal edge as well)
(http://i.imgur.com/wEMMeS7.jpg)

So this is how i imaged the overall card to look with the thick dark lines would be where more material is lasered away. I was more focused on drawing the robot logo properly that i didn't pay attention to the placement so i cut my old drawing to represent where i thought the robot should be placed. Also i think the social media logos should be smaller and obviously different font.
(http://i.imgur.com/tYAifmU.jpg)
tool broken off.
(http://i.imgur.com/PBZN00e.jpg)

This is how i first imagined the tool and how it was bent.
(http://i.imgur.com/xSh6f9S.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/EfNrAOm.jpg)

But after doing this i thought it might be a pain in the butt to have to try and bend and line up the tool perfectly and that this would be impractical with plastic so i think it would be a better idea to have them break off into 2 separate straight pieces.
(http://i.imgur.com/4fYxFSk.jpg)
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: i3oilermaker on Sun, 01 February 2015, 22:44:42
I hope people have not forgotten about this....

The original concept was to just lay out or draw an awesome card, but outside the box ideas/concepts are welcomed.
Title: Re: Design Contest
Post by: FreeCopy on Sun, 01 February 2015, 23:39:55
My idea was prompted by Evo_Spec. The card having function. Not sure how this would be implemented or what materials but here is my rough idea:

(http://i.imgur.com/hw2bRz6.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/kw5eTPV.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/iossEnY.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/OvrWKe0.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/fgtphZJ.jpg)