BlogmyQuery – BMQ

Although grunge is associated with something unclean, dirty or tainted, it also stands for a special theme which mostly focuses on making crooked, asymmetrical, irregular, uneven or worn-and-torn visual elements which are stilll beautiful and pleasant to see. You may find thousands of grunge wallpapers, but in this post we have tried to collected best ofthe best and extremely high quality grungy wallpapers that can spice up your desktop.

Tremendous Grunge Style Wallpapers

Accidentally In Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1600 x 1200

Sleepy Hollow
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 854

I miss the Voices
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 800

Grung Burst wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 800

Playing w cs4 wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1050

This World.
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

Winter Line Teaser Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1600 × 1200

Fiamma solare grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1024 x 647

SKULL
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

Grunge Snow
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1280

Wallpaper-Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 960

CMYK
Download Wallpaper: 1024 x 640

Create – Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1024 x 640

Grunge Wallpaper – Mk 1
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

Untitled-1
Download Wallpaper: 1920 x 1080

Grunge Love Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 960

Grunge_garden
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1050

Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

Tree Island
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1050

Trompeur
Download Wallpaper: 1920 x 1200

Romans 1:16 wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200 1680×1050

XXII Black Block Serifa
Download Wallpaper: 1920 x 1200

Steampunk Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1800 × 1234

Fade Away – Wallpaper Pack
Download Wallpaper: 1920×1200 1600×1200

Old is Gold
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

Grunge Silhouette Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1050

Super Mario Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1920 x 1200

Chicago grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

I want to believe
Download Wallpaper: 1024 x 766

Vectors and grunge wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1050

Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

First grunge – trialanderror
Download Wallpaper: 1024 × 768

Cloud 9
Download Wallpaper: 1440 x 900

Seven Zero
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

Grunge wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1024 × 768

White as snow 02+
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1050

Grunge frame with tree silhouette
Download Wallpaper: 1024 x 756

Grunge_garden
Download Wallpaper: 1024 x 640

Extreme Grunge Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1024 × 768

Grunge TWiT Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1024 x 640

Beatles Song
Download Wallpaper: 1282 x 960

Grunge Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 1024

Radioactive Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1920 x 1200

Grunge tunnel wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1280 X 1024

Some Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1280 × 960

Firebird
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 800

Skull breaker
Download Wallpaper: 1600 × 1200

Wallpaper-Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1280 x 960

Grunge
Download Wallpaper: 1440 x 900

Rebel! Wallpaper
Download Wallpaper: 1680 x 1050

Sing A Little Prayer
Download Wallpaper: 1440 x 900

We’ll be creating a gory image of a hand for a movie poster in this tutorial. I was inspired by a movie poster created by Swedish designer Marcell Bandicksson for the film titled, The Ruins. Here, we’ll employ the use of Layer masks and a combination textures
for a gravely image. Lighting and tone of the final picture would also important for an atmospheric effect.

Step 1

We’ll start by creating a new document with its dimensions set at 950 px by 1200 px and a resolution of 200 pixels/inch. Below is a saturated photo of a hand I shot myself (the amateur photographer that I am). You could also use your preferred picture of a hand as along as it has shadows casted on the palm and fingers.

Step 2

Select the Magnetic Lasso Tool (L) or any selection tool of your choice and make a selection around the hand and wrist. Right-click and choose Layer Via Copy to extract the selected hand from its background to a new layer.

Name the layer ‘hand.’

Step 3

Download this picture from www.sxc.hu by Cynthia and drag it into Photoshop.

Step 4

This is such as large picture and so we’ll need to have it cropped and resized as required. Select the Crop Tool (C) and have the part of the image cropped and then resize afterwards.

Step 5

With your selection  tool of choice, extract the main part of the tree – its trunk. That done, use the same tool to make a number of selections within the tree and hit Delete for each selection.We have the result below:

Step 6

Place the ‘tree’ layer under the ‘hand’ layer and go to Edit > Transform> Warp or hit Ctrl+T and select the Warp option. Dragging the corners inwards for the top mesh and outwards for the bottom mesh, endeavour to shape the tree trunk like a forearm. (I only made the hand transparent to show the tree trunk for the time being).

Step 7

Have the tree trunk duplicated (Ctrl+E) and placed under the ‘trunk’ layer. Also have some of the branches trimed off with a selection tool. Use the Warp Tool to extend it a little wide.

Step 8

For another layer, use the Pen Tool (P), to select a branch (or root as for this kind of tree; its confusing). We intend to create a network of branches both in front of the ‘hand’ layer and behind it.

Step 9

In Free Transform mode, use the Warp Tool to bend each individual branch you select and still within this mode, right-click to select the Rotate Tool to change the angles of each branch as desired.

Step 10

Select and extract some more branches and use some of the same ones and have them warped, resized (some to shorter lengths) and rotated until you have the image below. I however created three layers of root; ‘roots’, ‘root 1′ and ‘roots 2′.

Step 11

Select the Color Replacement Tool and make sure its set to a hard brush. Holding the ALT key, select a light part of the hand and go the ‘trunk’ layer and paint. Do so for other branch layers but leave some branches unpainted most especially the green covering of algae and scattered leaves.

Step 12

For the crucial part of this tutorial, we’ll now apply a Layer Mask to the hand by clicking on the the icon from the left. For the brush, select a Soft Round Brush with its color #ceececand paint to reveal the branches partially. Follow up with other shades of grey; with the black brush, reveal more of the center part of the hand and also the dark lines in between branches.

Work some more to reveal more of the branches.The wrinkles shown below shouldn’t be so vivid.When through, press Ctrl+E to merge the smaller strands of branches, the hand and the main trunk together.When done, press Ctrl+E to merge the ‘hand’ layer with the first ‘root’ layer.

Step 13

Download this texture Deadcalm (coincidently, a name that tallies with the theme of this tutorial) from graphicmania.net.

Step 14

Have the wood texture desaturated and rotated. Then place it over the hand and scale if necessary to cover up the hand.

Step 15

Click in between the wood texture layer and the ‘roots’ layer while holding down the Alt key to apply a Layer Clipping Mask.

Step 16

For the wood texture layer, set its Blend mode to Vivid Light and reduce its opacity to 65%. You may name this layer ‘dead wood.’

Step 17

Now to add another texture to make the composition grungier. I got this Stone texture from a cover disk of my 3d Arts magazine (2005) which was supplied by www.mega-tex.nl for free use. If you can lay your hands on a rougher stone texture the better.

Step 18

Place the ’stone’ layer over the ‘dead wood’ layer and apply a Layer Clipping Mask as done previously with the ‘dead wood’ layer. Set the layer’s Blend mode to Overlay and its opacity to about 50%.

Step 19

Now to make the composition a lot darker and gritty. Select the Burn Tool (O) and in its Options bar, set the Range to Highlights and Exposure to 45%. Now go on ahead to burn the edges of the hand and most part of
the branches/roots concentrating particularly at its base area.

Step 20

We’ll now lighten up the specific parts of the image with the Dodge Tool (O) as highlighted below:

The result:

Step 22

In our attempt to make the image horrific and detailed, we’ll use a set of Blood Splatter brushes from qbrushes.com.

I saw these brushes put to use in the Zombify your photos in less than 20 steps tutorial from psdfan.com

Step 23

These Blood Splatter brushes have large dimension and so endeavour to reduce their sizes when selected. For a new layer, use a selected range of these brushes as you see fit. Also have the brush color set to #120303 and reduce its opacity to 80%.

Step 24

Set the ’splatter’ layer’s Blend mode to Overlay and opacity to 75% as this would reveal some reddish brown undertone of the color.

Step 25

Use the Stone texture for the background and go to Image > Adjustment > Contrast/Brightness. Increase Brightness to +54 and Contrast to +5.

Step 26

Add a filter effect to the background texture which would be the Sprayed Strokes by going to Filter > Brush Strokes > Sprayed Strokes and set the parameters below:

Step 27

Go to Filter > Render > Lighting Effects and adjust the size and direction of the ellipse in the preview window.

The result below:

Step 28

We’ll now add a shadow to the underlying roots (not the top ‘roots’ layer). By double-clicking the ‘roots1′ layer, the Layer Style dialog box pops up. Select the Drop Shadow Style and set its parameters below:

We now have a subtle shadow casted that corresponds with the direction of light. You may also add a Drop Shadow Layer Style to the ‘roots 2′ layer.

Step 29

For the shadow of the hand itself, create a new layer and then select a black Soft Round Brush. Set the brush opacity to 90% and paint the rightmost side of the hand and sparingly around the last three fingers. Then go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and set the Blur Radius to about 8 px and add Noise (Filter > Distort > Noise) with its Amount set at 5.05.

Step 30

The image needs a little color adjustment and so we’ll be creating a new Adjustment Layer. By clicking on the Adjustment Layer icon below the Layers Palette, select Hue/Saturation and add the settings below:

Step 31

We’ve made the composition a little pale or bleeched if I may use the term and now the overall tone of the image needs to set with a Levels Adjustment Layer as depicted below:

And we have here a macabre dead hand (or is it?) image for your grimly delight if of course you’re a fan of such a genre.

For a complete movie poster, I added more details such as metaphors (the bleeding hand and blood splattered flower signifying love, life and death). I also included some text for the title and sub titles.

By David Ella Ella

Photoshop needs no introduction; everyone knows it — even those who do not have any design background. Knowing your tools inside out really counts. If you really know Photoshop, you can do almost everything with it — be it photo retouching, photo manipulation, creating fantasy scenes or creating wild and wicked text effects. And in this post we have collected some fresh Photoshop tutorials that will help you learning it inside out. Browse through this collection and polish your Photoshop skills!

Fresh Photoshop Tutorials

Create a Medieval Fantasy Castle Gate in Photoshop
Photoshop’s wide variety of tools enable you to perform complex photo manipulations with relative ease. In this tutorial, artist will demonstrate how to combine Photoshop’s tools with photo manipulation techniques to create a medieval fantasy castle gate. Let’s get started!

Create a fantasy-horror scene in Photoshop
In this tutorial artis will show you how the liquify filter can be used to modify face lineaments. Inspiration derives from horror movie posters design. Are you ready to enter in the dark horror world?

Recreating Magnifying Glass in Photoshop
In this Photoshop tutorial artist is going to show you how to draw a magnifying glass and do the right thing reflected in it.

Create Abstract Landscape Art From a Photograph
In this tutorial artist would like to demonstrate an alternative way to create abstract artistic pieces using a photo merely as inspiration. We will start by choosing and simplifying its components and then proceed to apply a retro-futuristic look. Let’s get started!

Design a Beautiful Cosmic Space Scene in Photoshop
Follow this step by step walkthrough of its creation in Photoshop, from the making of the planets, to the vibrant nebula and bright lens flares.

Create Photoshop Stencil Art – Psd Premium Tutorial

Maze in my Mind
This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to combine and manipulate photos to create a surreal photo manipulation.

Create a Realistic Pencil Illustration in Adobe Photoshop
In this tutorial, I will take you step-by-step on how I created this pencil and paper scene. This tutorial is written for advanced users who already have a general understanding of the tools and techniques commonly used in Photoshop. Enjoy!

Designing Realistic Interfaces
In this tutorial you will learn how to creace a beautiulf and realistic interface.

How To Create The Expendables Winged Skull Poster Art
Follow this step by step guide on how to create the menacing winged skull design for yourself, complete with an overkill of weaponry surrounding a sinister looking skull face.

Create an Abstract Cloud Jumper in Photoshop
In this tutorial, we’ll manipulate a photo with abstract elements to make it more interesting and active.

How to create a spattered photomontage in Photoshop
In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to make a spattered photomontage in Photoshop using brushes and some filters. Layered PSD file included. Let’s get started!

How to Paint a Fantasy Portrait From Scratch With Photoshop
In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to paint a fantasy portrait from scratch without any references. We will begin with a sketch then demonstrate how to paint in color, skin, texture, and shading. Let’s get started!

Creating Football Fan from Orc
In this tutorial, artist would like to show you how to turn any character into a football fan.

The Effect of Music Notes on Flowers
This tutorial shows how to apply any design on flower petals in Photoshop. As an example we can use the design of a stave for applying it on the tulip-petals.

Create Beautiful Abstract Female Art in Photoshop
In this tutorial artist will demonstrate how to create a piece of art that he created titled, “Beauty of Gold.” Let’s get started!

Breathtaking Underwater Apartment Photo Manipulation
In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll learn how to create this magical underwater room. This tutorial covers techniques such as blending images, color correction, adding photo effects.

Design a Multimedia Website Layout in Photoshop
In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to use photos, brushes, and textures, and 3D objects to design a creative multimedia website layout in Photoshop. Let’s get started!

Na’vi Avatar Photo Manipulation
This Photoshop tutorial showing you all the steps you need to take in order to photo-manipulate yourself into a Na’vi (based on the characters in James Cameron’s movie “Avatar”). Artist used Photoshop CS2 in order to create this,

Create a Still Life Candle in Photoshop
Still life compositions are like photographs in that they portray the details of objects as moments frozen in time. Still life images don’t tell a story, they simply depict the objects themselves. In today’s tutorial we will explore this style of art by creating a still life candle in Photoshop.

Create a Cosmic Sci-fi Poster Design in Photoshop
This tutorial is for intermediate users who know how mask and selection tools work. We will use also a bit of Illustrator and Cinema4D. Have a try!

Angelina Jolie as a Na’vi from Avatar Movie
This is a VERY advanced tutorial. Artis does go through every step… but good Photoshop skills are going to be needed if you want a high quality result.

How to create Retro-style Photoshop illustration
In this tutorial we’ll create some textures for background using brushes, manipulate some stock photos to give them a retro-style look, and make some color variations. Layered PSD file included. Let’s get started!

Stylish Surreal Portrait
In this tutorial we will combine surrealism and fashion effortlessly to create a state of art portrait. Artist will show you how to achieve this essentially through a combination of photos, filters and brushes. You can then translate these techniques into your designs to add an artistic edge to them!

How to Create Bamboo in Adobe Photoshop
In this tutorial you will learn how to draw semi-realistic bamboo in Adobe Photoshop—perfect for textures and backgrounds.

Master dynamic manipulation
Patrick Monkel shows how careful use of just a handful of tools can make your images leap from the canvas.

Fake a studio shoot in Photoshop
If you don’t have the budget for studio photography, fake it. Shotopop shows you how

Create a Dark and Rainy Crime Scene in Photoshop
In this tutorial we will learn how to use different tools and techniques to create a scene of our own in Photoshop.

Create a Dramatic and Surreal illustration in Photoshop
In this tutorial, we will learn how to blend fashion photography with custom brushes into dramatic and surreal illustration using Photoshop CS5 techniques. Layered PSD file included. Let’s get started!

Create an iPhone 4 in Photoshop

How to create retro aesthetic poster in Photoshop
In this tutorial, artist is going to show you how to blend a stock image with shapes and pattern, add lightness and color to get a nice retro poster in Adobe Photoshop CS4. Layered PSD file included. Let’s get started!

Hexagon Bokeh Effect in Photoshop
In this tutorial artist will show you how to create a digital bokeh effect with hexagons. We will use the brush engine, patterns, blend modes and basic filters to achieve this effect.

Create a Dark and Surreal Geometric Space Poster using Photoshop
In this tutorial artist will show you how to create an abstract space poster using geometrical shapes, masks and apply some filters in Photoshop. Layered PSD file included. Let’s get started!

Create an Iconic Retro-Modern Ball Chair in Photoshop
The ball chair, popularized by Finnish interior designer Eero Aarnio was the cornerstone of any mid-century or 1960’s living area. Today, we will learn how to create this iconic piece of furniture from scratch in Photoshop. Let’s get started!

How to Create a Retro Sci-Fi Computer Game Poster
Combine stock photos and design resources to create an awesome retro sci-fi themed game poster that takes inspiration from Atari games of the 80s. By mixing up bright and vibrant cosmic designs with old, distressed and grungey textures we’ll create a retro futuristic poster design for ‘Galactic Attack’.

Professionals in any field should always keep business cards on them because you never know when you’ll meet a potential client, partner or like-minded person. Despite their small size, business cards are one of the most powerful and handiest marketing tools. Not only do they create a link between you and your new contact, they’re also a quick way to give a great first impression. Business cards promote your skills and achievements and serve as a little container for big ideas.

Don’t underestimate the process of designing business cards; a well-made card does not just share your contact details: it generates further sharing and buzz. Like any self-promotion tool, designing a business card requires solid brainstorming and careful implementation to get the best effect.

This post targets a diverse audience. It features a collection of remarkable business card designs that could help you in your search for creative ideas. The round-up of fresh tutorials and business card templates further down might come in handy for those who don’t have the skills or experience to design their own.

[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that there is a Smashing eBook Series? Book #2 is Successful Freelancing for Web Designers, 260 pages for just $9,90.]

Showcase Of Original And Memorable Business Cards

Letterpress Cards

Letterpress printing has actually been the only form of printing text and images since it was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. Because of its distinctive qualities, such as crisp and tangible impression onto paper, letterpress work is now widely used for branding and identity development. Letterpress gives stronger visual definition to type and artwork and has a special touch, which is why it’s a popular technique for business card printing. Below you can see some beautiful examples of letterpress business cards.

John Henry Donovan
On this business card, the fine design created by Irish designer and developer John Henry Donovan is complemented by the printer’s excellent choice of paper and inking.

Greg Anderson
This card works because of the stylish dirty texture, good use of color and, of course, letterpress. Designed by Thomas Guy.

Chris Piascik
The funky typography of freelance graphic designer Chris Piascik is set off well by the letterpress work on his business card.

Space 150
This stylish letterpress business card was designed for the creative agency Space150 by designer Evan Nagan. The card is part of the agency’s periodic general redesign, which it conducts every 150 days. The elegant constellation theme and high-quality letterpress printing make for an excellent card.

White Rabbit
This card promotes the portfolio of the German photographer Florian Muller (aka the White Rabbit). The use of the negatives pattern incorporates the card owner’s occupation well, and the surface is enhanced by an embossed rabbit.

One in Zero
The business card of Hong Kong-based idea firm OneinZero is minimalist: the focus is on the letterpress type and paper texture.

Christian Garibaldi
The effective combination of blind and ink debossing, along with the subtle coloring along the edge, makes for a clean and exquisite business card that perfectly conveys the aesthetic of the photographer’s online portfolio.

Montage
Dallas Graham of Montage Creative has a simple and strong business card.

Paper Monkey Press
Some filigree letterpressing is evident on the card of Paper Monkey Press.

Second World Design
The guys over at Second World took their branding very seriously, resulting in the clean beautiful letterpress card you see below.

Kinetic Lens
This card was designed by photographer Riley Maclean for his company Kinetic Lens. Combining various letterpress techniques and a great set of red tones, this business card has a multi-dimensional feel. It’s printed on thick 220-pound-bond cotton paper.

Laura Moretz
A good use of letterpress on the front and back of this card and the labels make this card memorable. It’s printed on French Speckletone #140 stock.

23rd And 5th
Here is a beautiful business card showing fine typography and two-color letterpress. It was designed for the staff of the 23rd & 5th branding agency. This business card for the Director of Development features a QR code that drives contacts to a dedicated mobile website optimized for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android.

Die-Cut Business Cards

Something else that determines a business card’s memorability and appeal is shape. Today many individuals, businesses and organizations die-cut their cards, going beyond traditional dimensions. Die-cutting is an effective way to make a business card eye-catching, unique and even interactive. But remember that a die-cut card should still be compact enough to fit in a standard wallet or card holder. Alternatively, you could suggest some other way to carry or hold your card. Some noteworthy die-cut business cards are showcased below.

Derrick Mitchell
Derrick Mitchell, a designer from Kalispell, Montana, creates his business cards by hand with chip board, screen printing, labels and stamps.

Popupology
This cute die-cut business card is done entirely in-house by designer Elod Beregszaszi.

Dyalect
The chic design of this business card is accentuated by the custom shape and 16-point silk matte finish card stock.

Kaman
This concept-based business card was designed by Mehdi Tuchak for the Iranian multimedia company Kaman.

Sean Gerety
This lovely business card mimics a Moleskine notebook. While the front is glossy, the back is matted and can be used as a note card.

Amundson Films
Cheap card stock and moderate-quality print wonderfully fit the aesthetic of this vintage movie ticket business card. Great job, Alice Cho!

Alteroy
This die-cut masterpiece belongs to the Israel-based designer Alteroy. The cardboard icons can be separated. Much effort was put into this business card, and the result is absolutely worth it.

Carlos Vazquez
This super-cute business card might be the shortest route to any Mac fan’s heart.

Herbert Martin
Besides containing the contact info of German dentist Herbert Martin, this business card has another cool function: it helps you check your bite by way of a die-cut stencil. Designed by Petra Penz.

Truf
The business card is square and “combines a hand-crafted feel with the style of Russian propaganda posters.�

Classic, With a Twist

Most of the business cards below have a classic rectangular shape and standard dimensions… but that is where their classic-ness ends. Creative ideas and skillful implementation make these cards look anything but ordinary.

Coco
The amazing identity concept for COCO was created by Polish designer “Wallstreet Different Creature.” This business card, as part of the overall branding, is pure style and beauty.

Erich Hartmann
Erich Hartmann designed his business card to spell out a bunch of his skills, along with his main occupation. This clever idea is nicely visualized by way of a two-sided card, with an offset logo on the front and letterpress on the back.

Fran Rosa
Motion and graphics designer Fran Rosa takes different angles on both his website and business cards… literally.

Grill Me
To see the info on this business card, grill it against a fire, because the card is stamped with lemon juice for ink. Quite an original idea, but using this effect for non-essential information or for an image, rather than contact info, might be more reasonable.

Luciano Ferreira
A lovely typographic business card made by Brazilian graphic designer Luciano Ferreira for promotional purposes.

Sandra Boils
This elegant business card was made for Spanish jazz vocalist Sandra Boils by graphic design studio Estudio Menta.

Stepan Prokop
A beautiful artistic business card by graphic designer Stepan Prokop.

Synchromatik
The rich grass texture makes the card of designer Marko Manojlovic look fresh and beautiful.

Van Der Buzz
This transparent business card, mimicking an X-ray, belongs to Ukrainian advertising agency Van Der Buzz.

What What
These cool playful business cards were created by twin brothers, designers John and Edward Harrison, also known as What What.

Combining Techniques

When it comes to developing promotional material for a brand today, the variety of choice is impressive. With all the different printing techniques, the loads of diverse paper and material available and relatively cheap digital technology, the process of designing a business card is limited only by the designer’s imagination. The following business cards rely on both paper quality and printing methods to create a memorable experience.

TAM Cargo
Traditional at first glance, this business card can be transformed into a little cargo transport box. The card was design by Brazilian advertising agency Y&R for TAM Airlines.

Cinch Creative
Design company Cinch Creative printed its business cards on 60-point Blotter paper with a fine natural texture. Thanks to this and the debossed logo and text, the card is a pleasure for both the eyes and hands.

Feelme Crew
This creative business card in the shape of a clapper board was designed by Ralev.com for Bulgarian multimedia agency Feelme Crew.

Fiverr
Here’s a green approach to business card design. The cards for Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman are made from recycled paper and cardboard. Moreover, the cards are completely hand-made. See details on Kaufman’s Facebook page.

Groundflights
This card, inspired by a boarding pass stub, was created by creative agency R3M1X3D for transportation company Groundflights. It is a successful mix of letterpress printing and die-cutting.

Herofilm
A beautiful business card stylized as a film frame. It was designed by Jimmituanart for Herofilm Productions.

Philosophy Communications
With a squeezable circle built in, the business card of PR company Philosophy Communications is a two-in-one solution. Brilliant work, wouldn’t you agree?

Rhino Studio
Premium paper, imitation rhino skin and a stylized typographic logo make this card chic indeed. Designed by Contreforme.

Paper Fortress
This vintage-looking business card, which features die-cutting, embossing and high-quality paper, was designed by the studio Second World for the film production company Paper Fortress.

Hear
This fancy silk-laminated card, featuring a spot UV coating, was designed by social media and design company Hear.

Gita Ayu
The cool illusion on this business card was achieved with a thin transparent plate that makes it look as though this faux-3D brick is broken. The amazing card was created by Saatchi & Saatchi, Indonesia, for a karate club.

Something Completely Different

The cards showcased below considerably expand the parameters of the business card format. It seems that business cards can be grown, played with and even eaten! Look at the craziest business card concepts around.

MODhair
Not only can you comb your hair with this business card, you can also play a classic rock song on it with your fingernail. The card was designed by Fabio Milito for a Rome-based hair salon.

Gitam BBDO Spicy
The Gitam BBDO agency uses spice sachets as business cards, associating each of its departments with a particular condiment.

BC Adventure Survival Training
The cards of BC Adventure remain extremely useful even in situations where a business card is useless. They are made of organic beef jerky and are good to eat for up to a year.

RDA
To promote one of his projects (an interactive chopping board), designer Sam Gough created 20 wooden business cards, carving his project’s title and contact info neatly into each.

Dept of Energy
With its business “cords,� Dept of Energy shows a skillful play on its identity and style.

Lush
This business card is a thin envelope stuffed with grass seed. The clean design, clever copy and sneaky seed surprise make for an adorable card. Designed by Brandon Knowlden.

Taberu Me
For the most desperate self-promoters, peanut business cards are not a bad idea. Taberu Me uses innovative CO2 laser engraving technology to print on the peanuts. But before you hands yours out, make sure no squirrels or chipmunks are around.

Wes Thomas
This business card design is an ongoing project of Philadelphia-based industrial designer Wes Thomas. The laser-cut card can be quickly transformed in a cute desktop toy. This is no ordinary concept and is pretty labor-intensive, but who would refuse such a business toy for their desk?

Business Card Galleries

Only the truly unique are remembered. When designing anything for yourself, it’s always useful to look around for fresh ideas. Here are permanent showcase galleries where you can find trends and best practices for business card design.

• Card Observer
• Cardonizer
• Card Nerd
• Cardview
• CardGala
• Creattica
• CardsPress
• The Art of the Business Card (Flickr pool)
• BusinessCardCritic

Tutorials

To get you started on your own business card, we’ve selected some fresh and useful tutorials and guides that cover various issues you might deal with in this area.

Create a Print-Ready Business Card in Illustrator
In this tutorial, well-known designer and blogger Chris Spooner walks you through the process of creating a fun business card with a sketched illustration.

How to Create a Stylish Business Card Template in Adobe Photoshop
In this tutorial, you learn how to create an elegant minimalist business card design in Photoshop. The source files are available for free downloading.

Create a Grunge Print-Ready Business Card
Use this tutorial to create a business card with nifty faded brush strokes in Photoshop.

How to Create a Nebula Background in Photoshop
Learn how to design a business card with an astral background.

Print-Ready Business Card Tutorial
This tutorial explains how to create a print-ready business card with a clean dark design in Photoshop.

How to Make a Print-Ready Business Card in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a two-sided business card with crop marks and bleed.

How to Design Your Business Card
This article discusses the basics of business card design and covers some best practices.

Business Card Design Walkthrough
Along with other step-by-step tutorials, a detailed case study like this one might be useful to you.

PSD Tutorial: Design a Dirty Business Card
Learn how to create a simple business card, complete with grungy texture.

Business Card Tutorial in Inkscape
Here is a detailed guide on how to design a business card in Inkscape. While the result shown does not look that great, the principles of working in Inkscape are described quite well, so you can get a better result using this open-source graphics editor.

Business Card
If you like the business card shown below, learn how to create it in Photoshop in this tutorial.

Making Creative Business Card
This tutorial shows how to make a nice business card in a matter of minutes.

How to Design a Print-Ready Business Card Design in Photoshop
This business card tutorial includes a couple of bonus templates, which you can download in PSD format and use for free.

How to Design Business Card
Learn how to create the unconventional and attractive business card below.

Grungy Business Card
Another variation of the grunge design is explained in this guide. The image preview and PSD file are free to download.

How to Make your Own Photographic Negative Business Cards
Now, here’s a completely different take on business card design. Photographer Steph Goralnik shares his technique for crafting a unique photographic negative business card.

How to Choose Business Card Paper
Paper is an important consideration when printing business cards. The right paper can make your card shine, while poor-quality stock can spoil even a top-notch design. Read this article to learn the key points and differences between various types of paper.

How to Choose the Right Paper
Although quite old, this article contains some useful tips on choosing the right paper for your business card. A solidly written article.

Templates

A template is definitely a great option for those who don’t have the skill to create a business card on their own. But even if you’re a professional designer, you may need the job done very fast or simply want to save time making customizations. This is when a template comes in handy. Below you’ll find a selection of well-designed free and commercial business card templates that you can take advantage of in your own projects.

Free Templates

Most of the templates in this category are free for personal and commercial use, but please be sure to read all accompanying legal usage notes before downloading the files.

I love dA Business Card

This nifty business card design was created by graphic designer depart on the occasion of deviantArt’s birthday. The template is available for free download in both PSD and Ai formats.

FreelanceSwitch Business Card Template
This Adobe Illustrator template can be customized for any freelance profession. The pack comes with templates for writers, coders and designers.

Bokeh Business Card | More
The PSD template for this business card is available in high resolution and is ready to print.

Free Business Card Template for Photoshop (PSD) | More
This minimalist grayscale business card template is available as a free download at DeviantArt.

Free Business Card Design Pumpkin
This “Pumpkin� business card template features 300 DPI resolution and CMYK color mode for professional printing, front and back sides and four color schemes: pumpkin, cream, Indian pink and brown.

Construction Hazard Stripes Theme | More
This print-ready business card template is in Photoshop format.

Free Abstract Blue Business Card Template
This double-sided PSD card template includes well-organized layers and is in CMYK color mode for easy editing.

Die Gallery
In this gallery, you’ll find some unusual card shapes, all for free. All files are in EPS format.

Business Card Template
Here is a blank template for a standard US business card. Both JPEG and PSD versions of the template are available for free downloading.

Noise Modern Card | More
This download pack includes two full-layered PSD files for the front and back. The dimensions are 3.5 x 2 inches, and the resolution is 300 DPI.

Minimax Positivo Business Card Template
The template has six color variations and features a letterpress effect. The template package includes a PSD file, PDF help file and preview image.

Business Card Template (Vector) | More
A free Adobe Illustrator business card template in 3.5 x 2 inch format.

Vertical Business Card Vectors | More
An EPS file containing 18 vertical business card templates with JPG preview.

Free business card templates
10 free business card designs in PSD and TIFF formats.

Seextwood Business Card | More
A minimalist template in CMYK mode and 300 DPI resolution. The dimensions are 3.5 x 2.5 inches.

4 Blue Personal Business Card Templates | More
A set of four PSD business card templates in blue. The dimensions are 3 x 2 inches, and the resolution 300 DPI.

Premium Templates

Pure Style Business Card Template | More
A minimalist two-sided business card design (3.5 x 2 inches) that can fit practically any profession or brand. The template comes in high resolution and requires Adobe Photoshop 8 or higher for editing. Price: $7

Blue Monster Business Card Template | More
This funny template is ready to print and can be easily customized in a vector graphics editor. Price: $4

Business card (set 17) | More business card templates
These cheerful business cards might appeal to people in creative fields. Three license types are available; the basic one gives you this set for $5.

Typography Mini Business Card | More
These bright typographic mini-cards come in two styles, grungy and clean, and include a black and white version for low-cost printing. The templates are print-ready and can be edited in Photoshop. Price: $6

Tender Flowers Business Card | More
An original floral design that would work well for wedding photographers. It is print-ready and can be customized in Photoshop. Price: $7

Blue Bubble business card | More
This clean and airy design will appeal to fans of minimalism. It is in print-ready CMYK, 300 DPI, and includes two PSD files and two high-quality JPG images. Price: $5

Black Business Card Template | More
This business card has a rather universal design and would serve a personal brand, company or other project equally well. It is print ready; all you need to do is change the default text. Price: $7

The Black Family business Card Pack | More
These super-original and cute business cards might be good for showing off members of a creative team. They are two-sided, in CMYK and 300 DPI, easy to edit and print-ready. Price: $6

Related Posts

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• Business Card Design: Better Than A Plain Ol’ Business Card
• The Ultimate Round-Up of Print Design Tutorials

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Post tags: business, card, Design