brandflakesforbreakfast: the single best business card at sxsw. maybe ever.

Thursday, March 13, 2008
the single best business card at sxsw. maybe ever.

I've got pockets and pockets full of business cards. At a conference like SXSW, there are a lot of cards attempting to be great. Many try so hard to be "creative" that they just end up blending in. Or look like an invite to a party.

But Brian Shaler is different. Brian Shaler has reinvented. His card is pictured above. You're probably thinking that the back of the card has all of his contact information, laid out in a clever way. It doesn't. Just his name, backwards.

At a party, I was talking to Brian, and someone came up to complain. "C'mon Brian - I need a real card. I need a card with your email address, or something."

Brian's response?
"You have everything you need to contact me, on that card. If you can't find me by using that card, then we really don't need to communicate." (Or something to that effect, probably said more eloquently.)

Genius. Absolute, pure internet genius. And he's right. I'm not even going to link to him. If you want to get in touch with Brian, you have his business card, above.

Labels: design, identity, search, web2.0

posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM 20 comments

20 Comments:

At 8:21 AM, Garret Ohm said...: That's frickin genius.
At 10:06 AM, Matt Hunsberger said...: Pretentious. Does this really work if you're not already famous? Google any name and you're going to get 100000 results. Which one is THE Brian Shaler? I don't know. If he is the first result in the Google search, well he's really not good enough to be handing out a business card like that anyway.
At 10:13 AM, darryl ohrt said...: Matt: Actually, the entire first page of results on Google ARE all of Brian's contact info. And that's the point.

It's also a showcase of his talents in the social sphere. Of course, not anyone could do this. But this is a brilliant way to illustrate that he "gets it."
At 1:04 PM, Brian said...: It's a name recognition card. If I was famous, I would include the phone number to my publicist or something. I have exchanged business cards with thousands of people and one thing that happens quite often with a typical (and even moderately creative) card is that it gets a glance then goes straight into the pocket. This card almost never fails to create a reaction. There are sometimes negative reactions (like Matt's), but the overwhelming majority reacts positively. As for Matt's issue, I think you addressed it perfectly with 3 sentences.

Thanks for the props, Darryl!
At 5:33 PM, mikelite said...: and now we're all gonna go Google Brian's name to see for ourselves. DAMN YOU, BRIAN SHALER!
At 10:12 PM, Kevin said...: more balls than genius. it is polarizing. if you argue he is selling his services to people who need his help, maybe they don't want to hit google or don't do it by instinct. just sayin'
At 11:13 PM, Ben Kunz said...: All these comments prove: It IS genius.

Two rules of marketing:

1. Get noticed
2. Get a response

Brian does both, and shows off his social media prowess at the same time. Now, I plan to change my name to Brian Shaler and blog like crazy to ride his coattails to fame...
At 2:30 AM, Mike.L. said...: I had this thought as well, but opted to go for the title "Problem Extinguisher" which also never fails to get a reaction. Kudos to you Brian, your balls are larger than mine. This made me smile.
At 6:26 PM, Anonymous said...: remember that famous goatse picture?

it's brian shaler also.
At 7:24 PM, Anonymous said...: It's sometimes said that the best ideas seem obvious after you hear them, and I think this is one of those cases. I regularly hand people just my name and, in response to their confusion, calmly explain that google will return anything they could need in order contact or evaluate me. Is it pretentious? Ballsy? Maybe. Attention getting? Absolutely. "Absolute, pure internet genius"? Hardly! Be reasonable, now. Thanks to a somewhat unique name and a decent level of google presence, I quietly stumbled across this useful mechanism years ago. For quite a while, my personal website hasn't even had a bio section, just a link to google results. Now, I don't know Brian, but I like the way he thinks! :-) Brian, if we ever meet, we can exchange cards with knowing smiles and I'll buy you a beer.

You may easily dismiss this post as a "me too", but I think Brian is right on with this, and, further, that the negative comments so far are probably people who wish they had thought of this first (or even had the google presence to implement it), so they could be called internet geniuses by our lovely host.
At 10:14 AM, brian said...: That is pretty nice. Although Brian had better hope there are no other Brian Shalers out there.

Brian
At 1:26 PM, Make the logo bigger said...: Fun card. I smell new meme though:

“I’m not Brian Shaler.”

(Brb, gotta go check GoDaddy.)

It’s available!
At 4:09 PM, Paul Merrill said...: Ego.
At 4:53 PM, Keith Harper said...: I don't see how this is 'ingenious.'

What if Brian's information doesn't show up highly ranked in Google in the future... what then?

It's also slightly pretentious, I agree. Sorry Brian.
At 5:15 PM, David Plain said...: Seriously, do you think there's an army of Brian Shalers who will knock the real Brian Shaler down in Google ranking? I think he'll be safe for a while.

I Google myself every once in a while and thanks to having a very "plain" last name I've got no google juice :-(
At 6:31 PM, Keith Harper said...: I'm not saying anyone is going to knock him down the rankings... nor that they could if they wanted...

It's just that it's a name on a card. Anyone can walk into Kinko's and do that… that's why it lacks any real "wow" factor
At 6:34 PM, Mike Long said...: Yeah, Keith, I'm pretty sure it's not a design based "wow" that Bri-Bri's goin' for here. Anyone can do ANYTHING.
At 7:07 PM, Keith Harper said...: Alright, alright... it IS an interesting approach, I'll give you that. I suppose I am overlooking the fact that it is pretty cool how you can just get Brian's info by googling him.
At 12:26 PM, lisa said...: i did mine with a $20 custom stamp and perforated business cards from Office Depot
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/265255515_c8d8b7dd2a_m.jpg
At 6:15 AM, Andy Malhan said...: It's an interesting idea, but my issue with this is one of functionality. At least where I live in India, it's still easier to flip through my cardfile and find a visiting card, than it is to google someone's name and find the contact info that way.

His point is valid - in today's world, a name is (more or less) all you need to find someone - but I'm not sure that this is the proper way to make that point.

10 bucks says 90% of the people he gives his card to, do the googling, write his cellphone number on the card and stick it in their cardfile.