| French Furniture, The Empire Style | | | | In conclusion, it is relatively easy to recognize the |
| In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte had himself anointed | | | | Empire style of furniture with its massive |
| and crowned Emperor of France. The furniture | | | | appearance and overbearing ormolu mounts which |
| style known as Empire is a style of majestic | | | | usually depicts Egyptian, Greek and Roman |
| grandeur that Napoleon felt fitting to honor his | | | | themes. This style is a step backward from the |
| glory. He considered himself the greatest world | | | | simple but elegant Louis XVI style. |
| ruler since Julius Caesar. The Empire style is the | | | | Business Card Design - How to Stand out and Get |
| last of the great French styles that widely | | | | Noticed |
| influenced furniture design throughout the world. | | | | One of the most powerful, yet over looked |
| During his rule, Napoleon conquered Italy and | | | | weapons in your marketing arsenal is your |
| Egypt. He was overwhelmed by his conquest of | | | | business card. If designed properly this little 3 x |
| these countries. He brought back to France | | | | 2.5 piece of paper will not only let people know |
| archaeological wonders of Egypt, the | | | | how to contact you it will also tell them why they |
| long-forgotten ancient empire. He was proud of | | | | should contact you. In order to be effective and |
| his conquest of Italy and Egypt and proudly | | | | get you more business your Business card must |
| considered himself as the first worthy successor | | | | stand out, and get noticed. |
| to Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. | | | | How a distinctive business card resulted in a |
| Furniture designed in this period was meant to | | | | $5,000 Sale |
| imitate the designs of these great empires. | | | | A friend of mine and his wife recently went |
| Napoleon commissioned the greatest artist of | | | | furniture shopping. By the end of the day they |
| Europe to create architecture and decoration that | | | | had gone to 8 stores and had 8 Business cards. 7 |
| would equate the grandeur of Greece, the glory | | | | of the Business Cards were your garden variety |
| of Rome and the massiveness of Egypt. | | | | white cards with one or two color writing on |
| The Empire style furniture is massive, in grand | | | | them. |
| scale and very masculine. It has a severe, heavy, | | | | One card was a little different. The salesman, we |
| masculine look with no carving. The wood carving | | | | will call him Bob, had decided to make his card |
| which is very common in the previous styles of | | | | stand out a little by putting his picture on it along |
| Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI is generally | | | | with a couple of color pictures of his furniture. |
| replaced with wood veneers polished to a high | | | | Bob's business card made an immediate |
| sheen. To equalize the bareness of wood veneer, | | | | impression. |
| metal gilts are used to adorn the furniture. A good | | | | The next day they flipped through the all the |
| clue to identifying the Empire style is the vulgar | | | | business cards that they had received the |
| use of ormolu mounts. Ormolus are gilt-metal | | | | previous day. They immediately remembered Bob |
| decorations usually in different decorative motifs. | | | | from his business card. They went to Bob's store |
| These are usually drawn from antique sources or | | | | and spent over $5,000! All because of a business |
| patriotic inspiration. There are motifs derived from | | | | card. |
| Egyptian archeology. Falcon, sphinxes, cobras, | | | | 5 Tips to make your Business Card Stand out |
| obelisks, winged lions are just some of these | | | | 1 - Use Full Color Printing |
| Egyptian inspired decorations. Napoleon's | | | | In the old days full color printing (4 color printing) |
| fascination with his conquest of Egypt and later on | | | | was extremely expensive. You could pay over |
| the excavation of ruins by the French | | | | $200 /1000 for high quality full color cards. Prices |
| Egyptologists created so much interest in | | | | have dropped and you can now get beautiful full |
| everything related to Egypt. | | | | color cards printed for about the same price as a |
| There are also motifs derived from ancient Greek | | | | plain two color card. |
| and Roman design. Vases, lamps, torches, heads | | | | 2 - Use a Tagline |
| of Greek gods, ram's head and cornucopias are | | | | A "tagline" is a one sentence benefit statement. |
| among the many Greek and Roman inspired | | | | Think of your Business card as a "Mini Billboard". |
| decorations incorporated into the Empire style of | | | | Pretend that you are writing a classified ad for a |
| furniture. French Patriotism grew stronger during | | | | newspaper. You only have a small amount of |
| Napoleon's rule and it was evident in the many | | | | space to describe your product or service in an |
| patriotically inspired decorations which included | | | | intriguing way ... what would you write to describe |
| laurel wreaths, eagles, swords, lances, rifles, drum | | | | it? For example: A Realtor could say "Helping Build |
| and bugles. The use of legs that are shaped like | | | | dreams one home at a time" |
| animals or sphinxes is very typical to the Empire | | | | 3 - Put a picture on it! |
| style. The graceful cabriole legs of the previous | | | | I highly recommend that you put a picture on |
| styles have been replaced with the massive, | | | | your business card. Studies have shown that |
| more often overstated and vulgar use of legs | | | | people are more likely to hold on to a Business |
| that are shaped like animals. | | | | card with a photo on it. It could be your picture, a |
| The following are the general characteristics of | | | | picture of your product, or a combination of both. |
| the Empire style of furniture: | | | | Picture cards get attention! |
| 1. It has heavy masculine look. | | | | 4 - Don't use Business Card "Templates" |
| 2. Wood veneers polished to high sheen are used | | | | There are websites you can go to online where |
| instead of the ornate wood carving usually | | | | you can choose from pre-made business card |
| associated with the previous French furniture | | | | designs called templates. The problem with this is |
| styles. | | | | that the more people who use these templates |
| 3. The excessive use of large, often badly cast | | | | the more you card starts to look like everybody |
| ormolu mounts. | | | | else's. You want to have a business card that |
| 4. Wood back chairs with upholstered seats. | | | | stands out from everybody else's, not one that |
| These include the barrel armchair which is a very | | | | gets lost in the crowd. |
| typical Empire style chair. | | | | 5 - Let a Professional Design It |
| 5. The use of designs inspired by classical Greece. | | | | Unless you are a professional graphic designer |
| 6. Mirror-back console table. This is usually used by | | | | designing your own card is like performing root |
| the ladies to check their no-longer floor-length | | | | canal on yourself. Its going to take a lot of time |
| hemlines. | | | | and you may not be happy with the results. |
| 7. The use of motifs inspired by ancient Egypt, | | | | Leave the designing to the professionals and use |
| Rome and Greece. | | | | you time doing what you do best ... selling your |
| 8. The use of Patriotic and military motifs and the | | | | product or service! |
| use of letter "N", Napoleon's name initial. | | | | |