PCB Business Card Idea

[Pack34]

Today in "Good Idea, Bad Idea"

What do you guys think of the attached business card? It's an early work in progress, but the idea would be for it to be the standard business card size, double as the standard PCB ruler fare, and have the standard contact info on it.

The front will have the ruler (in both metric and real units), AWG hole sizes, contact info, and a QFP breakout area. On the back I'm planning to slather a bunch of common footprint and text sizes, etc.

Would this fall in the category of a nifty-icebreaker at an interview, or would it just be a terrible idea? To put the experience level for the potential job in reference, I would be shopping around for mid-level hardware engineering positions that would require around 3-5 years experience.

Bonus points for whomever gets the movie reference made by the phone number.

[StubbornGreek]

Phone number is from movie Hackers!

Now, that card is going to be way too expensive to consider... But, cool.

[Pack34]

Phone number is from movie Hackers!

Now, that card is going to be way too expensive to consider... But, cool.

Ding, ding, ding!!!

It wouldn't be that expensive. For small prototypes I like to use iTead, which a board of this size would only run about $25 for 10 boards. Shipping can be expensive but it's not like I don't have a small pile of designs that need to get made.

[Vgkid]

I agree with the thoughts above, but it is cool.

[Pack34]

It is too expensive to be handing them out to lots of people. I would only consider it a good idea if you were a PCB production company. It would be cheaper then and less of a novelty. If you don't manufacture PCB's then what is it you are saying?
 
People give business cards away without thought of the per unit cost. If you can't do that with these then it is not a good idea.

Well, ideally I wouldn't be handing out many, a dozen at most. The only real opportunity I would have would be at an in-person interview.

I'll be shopping around for a hardware job and I thought it would be a nice conversation piece for an interview. I always get handed business cards when I'm being interviewed and I thought it would be a nice touch to have something to hand back that doesn't have my current company's information on it.

I do see what you're saying with the purpose and it would make most sense if I was running a PCB house.

[Flump]

I think it is a great idea, remember first impressions last

[nctnico]

As long as it is non-conductive. I once got an aluminium business card from someone. I kept it on a shelve because it was kinda cool... until I accidentally dropped it into a PC which was on. Fortunately no firework  but the aluminium business card went straight into the bin  .

[marshallh]

IMO I wouldn't bother. Non-standard business cards are a pain in the you-know-what for everybody involved. When someone gives me a stupidly odd sized card and I have no immediate reason to keep it, it's tossed.
If you absolutely must have a pcb card, get it made very, very, thin. As paper thin as possible. 0.063" default thickness is going to be like a stone tablet in your pocket.
In fact, why not export your eagle design and have it printed on old fasionhed paper?

[ncoonrod14]

I happen to be working on a PCB Card at the moment as well. As was mentioned above these aren't in any way a replacement for a business card, but more of a conversation point for potential employers. I'm an EE student and started this project as a way to differentiate myself from other students for summer internships. I removed all my information on the image below but in addition to the typical business card content I added a tinned logo of a prominent and well known engineering club I'm a member of which is a great conversation starter. The most interesting part of the card is that I added a USB port which when connected will fade several LEDs of several colors which should be interesting and not annoying. When I talk with employers the card is an immediate conversation starter and a few days later when going through resumes and such they're bound to be curious what the card does when powered.

I also think a dozen is the most I'll ever use. My card comes in at about $4 a card(With components) which is orders of magnitude higher than a typical business card but its value as a conversation point makes it more than worth it in my position. Once I have more experience in the field, I won't ever use something like this as my experience will be a much better conversation point and indication to my skill set but as a student with little to no experience this fills in that gap.

*I removed all of my information and the circuit for this image, but here is the dimensions and outline of the card with USB. The card is standard size with the USB connection.

[EEVblog]

PCB business cards are not that uncommon, and are great idea. Most people will never have seen one before.
Make sure it's 0.5mm thickness though.
A novel one would be on thick flex pcb.

[n45048]

Tax deduction? ;-)

[coppice]

A novel one would be on thick flex pcb.

Kapton. The business card that lasts a 1000 years. 

[n45048]

Kapton. The business card that lasts a 1000 years. 

Seconded! Those in the EE industry that truly know their stuff would know recognise it when they see it. Those that don't just think it's "retro".

[Pack34]

Nice! It looks like I'll finish it up and see how it turns out. Just to keep the price down, I'll only be able to reduce the thickness to 1.0mm. Any less than that and the price starts to climb.

On a related note, if anyone here is willing to give my resume and LinkedIn a once-over I would greatly appreciate it. It's my first one with some real-world design experience and I want to be sure that I'm selling myself right. If you're willing, please send me a PM.

[wraper]

Smart prototyping do 0.8mm without increasing the price. Silkscreen was also very good on the boards I ordered.

[Pack34]

Those prices are unreal. What's the typical turn-around time?

[tom66]

Those prices are unreal. What's the typical turn-around time?

2~3 weeks including shipping

[SeanB]

Just a thought what if you made that footprint for the assorted IC packages a breakout board with traces to through plated holes on the edges, and used an ENIG finish on the exposed pads and holes. That way your card will be used by somebody and not just tossed. Yes, make it as thin as possible and still have it double sided.

[Pack34]

Just a thought what if you made that footprint for the assorted IC packages a breakout board with traces to through plated holes on the edges, and used an ENIG finish on the exposed pads and holes. That way your card will be used by somebody and not just tossed. Yes, make it as thin as possible and still have it double sided.

I was planning to play with this idea. With the exception of making larger SMD solder pads instead of through hole