What does good design look like? A Eureka Moment . . .

Eureka

Touchstone: The Eureka Moment is perhaps the most sublime and powerful human experience . . .

Eureka is a start-up technology services company, delivering online desktop and infrastructure support. Clients say that Eureka's service far exceeds the closest competitor.
Join us on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eurek…256427954/

browse our website: http://eureka123.com

The business card design does *not* need to match the website. The website will be redesigned next.

Residential and small/medium businesses clients on both PC and Mac platforms. Current clients are from around the world -- the majority from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Most clients are age 30 or older.

Imagine you are the owner of this online technology services business: How would you design your own business card?

The project is *not* for a traditional business card. Rather, it is for a mini-advertisement in a traditional 3.5 x 2 inch (89 x 51 mm) space. A good design will inspire people to contact Eureka when they have a technology problem or request.

What does the word Eureka mean to us? It's more important what it means to other people, but here are just a few thoughts: Eureka is the light bulb moment a scientist has when he invents something new, or when a student solves a complex math problem. It's the moment your level of understanding makes a quantum leap, you make new mental connections, and you 'get it.' Breakthrough thinking. Epiphany. It's an exclamation of joy. Triumph! Discovery! I found it!

According to legend, Archimedes, after long study, discovered a method of detecting the amount of alloy mixed with the gold in the crown of the king of Syracuse, and exclaimed: "Eureka!"

People often use computing technology in the pursuit of their own personal, triumphant Eureka Moments, and we help them do that by repairing whatever is broken and then optimizing the system for speed, security, and high functionality. Our Eureka Moment is helping others achieve theirs.

Speaking as an engineer, and not as some kind of marketing guy, I can say that we deliver an unmatched level of thoroughness and quality.

Two wikis for further inspiration:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(word)

PROJECT VISION:

The primary business card does *not* have an individual person's name on it -- rather it only has the company's contact info -- website: eureka123.com and phone: +1 (434) 202 4005. The card is a marketing vehicle that we leave at conventions, large meetings, retail stores, coffee shops, airports, train stations, sporting events.

The desired design says that Eureka is: Trustworthy, Expert, Friendly, and perhaps even a bit Soulful, in whatever way that resonates with you.

The desired design itself is: Creative, Authentic, Memorable, Fresh, Elegant, Warm, Human.

The desired design inspires people to go to our website when they need technology support or services.

Please design a logo and the elements you believe are needed for a great 'mini advertising card.' The designer is *not* required to use any style elements from the website nor from the collateral materials attached to the brief. They are just for context and perhaps to spark ideas. There is no old logo or file. We used a regular Calibri font for the "Eureka" in our ads and Times New Roman for the asterisk, but you do not need to replicate that. It probably makes sense to depart from the old look to create something better.

The desired design is two-sided. The back should have a light or white background so that any handwritten information is legible.

The desired design is not geeky nor overly technical. Do not show circuit board backgrounds, etc.

Show a secondary business card, based on the primary design, that includes an individual person's contact info: name, business address, phone number, email. This secondary card is physically separate from the primary card. It is a completely separate card.

A half dozen print ads are attached below for a little context and perhaps to spark new ideas. Each has a different tag line -- use your favorite, one of your own creation, or none at all. The business card design does *not* need to match the print ads in any way.

Attached is a file called "Eureka business cards.pdf." It's an inspirational rough sketch of this project -- not as a business card -- but rather as a as a mini advertisement on a 3.5" x 2" space.

Please enjoy full creative license on this project. We are creative people and enjoy working with other creatives. We frequently contribute refinement ideas and constructive feedback in a positive tone.

The moment we see a design that we can go with, we will make this contest Guaranteed.

Part of the power of crowd sourcing is ideas triggering other *new* ideas, without copying the work of the original artist. In that spirit, we see goodness from keeping the contest open. We expect artists to hold themselves to a high standard in this regard, and in any case, a copied idea will not be selected as the winner.

Required size:

We'll use us.moo.com to print the cards. Moo.com does not offer die cutting. Please size your designs according to the artwork and template guidelines on us.moo.com:

http://us.moo.com/help/faq/template…lines.html

Please use us.moo.com's US business card Adobe Illustrator template:

http://us.moo.com/bit-bucket/templa…late_us.ai

Required file types:

- CMYK image in Adobe Illustrator AI and PDF format.
- Layered RGB file in Photoshop PSD, Fireworks PNG, and JPEG format.
- Designs must be submitted as vector based PDFs. Keep text in vector format.
-Pre-flight PDFs using the 'Adobe PDF/X-1a' preset.
-To set the correct color space for your PDF, click on the 'output' option shown on the left of your screen when you select the 'Adobe PDF/X-1a' preset. In the 'color' box, select 'Coated GRACoL 2006' from the destination dropdown.

In the comments for each submission, identify the name and size of all fonts used.

If you would like a jump start, open up the last attached file called "Eureka info draft.pdf". It contains the basic data for the card and one idea for placement of the various words and pieces.

Enjoy and best of luck!