The business card of an American Psycho

Published on May 11th, 2007

American Psycho business card design

Look at that subtle off-white colouring.
The tasteful thickness of it.
Oh my God, it even has a watermark.

Here’s an oldie, but a goodie, from Mary Harron’s movie, American Psycho. It’s the scene where Bateman and his shallow co-workers are pitting their business cards against eachother, debating the merits of bone, eggshell, and off-white. I take pride in my own business card, but these guys?

Does the business card scene only appeal to graphic designers?

I was reminded of this footage when browsing through some cool business card designs (worth a look for inspiration).

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27 spot-on reader comments to “The business card of an American Psycho”

  1. Chris, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    That was cool.

    Don’t think the hobo appreciated it afterwards though :shock:

  2. The Thinking Blog, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    That video was really entertaining!

    I like that link “cool business card designs” as well ;)

  3. Brett Evans, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    That was funny!

    Nice business cards David,I like the curved edge!

  4. thepaperbull, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    OK Brett - watch yourself. You’re complimenting another man on his curves. Could spell trouble for either of you.

    By coincidence I Stumbled upon the Creative Bits piece last night as well. Good stuff.

  5. Wii Error, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    Haha!
    That video is awesome.

  6. Scot Smith, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    Thanks for the business card flickr link, didn’t know this existed. The video is perfect ha.

  7. MG Siegler, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    Is definitely in my top 10 movie scenes from the past 10 years…

  8. David Airey :: Creative Design ::, on May 11th, 2007 said:
    The hobo, Chris?

    Thanks for the compliment Brett. I’ve been working on my curves.

    Scot, where’s the business card flickr link you mentioned? Am I being an idiot?

  9. RomeoAngel, on May 11th, 2007 said:

    That was indeed an AWESOME clip…
    allthough over the top… amazing.

  10. Paul Enderson, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    Good video, but that card design link was astounding! The flickr pool from where they got the samples is the same!

    Perfect timing too, as I’ve only got 11 of my previous cards left! :)

  11. Amanda, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    I love this scene! One of my all-time favorite movies.

  12. Court, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    Lol that video is great! I totally forgot about it.

  13. Brian Gardner, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    Thanks for the link to the business cards… I always need things to look at for inspiration, as you can only browse through CSS Mania so much!

  14. Terinea Weblog, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    When I ask my flatemate did here like my new business card? He replied “It’s hardly bone”.

    What do you think about flickr moo cards?

  15. phd, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    your business card looks good. its an eye catch as well! its simple, not too much words :)

  16. David Airey :: Creative Design ::, on May 12th, 2007 said:
    Paul,

    It’d be good to see what your current card is like. Perhaps a blog post?

    Terinea,

    I’m wasn’t familiar with Flickr moo cards, so had a look. Seems pretty automated, and if that’s the case then I don’t believe they’d be great if you were taking your brand identity seriously. I could be wrong though. What’s your take?

    phd,

    Thanks a lot. I’m glad you like my card. ;)

  17. Armen, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    Sad…but you gotta love it!

    I think day-by-day, you’re turning 575+ people into freaks! ;)

  18. Paul Enderson, on May 12th, 2007 said:

    “It’d be good to see what your current card is like. Perhaps a blog post?”

    Not really worth it! My last set of cards were printed plain black on good quality stock - to fit it with the ’simple is better’ campaign that I was running at the time!

    However, if you want a peek at cards I’ve designed (albeit nothing as fancy as those on the link above) then there’s one here:

    Business card design.

    and I’ll be posting about my latest design work for Britster next week - so the card designs for that will be included.

  19. Jason, on May 13th, 2007 said:

    Good one David.

  20. Cade, on May 13th, 2007 said:

    I have to say that I totally agree with you. There are so many people that end up getting ridiculous about business. I hope that I don’t go crazy to the point where I start killing people like Mr. Bale did. :) Why didn’t this movie get any awards?

  21. Czech girl, on May 13th, 2007 said:

    Great video, I really enjoyed watching. Thanks for posting it, David.

  22. Kate, on May 14th, 2007 said:

    Haha. It’s been years since I’ve seen that movie. It’s neat to get a fresh perspective on an old movie. I forgot about that scene completely. Thanks for sharing!

  23. Marc Chase, on May 18th, 2007 said:

    You know I would have never thought a post about a business card would have interested me.

    But your card is actually very nice. CLassy, clean, clever.

    Good work

  24. David Airey :: Creative Design ::, on May 18th, 2007 said:
    Armen,

    Freaks?! That’s a bit harsh. I prefer American Psychos.

    Paul,

    Interesting to see your designs. I look forward to your next instalment.

    Marc,

    Many thanks for the compliment. I’m glad you like it.

  25. Kleck, on May 24th, 2007 said:

    Found your website through your post about SEO and Edinburgh Graphic Design. It was a good read so I came back for more and I had to comment on American Psycho. Underated movie with Christian Bale (who was underated at that time too.) That scene always stuck out in my mind. Love it when he freakz about the watermark near the end.

    Anyways… I will be moving my site over to wordpress soon so I might get into bloggin a bit more.

    Cheers

  26. David Airey :: Creative Design ::, on July 10th, 2007 said:
    Kleck,

    It’s good to know there’s something of interest for you on my blog. I hope the switch to WordPress goes (went) well for you.

  27. Ambrosiality.com, on June 6th, 2008 said:

    OH MY GOSH I love that scene from American Psycho. lol now every time i see a card i think of it lol, and i wonder “do people really do this?” “so what’s currently in now?” lol

    Ambrosiality.com’s last blog post…W0W (internet quiz)

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