No business card? (This is a very foreign idea to graphic designers!) “Trying to be environmental, save paper,” the fellow explained. Uh, okay… Website then? You MUST have a website… right? Nope. Now, in this day and age that’s pretty unacceptable. Okay, well, give us your email address then. Guess what, no email either! That’s okay for my grandmother, but how can you function in business without email???

This company had nothing. Nada. No business cards, no website, just a cell phone number. (Isn’t that how drug dealers operate?) Every time we discovered some other piece of basic business stationery or a digital trace of his company that was missing, the man became less real. He sort of vanished before our very eyes.

Maybe he couldn’t afford it, you say. Okay, I’ll give you that on a fancy, huge, dynamic website (options there too!). But there are many options for acquiring affordable company stationery. And it’s true that with email and online operations, there is less need nowadays for printed letterhead, but a business card is something affordable and easy to carry around (and give out!) that will remind your contacts of your business after you’ve parted. A business card legitimizes your company, advertises its capabilities, and shows people how� they can find you, literally or virtually. That’s a lot for 3.5 x 2 inches!

As it was with this man and his “company,” without company stationery, you pretty much don’t exist. There was no proof that he did what he said he did. No example of his operations. It was inexcusable and needless to say, we lost any interest in working with him. (What guy? Where’d he go?). I mean, even con artists get cards printed! It’s inexcusable because with digital printing, there are many possibilities for having company stationery created afforadably. Now, I mentioned having a website as necessary too – but that’s a tale for another day.