Case study · Business cards · Stepp & Rothwell
Stepp & Rothwell ↗Two small pieces of copper
Card for Stepp & Rothwell in Overland Park, Kansas: a copper foil tab bleeding off the left edge and a copper foil ampersand in the black wordmark, on bright white stock, with the same tab repeated small on the reverse.
The idea
Stepp & Rothwell is a fee-only financial planning and investment advisory firm at 7300 College Boulevard in Overland Park, Kansas. It describes itself as objective and comprehensive, and is paid by its clients rather than by commissions.
Two rules
- 01Copper as the only colour. Copper foil, used only for the tab and the ampersand. Everything else is black on white.
- 02A tab that bleeds. The copper parallelogram runs off the left edge, so it reads as part of the card's structure.
Why it works
The copper is the one thing on the card that isn't plain, which fits a firm that sells careful, objective advice.
Start from these materials
Same paper, foil and finish, locked in — nothing of Stepp & Rothwell's artwork comes with it.
Questions
- Can foil run off the edge of a card?
- Yes. Foil can bleed off the trim like ink. Extend the foil shape 1/8 inch past the cut line so the edge stays clean.
- What colour foil suits a financial firm?
- Copper, silver and muted gold are common choices because they read as considered rather than showy. Use one, sparingly.
- Can foil be used on just one character in a wordmark?
- Yes. A single foiled character, like the ampersand here, is positioned in its own artwork and needs careful registration to the printed type.
