Business Cards

Client: KNOCK inc.
Creative Firm: KNOCK inc. - Minneapolis, MN, USA
Creative Team: KNOCK inc. - Design Firm; Meenal Patel - Designer; Todd Paulson - Creative Director; Sara Nelson - Design Director; Creighton King - Production

Minneapolis design agency KNOCK had been using a wood grain motif in their self-promotional pieces for some time (KNOCK on wood!), and when they decided to create an identity system to truly represent their personality as an agency-especially their three-dimensional retail environment-the idea emerged of making the business cards look like geometric logs that could pop and lock into a 3-D shape. However, unlike regular wood logs, keeping these little paper logs solid proved to be a challenge. "Card construction proved difficult, especially ensuring the cards would indeed pop up and stay that way," says director of special projects Leslie Yunis.

The cards also resisted reflattening for portability's sake, but trial and error led to the right paper stock for the pieces, which also could double as nametags in meetings. Despite the apparent homogeny of the cards/nametags, KNOCK's personality came through once again, as they invited each employee to design the interior of his or her own card. "This offered more insight into each employee, and provided an additional surprise for the viewer, deepening their connection to the agency," says Yunis.