Hugh MacLeod
Cartoons drawn on the back of business cards
I'm a cartoonist.
I sell limited-edition prints.
I wrote a book.
I'm CEO of Stormhoek USA, which markets South African wine in the States.
I also draw private commissions.
Prints |
Opening | Current |
|---|---|---|
NY NY |
$275 |
December 29, 2011
Thanks to Kathleen Warner for ordering the gapingvoid business card above.
I’m passionate about the idea that a business card should be more than just a way of handing out contact details, but a social object that states what you believe in, what you stand for.
Exactly.
If a lawyer gives you her gapingvoid business card, what does that tell you?
Like Jeff says, that you’re not dealing with a normal lawyer…
Exactly.
[You can get the bizcard design above here, and if you like the design well enough to hang it on your wall, the print is for sale here. Rock on.]
I got the idea for gapingvoid business cards when I was living in New York, when I discovered that I preferred giving out my own, hand-drawn business cards to people, rather than the ho-hum business cards that my employer at the the time issued me with.
Of course, after a while it became a lot of work, drawing them every time I met someone. Eventually I started getting them printed. Then I thought, why not print them for other people? The rest is history…
I always thought there was a market for business cards that stood out. Cards that reflected the personality of the person handing them out, cards that said, “I’m not just one more random shmuck in a bar, doing the usual handing out his card to an equally random chick in a bar yada, yada, yada.”
Living in New York, in a sea of other equally opportunitist young people on the make, it was easy to be “another random guy”. I don’t want to be that random guy. I wanted to be something else.
And it worked. What started out as an act of rebellion among the suits and hipsters of Manhattan, turned into a successful business and art career.
I’m having fun. You?
December 28, 2011
Thanks to Ben Nesvig for ordering a set of our gapingvoid business cards [You can get your own here…].
The gapingvoid business cards– my cartoons printed on the back, your personal details printed on the front– are designed to act like “Idiot Filters”. In other words, people who are cool seem to like them right away, people who are idiots always tend to ask “WTF?” So it’s a good way of gauging people, quickly.
That’s the idea, anyway. At the very least, they’ve created A LOT of fun for people over the years. And now we have more designs than ever. Feel free to ping me if you have any questions. Rock on.
December 14, 2011
The rumors are true: You can now get gapingvoid cartoons printed on the back of your business cards.
Check out today’s newsletter for more info, or go visit our partner’s website, overnightprints.com/gapingvoid.
Most business cards are pretty boring. I don’t think they have to be. Like anything else, there’s an art to it, there’s a decision that has to be made.
In a world of endless “sameness”, there has never been a worse time to embrace sameness. I think it’s time to up the ante.
There needs to be a smarter conversation about business cards, there really does…
Big kudos and thanks to Overnight Prints for helping make this happen. Rock on.
[PS: If you tweet this, please use the hashtag, #businesscards. Thanks!]
