New Personal Branding - Business Card

wayneambler

New Member
Hi,

I've been thinking about changing my branding for a while now and recently put together this new business card. It's a double sided card with (new) Logo, contact details & QR code.

Please take a look and let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.
 

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Where does the QR code point? Also, why not have the QR code reversed out of the background colour, rather than having a big white box surrounding it?
 
The QR code points to the mobile version of my website (which I am currently in the middle of developing).

I originally had the QR as white on black as you suggest but after testing it on several different QR readers I found that it simply doesn't work. This new version of the QR code effectively scans in (less than) seconds and actually looks neater than the original version which I was supprised at.
 
Where does the QR code point? Also, why not have the QR code reversed out of the background colour, rather than having a big white box surrounding it?
It doesn't work if it's inverted... it was designed so that the scanner read the black sections because of things like cardboard boxes not being white.
 
I think its good. But how about having the QR code to the left, i feel your contact details are the most important part of your business card. Have you used QR codes before, if you have do you find they work well?
 
Thanks, but the QR code is on the left - Do you mean put it on the right?

This is actually the first time that I have used a QR code so I can't really comment on how well they work but I have heard that they can be successful - It depends on how effectively you use them I suppose. I will be monitoring my mobile website activity through analytics so hopefully I'll find out how successful it they are pretty soon :)
 
You don't have to invert it, just contain the white box to the actual qr code - doesn't need clearance around it. Think it'd look a lot neater.
 
You don't have to invert it, just contain the white box to the actual qr code - doesn't need clearance around it. Think it'd look a lot neater.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your meaning but you can not remove the white border.... AGAIN it's part of the qr code standard.
 
Ok, so I'm getting really confused with all this talk of inverting and borders. I'm always open to your opinions and suggestions but please remember that I have never used QR's before.

I originally had the QR as white code on a black background and it didn't work so that was definately something I wasn't going to stick with. The QR I have now (pictured - black on white) scans instantly and works well - I can shrink the white border slightly and it still works well but if I remove it, the scan becomes slow again. As I'm going to be using my card to pin on notice boards and in shop windows, I obviously need something that is going to be effective to the majority of mobile devices at various distances.
 
Maybe I'm misunderstanding your meaning but you can not remove the white border.... AGAIN it's part of the qr code standard.

yep I'm definitely confusing things - shouldn't be posting without full attention.

Basically I didn't think, given the limited experience I've had using them, that they were so delicate, and with the right amount of error detection added, are pretty flexible to allow a small border rather than having such a large clearance space around it.

Personally, I think it just looks a bit ugly on the card to be honest, and isn't adding any value/point to the card. However, that's just my opinion!
 
Basically the qr code needs to have a white border to differentiate from surrounding colours and requires the 'code' to be black for easy reading by the machines. It can work with other colours instead of black on white but black is the easiest/quickest for it to understand

In other words, if you want it, leave it as it is :)
 
Basically the qr code needs to have a white border to differentiate from surrounding colours

I have to disagree, I actually just posted an example on another thread of a QR code I did that works sans-border, though having a clear black on white background is going to make it easier for your reader, especially if lighting isn't great.

I've been experimenting with pushing QR codes to the limit and I can tell you the following.
  • They can be made using any colour, except white.
  • The little squares can in fact be triangles or even circles
  • Depending on how the code is generated, a large portion of the code can actually be obscured or missing and it will still work.
 
I just tried scanning those images at various sizes... after nearly a minute they still hadn't scanned, even as the full size pop up. This is with 2 apps that I know work fine with qr codes.

I then tried the black and white one up top and within 5 seconds that had scanned and it was a considerably smaller size to work with.

5 seconds to get the info versus over a minute and still not reading it...
 
Thanks for the clarification Levi and for the information wac - I've tried scanning the QR on the card that I have printed here and it is scanning in under 3 seconds at a distance of 19cm in average to low light, which I think is pretty good, although as I said before I'm no expert.

As for it not adding any value / point, I'm not sure that I agree. I thought the point of a QR code was to direct people to a mobile website / web page to give more information about services, promotions, etc, etc, which is what this code does. From my point of view as a developer, I like the idea that people who take notice of my card have the option and ability to find out more about what I can offer them, as well as the ability to view a working example of the kind of work I produce. I fuly agree that the code on my card isn't pretty and it looks a bit out of place but it serves its purpose and I guess that's what's important.
 
I forgot to say I'd suggest increasing the info in the qr code.

When I've made them I usually include name (business and person), address, telephone number(s) and web address. The apps I have on my phone (android) allow me to add contact details to my phone (which then obviously syncs up with google and then outlook for me) but it also allows me to select the web address separately so I can go there if I want instead :)

Also you could go for the dark blue on your card to 'match' your card as it's pretty close to black at it's darkest
 
I forgot to say I'd suggest increasing the info in the qr code.

Thanks for the information Levi - It seems I have a lot to learn about QR codes. I agree with what you say but after trying it out, the actual QR code contains too much data for scanning at the small scale used on my business card. As the majority of my cards are going to be handed out to people, I don't think that they will need to scan the QR code to get my contact information as it is already on the card - however, this type of code would be beneficial on something like a small poster, which I am now considering developing for shops & notice boards. I guess it would be beneficial to have 2 QR codes on some promotional materials - One directing to a mobile site and the other which allows readers to save your detals.

I also like the idea of making the QR code blue to fit in with the theme of my card - I will give that a try today.
 
I just mean what's the point in having a qr code next to web address that leads to the same place? Why not have it lead to a hidden page with an offerer something that rewards the user for checking it?
 
I agree with what you say but after trying it out, the actual QR code contains too much data for scanning at the small scale used on my business card.
scale of the qr doesn't make any difference as long as it's readable, your qr code is what 2cm square give or take which should be fine for most cameras, I was fine reading it at 1.5cm square straight off the screen.
 
I just tried scanning those images at various sizes... after nearly a minute they still hadn't scanned, even as the full size pop up. This is with 2 apps that I know work fine with qr codes.

I then tried the black and white one up top and within 5 seconds that had scanned and it was a considerably smaller size to work with.

5 seconds to get the info versus over a minute and still not reading it...

As I said, black on white is always going to give the best results so if maximum exposure is your game then that's the way to do it. If however the aesthetic is more important than there are several aforementioned methods to jazz up QR codes, but as Levi discovered, some devices are better at scanning QR codes than others, so you've got to take that into account (e.g. don't make the QR code your sole call to action)
 
You could just thin down white so the "border" isn't as big. Also, you can change the colour of the QR code so it matches your card. I wonder how a mask would look with a continuation of the background.
 
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