AIGA 2016 Las Vegas was the first conference I’ve ever been to. I knew that I needed some business cards. It’s one of those things that I kept putting on the back burner because I had actual clients’ business cards to work on. I wanted to create something memorable, and something people would want to keep, and maybe even ask the receiver where they had gotten it, maybe even seek me out (aka trying to get over the fear of networking with bribery and gifts!).

So not only did it have to be cool, but it had to remind people of me and represent me, my interests, and design work. Which led me to the pin idea. Sure, it’s a little trendy, but to me it’s a classic! You don’t throw a cool pin away, you keep it. You add it to your collection of pins. You remember where you got it—they tend to have a story. My mom even gave me a pin she got from one of her friends that says “I’m Bad” and has a rainbow around the edge—so 70s. She was riding her bike for miles as she typically did in her 20s, and one of her friends saw her while they were driving and couldn’t believe how far she rode. So they took that pin from their jacket and put it on her because he thought she deserved it for being such a bad ass.

I designed the pin to represent where I’m currently at physically in the world (cactus for Phoenix, Arizona), what colors I’m into (rose gold & copper, and I always love bright cerulean and teals), and the more personal part—a sugar skull, which I’ve always have had an affinity for not only because I have Mexican heritage, but also because I have a sugar skull tattoo, and there’s a serious cool factor when it comes to sugar skulls. I also put my initials (SS) on the side to function as linework/decorative element/remind people of “Sam Stone” in case they lost the back card. It’s as much “me” as I could shove into a 1×1″ size pin.

But I still needed a traditional business card too, and something to stick the pin to as well. So I kept this part straight forward and in colors to compliment the card. I also repeated the design in a watermark behind the pin so when the two pieces got separated, the user could be reminded of “Oh yes! This is the business card of that girl with the cool pin on my jacket!”.

I used Moo.com for the business card printing, and PinDepot.com for the actual pin printing (yes, they are as fast as the claim!).  The card is Moo’s standard size, original paper, and matte finish. I highly recommend Moo.com, they are fast and super high-quality. The pin is a soft enamel pin, with high polished copper plating, and with a black rubber clutch (because I thought that was more comfortable against skin and easier to put on).

The pin was a hit at everyone who got it at AIGA conference that I spoke to. And a lot of my friends have asked me for one. Everyone seems to have a good reaction to it! It’s also made me pin-crazy! Let’s make a pin out of everything!