Your business card is CRAP!

emokr
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2009–2025
YouTube
2.8M views · 17 years ago · other · dated

A loud, over-the-top rant by Joel Bauer, as identified in HN comments, about why ordinary business cards fail and what a memorable one should be. It has become a long-running internet meme.

HN people treat it as a classic, quoting it and using it as a joke reference in threads about business cards and design excess.

“It doesn't fit in a Rolodex, because it doesn't belong in a Rolodex!”
Graphic designBrand strategy & advertising
#businesscards#rant#internetmeme#personalbranding#joelbauer

10 comments from Hacker News

m
@michelb2022 · in “The slow death of the traditional business card”
Can’t forget this classic: ▶ this video
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t
@thmzlt2011 · in “Your business card is CRAP”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
s
@strandev2011 · in “Your business card is CRAP”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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g
@guns2010 · in “"So, what do you do?"”
For those who missed the reference: ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
b
@bombs2009 · in “Business Card Designs”
It doesn't fit in a Rolodex, because it doesn't belong in a Rolodex! (▶ this video) I use plain, white, unlaminated business cards from Moo (link), because they're cheap and they're easy to write on. These business cards are much prettier than my own, but I write extra information on business cards and that'd be impossible on most of these. Maybe they're memorable enough that I wouldn't have to write on them.
CitesView on HN
l
@latexr2025 · in “Ultrathin business card runs a fluid simulation”
But does it beat the Joel Bauer business card? It took 25 years to design! ▶ this video
JokesView on HN
e
@epcoa2024 · in “Cardie – An open source business card designer and sharing platform”
I think you mean this guy ▶ this video
JokesView on HN
s
@sutro2013 · in “An engineer's emergency kit business card”
Obligatory link: ▶ this video
JokesView on HN
z
@zephjc2011 · in “How To Lose 1% Of Your Customers With Just 1 Email”
Wow. Kind of reminds me of a cross between ▶ this video and link
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p
@philwelch2009 · in “Whoa, this is heavy: brain equates weight with importance”
If you go too overboard on this track, you turn into this guy: ▶ this video
JokesView on HN