Business card Ideas

DarkEyes · Jul 8, 2004

Nead help designing a business card. Here's my first effort, I will post more later. As many ideas as possible will be apreciated.

please be aware the image appears much brighter in my ohto editing programs than it does when loaded onto the net.
For a better view, check out this link:
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums.../New Pictures/?action=view&current=BC_Dud.jpg

jadin · Jul 9, 2004

Definately does not work as business card. Sorry

Not sure what to tell you, basically this concept just won't work. I'd suggest going through your images and seeing what else you can come up with.

Lungfarmer · Jul 9, 2004

I agree it doesn't work. It looks very amateur to me. Don't take that too bad though, I've been designing logos and business cards for quite a few years now so I'm rather picky, hee hee.

I usually don't critique here because I'm a graphic designer first and a photographer second and I don't think my photos are good enough for me to be critiquing others, but since this is more graphic design, here I go!

I have a few tips for you, as well as some samples (I am illustrating a childrens book and am stuck at the moment so it helps to do something else for a while and this provided me with something fun to do!)

I think the moon images are cool, but need some cleaning up to look more professional. Also, I think the skull and crossbones need to go. They make the card and you appear very young, like 16, heh heh, reminds me of high school. If you are going for that image, then ok, but I would think you would want a more serious and grown up affect. The + and = I don't think are good here either, too busy, too much to say. You are "selling" your photography, not these other things.

The text also is very distracting. Business cards are rather small, you want people to be able to see and recognize your name and info without having to stare at it for a while squinting and getting a headache. You want them to be able to see and read it fairly fast. I'm really picky about text. Typography was one of my strong points in college, heh heh. I also have over 8,000 fonts, heh heh, guess I'm a bit of a font freak. Odd or fonts with effects are OK for a logo, but for your contact info, etc, you want it to be very readable.

Background is rather boring. It's ok, but I think a little sprucing it up wouldn't hurt.

Last is dimensions, which isn't so big a deal, but regular business card size is 3.5 inches wide by 2 inches tall. Just a little info

Now! Here's what I did: (hope you don't mind, I was having fun and I needed a break!)

I hope some of this helped!

DarkEyes · Jul 10, 2004

Good work, Lungfarmer.

I have been working on it myself, and come up with a couple more amatuerish Ideas:

PS The skull was there as a watermark, & Im 18.

bogleric · Jul 11, 2004

#2 from lungfarmer is very nice

pomme · Jul 13, 2004

How about dividing the card in half and on the left half put one of your best photos and then on the right keep the background black and have your details in a coloured font that stands out and goes with your photo. Nice and simple.

I'm not keen on the first one you posted as it doesn't have that professional look. On the second one you posted try it without the spiky shape in the bottom because it distracts the eye away from your details and the image.

hobbes28 · Jul 13, 2004

Just my personal preference, but I think that the font "brochure" looks really good on business cards. It comes with Corel and you can probably find it online.

Sharkbait · Jul 13, 2004

I use Hightower text on pretty much anything to do with my biz. It's a nice clean font that looks great at a smallcaps setting, and by using it on the website, on my business cards, and on the copyright watermark on the images themselves, it gives a good continuity to the whole works.

graigdavis · Jul 13, 2004

You might want to stick with something more simple. For a business card with that much color its going to be really expensive to get them made.

And theres just no real reason for a business card to be that 'busy'.

Sharkbait · Jul 13, 2004

FWIW, here's a photocopy of what I'm using as a business card. Not terribly exciting, and just whipped up in MS Publisher, but you get the idear.

HogHunter · Jul 14, 2004

Shark's is best. I dislike photographic business cards. They look too amatueristic. A business card is intended to convey your personal and corporate information. It is not a portfolio!

Karalee · Jul 14, 2004

I mostly agree with what hoghunter is saying. Business cards are mainly just to supply your contact information to whoever your handing them out to.

What I have found to be useful on business cards is a headshot of whoevers businesscard it is. It makes it easier for a person to put a face to a name because, well, were all human, we all forget.

StvShoop · Jul 14, 2004

graigdavis said:
And theres just no real reason for a business card to be that 'busy'.

yeah. better to be nice and concise and not distract the user away from the main bits of information.

Lungfarmer · Jul 16, 2004

Shark's is best. I dislike photographic business cards. They look too amatueristic. A business card is intended to convey your personal and corporate information.

I agree with this by the way. In 7 years as a graphic designer I've never designed a photographic business card, heh heh (what I posted above was of course just working with what DarkEyes posted

) I think simple and clean is best.

But if one just has to have photography on their card, I would try to keep it clean and simple, readable.

DarkEyes · Jul 22, 2004

Lungfarmer said:
Shark's is best. I dislike photographic business cards. They look too amatueristic. A business card is intended to convey your personal and corporate information.

Click to expand...

I agree with this by the way. In 7 years as a graphic designer I've never designed a photographic business card, heh heh (what I posted above was of course just working with what DarkEyes posted ) I think simple and clean is best. But if one just has to have photography on their card, I would try to keep it clean and simple, readable.

Perhaps they do look Amatueristic, However I believe that if they can Be done correctly, they may be worth the effort. I have put some more thought into it, and have come up with one I believe to be worthwhile posting. Beware, The one posted is only a JPEG, and not representative of how clear it truely appears.

For a proper, Higher resolution view, click here:
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v250/NightVision2004/New Pictures/SC_Small2.bmp