I've been at Harvard 3 months now working as a user interface designer. It's a fantastic job and I love it. I've also been doing freelance part time since January (actually, I've been doing it for a long time now, but officially as a business since January). The problem is, I meet a lot of people in and around Boston, as well as other places I travel, and I have no business card to give out. Harvard's printing and publishing department was dissolved last year, therefore I'm finding it difficult to figure out where to go to get business cards. So I took matters into my own hands.

This is a design mockup, not the final design, but I thought I'd share it for critique and ideas. The front of the card is using white card stock with the crimson Harvard shield. I decided to rotate it left a bit and "hide" it behind a vertical line rather than leave it sitting there all alone. The font is Garamond, which is what the official Harvard business cards use if you choose a serif typeface (I have the old business card order form).

My name is prominent because it's the most important thing on a business card. If people remember the company and not you, the card hasn't done it's job. I also put it in the middle of the card because, as you see, I've added my personal email and web address at the bottom. I wanted to separate Harvard from personal information, and my name ties it all together.

On the back I've gone with the same crimson color along with a "VE RI TAS" and ivy branch watermark. I'm not sold on that setup yet, so any ideas for that part of the design are welcome. I've also added a lighter box for people to write down notes about me, our meeting, or where we met. A plain white background would do this as well, but I want some color on the back and didn't want to lose the option of writing down a quick note to remember things (or a place for me to write my cell phone number). Again, I'm not sold on how this part looks either. I'm not sure white text and lines are the way to go, but they stand out. Suggestions?

I need to have a final design by March, have it printed, and I'll be taking these with me to SXSW in Austin. Any and all feedback is welcome, especially if it's more than just "i love it!" Tell me why you love it, hate it, think it could use some improvement, and I'll be in your debt.