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[Tuesday, October 16, 2007]
The Value of Design in Credit Card Deals
First of all, credit card is just an access tool of your bank account. But who in our times will need only bare functionality? Computers, guns, cars, clothes - together with simple physical usage they give you the aesthetic feeling of having them. Mostly it comes from some external solution (e.g. graphic solution) which is called "design". And, though credit card's design is the product of professional work, all its consequences are laid upon you (surface, colors and logos) and sometimes can strongly change your opinion towards selected cards.
Our classical Visa or American Express cards may seem eternal, but in fact their design is constantly changing. If we take a look at the cards, which were in use some 30 years ago, we can find literally units of cards and very limited selection of proposals. Nowadays we have enormous sets of cards with different styles. And as we use special clothes for some purposes (wedding clothes, official suits) in order to show our social and professional status the same can be found within credit card offers. They are not just virtual money. They are so to say the face of your money...
And this face should be the best; otherwise we have some useless risks in communication with society. Though it seems to be hard to describe here all rules of credit card design precisely - there are some general points which might be useful for you when you come to the bank.
The very first credit cards came into being at the end of 1950-s, and since that time we have the most stabile standards of the credit card design. Among them I can mention the usage of logos. And here begins the first stumbling block. The logos are of two types: paying systems and banks. For example, you may have a card of Citibank, which is connected to the Visa paying system. And very often you can notice and remember only system's logo. This makes things worse, when you have only a moment to drag out the requested card, fingering Chase Bank, Citibank and New Millennium Bank cards, all of Visa system.
The graphic background of the credit card, though secondly mentioned here, may be the most significant factor. On the one hand your card has to be easily recognizable, on the other hand - any bank wants to propose you the most unique offer. Thus you may have great financial conditions, but the background picture of your card will begin to irritate you immediately after the application's approval. This can become apparent in different ways - like the absence of color harmony, too abstract or dull picture (sometimes I have a feeling that their designer is just a student, who recently has learnt how to use Photoshop and Clipart) or just not quite logical arrangement of the design elements on the surface.
One more point may be found among the printing tools. For example, the appearance of your card on the computer screen (if you search for instant approval cards)- with its 64 millions of color's tones - may seriously differ from what you get physically, because even the best printing methods like offset or serigraphy can show only 16 millions. And do not forget about lamination - it also affects the color.
So - though the professional laws of design in credit card deals seem to be too complicated for ordinary people - it's your own right to get the best. Just feel the picture...
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