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