The face of Kramer...

During the early part of 2007, I had visited a trade show, SignUk, and had been introduced to a Dutch company that dealt in sign components. This particular company had business cards that displayed a photograph of the staff member in question.

I liked this idea but did not think that I would be very photogenic and thought that any shot of me that I might use on my cards would have the effect of scaring away prospective clients! Not good for business.

As we now needed to have cards for Sarah, my wife and business partner, I felt it was a good time to experiment with amending the design of our business cards. I used Illustrator to create a portrait of my face that I could use on the new cards. That way, any person who had met me and been given one of the new business cards, would be able to recognise my image and remember me quite easily. That is the plan anyway.

As I have a shaved head and wear glasses that are quite striking, I felt that the portrait I created would be much better that any photo.

Early designs of "Kramers" face...

I showed this design to a focus group - family and friends - to get their feedback. It was mostly positive and people really liked this simple, yet oddly accurate, representation of me. Following some suggestions, I amended the beard into a point rather than the rounded style of this original design.

The face of Kramer - final design