By Jason Vander Griendt

September 30, 2020 at 2:58 am

Whether you are a freelancer or business owner looking for new clients, or are out of work and competing in a tough job market that is about to be very oversaturated with people competing for positions, you need to be able to stand out to get your foot in the door and to get the job or work you have been wanting or dreaming about.

There are many ways to stand out:

  • Have the most relevant and extensive experience to the role
  • Have great references and testimonials
  • Do your background research and make sure you know the company inside out, and ideally ask intelligent questions on multiple occasions so the employer gets used to your name and associates it with insight and quality
  • Have your value proposition clear – the end result you help a company achieve can be much more important than the skills you are going to use to get them there
  • As a different perspective on the above, use the STAR (Situation you were in, Task / Action you took in that situation, Result you were able to achieve due to your actions) formula for responding to questions in job applications and interviews
  • If you’re a freelancer or business owner looking for work, provide value first. Answer questions in online communities relevant to your business to establish your expertise, help people and in turn they may reciprocate and hire you or tell their friends about you
  • Don’t say you have good attention to detail when there’s a typo in that paragraph in your CV (only half joking here, you’d be surprised how much that happens in job applications)

If you want to take it to the next level however, you need to be willing to think outside the box. If you really want to stand out, the creative use of 3D printed business cards is a great approach.

What are 3D printed business cards?

Plain old paper business cards are boring. If you think back to how often you’ve actually kept any of those in the long term you’ll know why they’re probably not the best use of your hard earned money.

But imagine instead a card that can be used to promote yourself or your business that people will actually hold onto because they’re fun or have some kind of utility? That’s where 3D printed business cards come in.

3D printing allows you to create totally unique business cards, and that’s what will help you stand out. Your business card will be different from anything else out there.

Take for example this awesome toy fighter jet business card with moving parts, made by a person who focusses on design and prototyping:

Or this interesting lithographic card:

There are so many different examples of the type of 3D cards that could be created. You could for instance, make a flat packed toy with your business details on it that people can assemble and keep on their desk because it’s fun and looks cool.

  • Are you a bicycle repair mechanic? You might like to print some of these touring bike cards with your details on them and drop them off at your nearest bike club.
  • Are you an architect or a realtor? You may like to print your details on little monopoly-type houses, or buildings specific to the type of business you run. Design or sell commercial real estate for example? Consider printing your details on a mini-skyscraper that people could keep on their desk.
  • Are you a cleaner? You could make a 3D printed “closed for cleaning” desk sign that people could display on their desk as a joke to keep people away when they’re busy.
  • Are you an engineer? You could make a set of working gears with your details on them.
  • Are you a photographer? You could make a business card with a working mechanical iris as part of it.

The possibilities for this type of personal and business marketing are almost endless depending on your profession and how creative you want to be.

Bonus points if the card has some sort of utility like some of the suggestions above that will cause people to keep your card on their desk for longer and actively engage with it or play with it throughout the day.

This is the kind of marketing that will get you remembered. Business owners may even talk about you and share it with their other business owner friends!

How do you make a 3D printed business card?

The process for making 3D printed business cards is fairly straight forward:

  1. Come up with an idea
  2. Sketch that idea out on paper
  3. Create a 3D CAD design for that idea in the appropriate format for your 3D printer
  4. Do a test print to make sure it works as desired
  5. Revise the design as needed until you’re happy with it
  6. Print out as many of the cards as you want!

But what if you don’t have a 3D printer or design skills? That’s no problem at all. 3D printing services can be very affordable.

If you have an idea for a 3D printed card we can help you with the design and printing. If you request a quote we can help you answer the question how much do 3D printing services cost? You might be surprised how affordable this is compared to trying to learn how to design in 3D, buying a 3D printer and materials for it and taking the time to try and figure it all out yourself.

And if your unique business card lands you the job of your dreams, then the cost of having the cards designed and printed will pay for themselves many times over. There are many things you can make with a 3D printer we haven’t covered here. Find out what else you can make with a 3D printer.

If you have a business card project or idea in mind and would like some help making it a reality, give us a call on , or get in touch through our contact or quote forms. We look forward to making some awesome 3D printed business cards for you!

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Jason Vander Griendt

Jason Vander Griendt is a Mechanical Engineering Technician with years of experience working at major companies such as SNC Lavalin Inc, Hatch Ltd. Siemens and Gerdau Ameristeel. He is the CEO of JCAD – Inc., a company he started in 2006 after seeing a gap in the market for businesses who could assist clients through the entire product design and manufacturing process.

Jason has been featured in Forbes, has had his businesses analyzed and discussed in multiple start-up books, was a previous winner of the Notable8 Digital Innovator of the year award, and is a regular guest on business panels and podcasts. Email Jason at or follow him on LinkedIn.