HARTWELL & ACHEBE LLP
Eleanor Hartwell
Partner
212 555 0148
e.hartwell@hartwellachebe.com
40 Wall Street, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10005
e.hartwell@hartwellachebe.com
40 Wall Street, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10005
HARTWELL & ACHEBE
CARDDECK · CARD STUDIO
Curated business card designs
Nineteen hand-finished cards — letterpress, gold foil, frosted PVC, NFC, duplex painted edge, round die-cut and bilingual — each with a front and a back. Shown at actual size. Click a card to turn it over.
Short answer
The curated set is nineteen finished business card designs, one per industry and print technique, that show what a well-produced card looks like: a letterpress legal card on cotton stock, a gold-foil wealth card, a frosted PVC jeweller’s card, a tap-to-save NFC card, a duplex card with a painted edge, a round die-cut juice bar card and bilingual German and Japanese cards. Each is a template in CardDeck’s card studio.
- Every card is complete: front, back and the print spec it was designed for.
- Techniques covered: letterpress, foil, pearl and silk stocks, frosted PVC, NFC CR80, duplex painted edge, die-cut.
- Formats: US, vertical, square, slim, Euro, Japanese, CR80, clear, round and duplex.
- Each design uses two or three fonts at most, and one accent colour.
- Open any card in the studio, swap the details and colours, and print or publish it.
What makes these cards work
Each design does one thing well and leaves the rest alone. The letterpress law card uses a single serif, a wide-tracked firm name and a plain back. The plumber’s card leads with a phone number set large in a condensed grotesque and a red “24/7 emergency” tag, because that is what the card is for. The photographer’s card is a full-bleed image on the front and the details on the back.
Three habits run through all nineteen:
- One job per side. The front identifies; the back acts — a QR code to book, review or save, an appointment grid, a loyalty card.
- Two type families at most. A display face for the name or brand, a text face for the details, and a monospace for codes where it suits the brand.
- The stock is part of the design. Kraft shows through a one-colour print; cotton takes a letterpress impression; frosted PVC turns a plain layout into a clear card; a duplex board carries a painted edge in the brand colour.
Printing the special finishes
Foil, letterpress, painted edges and die-cuts are produced by the printer, not the file. CardDeck exports standard print-ready PDFs; the finish is specified alongside the artwork:
- Foil: the foil area is exported as a solid spot colour the printer uses as the foil plate. In the preview it renders as a gold gradient.
- Letterpress: supply the artwork as single-colour vector; the printer makes a plate and impresses it into cotton or thick uncoated stock.
- Painted edge / duplex: two boards glued back to back with a coloured edge; name the edge colour on the order.
- Die-cut round and NFC PVC: a round card needs a round die; an NFC card is printed on PVC with the chip embedded and the tap link written to it.
If you want the look without the finish, every card also prints perfectly well as a flat four-colour card.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use these designs with my own name and brand?
Yes. Each is a template in the card studio. Replace the sample text with your own details, swap the colours for your brand and keep or change the typefaces, then print or publish.
Does the NFC card need special hardware?
Only the card. An NFC card is printed on PVC with a chip inside; CardDeck writes your digital card link to it, and any modern phone opens the link when tapped. CardDeck can supply NFC cards or you can order them from a card printer.
Which printers can produce foil and letterpress?
Most commercial printers offer foil; letterpress and painted edges are offered by specialist card printers. Ask for a “print-ready PDF with spot colour for foil” and CardDeck exports exactly that.