Is it bad that I actually like the Club Carlson design? It looks a little elegant to me.

I'm not much of a fan of the Fidelity Amex. The green looks off putting on a credit card, and the "all seeing eye" doesn't really help.

https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/...wards-Card.png

Again, the magstripe and chip are not reversed. Those locations are specified by ISO standard. Everything else on the card is reversed (well, much of it - remember the number IS customarily on the front, but the signature strip isn't on the front of most cards).

The new card stock has a much darker mag stripe. Still feels like cardboard.

The whole thing needs a redesign. Just copy the CSP and be done with it.

I honestly think the Citi Prestige was designed with the assumption swiping would be rare by now...

I don't understand the aesthetic purpose of that big square in the middle of these cards.

most of the card is transparent(see -through). The big square blocks out space so that the signature strip at the back doesn't bleed through or look weird....

Probably can be designed better, but no complains here
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/21/the-most-counterintuitive-thing-about-the-citi-prestige-card/

Well, I get that the relative positions of the mag stripe and chip is set by standard. If you give someone the card, how many will assume that the chip side is "front" and mag stripe side is "back"/"normal" to use the mag stripe the "normal" way?

There is at least one commonly used card where mag stripe is in the front bottom.... Guess why people know how to use it(contrast works well)

http://www.new-york-city-travel-tips...card-MPVNY.jpg


The citi prestige card isn't ugly... Just comes out as impractical when they try to design it high end

I am aware of its functional purpose, which is why I said I do not understand the aesthetic purpose. The square almost seems like an afterthought. I'm sure blocking the stuff on the back could have been incorporated into the front design somehow.

The Blue Square is synonymous with the AmEx logo, like the one on the bottom right of the SPG card. It would be like a clear MasterCard having the linking red / yellow circles on the front. I guess the Everyday just wanted to ape the Blue Cash design but make it a little bit different.

Given that it is a chip card, and the chip is clearly visible, and the positions of the chip and stripe are determined by the ISO standard, one can easily pick up the card, look at where the chip is and know where the stripe is even if they can't see the stripe.

As for the Boarding Area article, just because someone says something doesn't make it so. The signature panel is on the front (and everything on the front is upside down too!), not the other way around.

true, but in the USA, not all cards have EMV and not all readers read EMV, so cashiers don't usually look for the EMV

if there's a lot of commentary about how cashiers are consistently confused, then there's something wrong (with cashier, with card, with person owning the card :D)

at least with the thankyou premier, it's a little bit more obvious(due to contrast) where a mag stripe might be

http://doc.ryallmedia.netdna-cdn.com...ou-premier.png

That said, you're not going to get anybody here to agree that the card isn't backwards. Don't waste too much time on that losing battle.

EDIT: FT automatically embeds youtube videos. Who knew?

Man, I have the Hyatt card and have never thought twice about its looks. Seems pretty normal to me. Maybe a bit bland at first glance, but nothing that would grab attention.

If you think the design of your credit card legit turns off others...there may be bigger issues!

I didn't say the CARD wasn't backwards :) I said it wasn't the stripe and chip that are backwards - because those are the elements that define the front and back of the card. Many of the other elements are backward and all are upside down...

Or smaller ones.

Well not exactly ugly, I find the colors on the Amex Platinum to be poorly chosen. I have a hard time reading the numbers in the middle, once the initial coloring fades away.