Mattson Creative

The iPhone vs. The Business Card?

Last week I read an article on the FastCompany blog, wherein the author decries his eschewal of the business card in the name of efficiency and the environment. As a designer, I couldn’t disagree more.

You can read the post here. Basically, the writer describes an exchange where he is asked for a business card. In lieu of  presenting one, he instead requests to collect his prospect’s contact information and writes it in his iPhone in order to follow up later via email. He then accepts praise for being cutting-edge and environmentally conscious.

But he’s missed the point.

If you see your business card as nothing more than a means to convey your employment data and contact information then it makes perfect sense to go without a card. Technology will continue to improve information exchange and make data transfer easier and more seamless. Right now you can download Bump, an app that allows users to trade their email, addresses and phone numbers simply by tapping their iPhones together. It’s remarkable. But a business card has the potential to convey so much more than your contact information. When creativity and design are employed, your business card becomes an unique, tangible expression of your brand. And every time you hand one out is an opportunity to make an inspiring impression on behalf of your product, service or organization.

Here are 100 examples of business cards that are creative, unique and completely unexpected.

There are far more creative and compelling ways to demonstrate your environmental consciousness than forgoing your business card all together. Alternative substrates, inks and environmentally-friendly printing techniques are all readily available. My business card is printed on recycled aluminum and it makes an incredible impact when I pass it out. I regularly get requests for extra cards because people want to share them with friends and colleagues.



Another example of business cards that exemplify eco-conscientious creativity are Breakfast Cereal Box Cards. These are randomly cut from recycled cereal boxes, then letterpressed on the opposite side.



Or this business card that is embedded with seeds and actually sprouts into a small house-plant when dipped in water.




Last month I met sustainability expert, Adam Werbach. I love how his business card communicates his mission and values simply by its size.

The author of the blog post describes the difficulty of graphic design and identifies hours spent agonizing over typefaces and paper stock. Here we would agree. The process of creating an inspiring and original identity system is not easy. It’s a challenging, time-consuming process that often requires a considerable amount of resources. However, this is exactly what talented, professional brand identity designers do. They will explore, experiment, refine and define a unique visual language, so that your brand (and your business cards) make an indelible impression with your audience.

So, although you may feel that ditching your business card is an impressive demonstration of your technological proficiency or your environmental consciousness, more than anything it communicates a lack of creative vision.

Logo Selected for Communication Arts Design Annual!

I just found out this morning that this logo was selected to appear in the Communication Arts 2009 Design Annual! This is such a huge honor for me and I am way beyond excited about it.

The logo was designed for the Counting Crows & Maroon 5 tour last year. The bands were co-headlining so I wanted to create a visual that would represent both groups but function as a single icon. I was a fan of both bands before they became clients, so it was a really fun project for me.

For the last 50 years, CommArts has published the best in visual communications from around the world. Their juried competition is the most prestigious in the industry. I have submitted work to CA in the past, but this will be the first time that I appear in the magazine. I am totally blown away and humbled to be included. The issue should hit stands in November/December.

Mottsy Logo Design Movie

I recently completed a logo design for Mottsy – an innovative, online printing company. The client was really interested in the creative process and asked me to record my screen during the development of the logo. This time-lapsed movie is the result. (Be sure to hit the expand button in the bottom right corner to view it full size.)

At first I was a little self-conscious recording my screen…it felt like someone was looking over my shoulder, watching me design the logo. But eventually I got used to it, and it was an fun experiment. I’m not sure how interesting it is to watch me look through hundreds of fonts, scan sketches, plot points, check email, change songs in iTunes, etc. Let me know what you think…it helps that we sped it up. And threw a little music in there. Thanks, Jeff.

The following logos and variations are what I presented to the client. They ultimately chose the first one which I actually didn’t capture on video. Oh well, still a fun look behind the scenes at the brand identity development process.

After we explored a lot of color variations, we ended up pretty close to the original concept.



This is the final logo. We developed the tagline and their brand positioning as well. Keep an eye on Mottsy.com – they should be launching their site in September. Should be pretty cool.

Pocono Modern Stationery Prints

Just got back from press checking the Pocono Modern stationery. Turned out great. It’s always fun to see the design get printed and come to life. Here are a couple shots from the printing process.

Laser prints trying to find the perfect shade of rorange.

Pantone didn’t have a good enough match, so I had Toyo Inks create a custom color for the project.

Here is the big bad Komori that we used to print the project.

Make-ready test of the letterhead.

Final printed sheet of business cards. Kraig and Shawn each have their own color.

Back of the business cards. Each name has 4 different colored backs. The custom envelopes look great too. I’ll post some pictures once they come back from the converter. This is such a fun brand to work on.

The Collective Logo Animation

This is a logo animation that I designed for The Collective identity. Originally it was created as part of the website experience, but it also works as a stand alone piece. I thought this turned out pretty cool.

Pocono Modern Brand Identity Development

With attention to detail and a commitment to sustainable practices, Pocono Modern is building homes in the Poconos with a fresh, modern twist. Here is an inside look into the creative process that went into designing the Pocono Modern brand identity.

This was the original logo that the client was using. It played off of the dynamic modern angles of the architecture and the topography of the Pocono Mountains which was interesting, but we decided that we wanted to explore how we could evolve the mark into more of a distinctive icon.





The aesthetic of The Martindale – one of the first Pocono Modern homes to be completed — inspired a lot of my initial concepts for the mark.





Like every project, I begin by sketching concepts. This process is very freeform. The drawings are quick and loose, and all over the page. I try to generate a lot of ideas quickly, exploring as many different visual concepts as I can. I will play with shapes and forms in multiple configurations until something interesting takes place, or another idea emerges. It’s a difficult process to describe, but I think this may be my favorite part of logo development.

After I create sketches, I evaluate the ideas and then start exploring more refined versions that integrate type and color. This next series represent the initial logo concepts that were presented to the client. This concept integrated the silhouette of The Martindale house with the mountain in more of a retro way.





I thought is concept could be interesting to explore as a seasonal mark that could have different colors to represent different seasons in the Poconos. Ultimately, these felt a little too kitchy.





This concept is a much more graphic abstraction of the landscape. We liked this direction, although we determined that it didn’t work well as a stand-alone logo. The idea of the triangle pattern made its way into the overall visual language of the brand as a supporting graphic element.

I really liked this concept. I loved the simplicity and the transparency. Maybe a little plain, but it has a very modern sensibility which we liked.





This idea was much more playful. The icon is comprised of different elements that combine to represent The Martindale, and the tagline type is vintage and fun. This was a little too whimsical, but we wound up using the wood texture in the final mark.





Another variation on the abstract mountain concept. I thought the relationship between the hand-drawn texture and the solid field behind it was interesting.





A different variation on some of the same themes. Mountains, seasons and amenities of the Poconos.





This was an interesting type treatment, but legibility was a concern — and overall, we felt like the identity needed an symbol element.





After the initial presentation, we decided that these three concepts were the strongest. Pocono Modern is the vision of Kraig Kalashian, who is a really incredible architect and designer, which makes all of our collaborations very creative. He has a great eye for design and we tend to gravitate towards the same aesthetic which is fun. Kraig wanted to integrate the idea of “homes” or “community” into the concept on the lower left.





This was a challenge until saw this incredible cover illustration for Fortune Magazine by Erik Nitche, which inspired the simple geometric style that I used below.

I really loved the way this logo design turned out. We had a hard time deciding between this idea and the one we eventually went with.





Along with the Nitche-inspired logo, I explored this stationery concept for the logo above. I introduced the abstract triangle pattern, which ultimately made us feel that this direction was stronger overall.





So here is where we ended up. The mountains are represented, but are abstracted into simple, strong shapes. There is some interesting positive/negative space created in the middle of the mark by the intersection of the angles. The wood texture evokes the organic nature of the Poconos and the color-fields represent the minimal, modern aspect of the brand.





After we finalized the logo, we applied the look and feel to an array of applications including packaging and stationery.





Currently, we’re working on the interior of the Pocono Modern corporate office and design studio in Jim Thorpe, PA. I will post some photos and updates on this project in the next few days.

Mattson Creative Featured in Logo Lounge 5

Just got my copy of Logo Lounge 5. I am thrilled to be featured in the portrait section! It’s pretty incredible to be highlighted alongside firms like Lippincott, Chermayeff & Geismar, Interbrand, Landor, and Duffy — what a huge honor!

There are two full-length articles that profile Mattson Creative. One features the Grace Cathedral brand identity and the other profiles the logo I designed for The Collective.

These are the other logos I designed, that are also included in the book. It really is an honor for me to be included in this collection. The LogoLounge series is an incredible resource for designers and marketing directors who are interested in seeing the year’s best identity work. You can pick up a copy here.

Congratulations to some of my friends and colleagues who also have some fantastic work in volume 5: Paul Howalt , Von Glitschka ,  Sherwin Schwartzrock , Tim Frame, Jon Flaming, Luke Mysee, Craig Johnson, Shawn Hazen, Jason Pearson. Nice job!

New Site! New Blog!

Just launched the new site and this blog! Thanks to Normalcy and Angry Bear for making it happen. Lots of new work to see… Pocono Modern, The Refinery, Lenny Kravitz, The Lab. And lots more to come. Take a look around. Can’t wait to hear what you think!