After some thought: Business Cards

[DGMPhotography]

Let me put this as respectfully as possible; you're not very good at either. There, I said it. Somebody needs to give you a healthy dose of honesty so you don't crash and burn. Perhaps you will grow and improve, but until then, you are going to have a very hard time making a living in these fields. My comments are meant to help you come to grips with what lies ahead. Good luck to you. I hope you find your niche.

I am not "good" because I do not devote all my time to it. I am better than the average Joe, however, I'll tell you that. But I do plan to improve, thanks for your opinion.

 

[DGMPhotography]

With an exception in the case of specifically religious services, I don't see the point of including religious symbolism in a business and/or in its marketing materials. What purpose does it serve to advertise your religion? Does it attract certain customers, and maybe turn away others? Why stop at religion and not also include your political ideology on your cards? Ooohh, this is a slippery slope.

Actually on this one Jaemie I would disagree , primarily because people do not have to know it has to have anything at all to do with Christianity at all.

I would point you to what one of the greatest entrepreneurs and businessmen of any time said concerning business names and product names.

A trademark should be short, vigorous, incapable of being misspelled. It must mean nothing. If the name has no dictionary definition, it must be associated only with your product. - George Eastman

It has meaning to him that is all that matters. Before you ask, you were ignorant of its meaning, and for all you knew it was devoid of meaning. It very well could have meant as much as KODAK does. Kodak meant George Eastman liked the letter K thats it. It sounded good to him. DGM7 sounds catchy and unusual. It is not the the same as every other photography concern. I would most likely be less inclined to forget it as quickly as others and that is important when it comes to advertising and marketing.

JMTC and YMMV

I agree completely!

One thing that is also worth noting, when you think of some of the most successful brands in the world, like Virgin, Coca-Cola (coke), Apple, Forbes, Facebook, Adobe, Nikon, Cannon there are hundreds to choose from. But for the purpose of this example I will use these.
One thing that all of these brand names have in common, is that they have names with few syllables. vir-gin (2), coke (1), ap-ple (2), for-bes (2), face-book (2) , a-do-be (3), ni-kon (2), can-non (2). you get the point Most of the worlds most successful brands utilise worlds with few syllables. This makes them very easy to remember. The longest syllabic brand name here is Coca-cola with four, but even then they have a shortened version 'coke' of one syllable.
Now when you look at yours: D-G-M-7 Pho-tog-ra-phy thats 8 syallables! which becomes quite a mouthful to say! let alone remember.

So perhaps omitting the 'photography' part all together will already make it much easier to say and remember... however DMG7 doesn't exactly role off the tongue, but it is different so that may give you a slight edge. But i would definitely advise losing the 'photography' part, it has become to generic nowadays and often says 'I'm a start-up photographer, not quite sure what im doing' whereas DGM7 is unique, it is definitely worth keeping.

Also I've seen some people enquiring as to what the 7 stood for and telling you to omit it if it held no meaning to the company. The same thing happened to me when I was doing my final project for design in my matric year, I created a company called BnE which stood for nothing and the teachers told me that I must find something for it to stand for / mean or the moderators (we are externally moderated) will fail me. Turns out they loved my different approach it was a new dimension. This may not be true all the time, but I would reccomend you stick with the DMG7 it's original. And at times when you feel like explaining it to a client, do so. If not simply quote Geroge Eastman and say it sounded good to you!

Just my 0.02 cents worth

Thanks!!! I really appreciate your input!

 

[DGMPhotography]

Well I like a broad spectrum, so maybe I should even make two different cards; But anything from photo editing (which isn't exactly design) to logo/ad design, which, ahem, I may need to work on a little, but I've definitely been learning a lot in this and my other card thread so thanks guys!

So exactly how are you planning to sell a logo design service when you're still learning a lot about it, and your friend had to design your own logo?

I'm not going to answer your comment, besides saying that he did NOT design my logo. The current one is my design. Other than that, your comment does not adhere to my guidelines. Thanks anyways.

 

[DGMPhotography]

My very meager input would be to think about leaving out the words "telephone" and "email".
These days, the format of both are pretty universally recognised ... so leaving them out would give a slightly "cleaner" look.

Are you a graduated business major working for the government managing the east coast? If so, then ignore me, but if not, then I'm sorry, I'm going to take my friend's advice who is such a person, who told me to add those things in the first place.

 

[SCraig]

I'm not going to answer your comment, besides saying that he did NOT design my logo. The current one is my design. Other than that, your comment does not adhere to my guidelines. Thanks anyways.

Your guidelines?? Do you honestly think you can impose guidelines on who can and cannot respond to your post?

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

My very meager input would be to think about leaving out the words "telephone" and "email".
These days, the format of both are pretty universally recognised ... so leaving them out would give a slightly "cleaner" look.

Are you a graduated business major working for the government managing the east coast? If so, then ignore me, but if not, then I'm sorry, I'm going to take my friend's advice who is such a person, who told me to add those things in the first place.

DGM, he's offering solid advice to help clean up your card. I don't understand the snarkiness? No one wants to help someone who's rude or acts arrogant. I think you're comment is a result of some blunt comments (which hold some truth, which you should listen to), and now you're misdirecting your retaliation to someone trying to help you.

 

[cgipson1]

I'm not going to answer your comment, besides saying that he did NOT design my logo. The current one is my design. Other than that, your comment does not adhere to my guidelines. Thanks anyways.

Your guidelines?? Do you honestly think you can impose guidelines on who can and cannot respond to your post?

Massive Arrogance / Ego! This is based on the OP's first couple of posts Doesn't seem to walk the walk though... although I am sure he is trying! Not bashing.. just pointing a major incongruency, that has been very apparent in every thread he has opened!)

 

[starzgem]

My very meager input would be to think about leaving out the words "telephone" and "email".
These days, the format of both are pretty universally recognised ... so leaving them out would give a slightly "cleaner" look.

Are you a graduated business major working for the government managing the east coast? If so, then ignore me, but if not, then I'm sorry, I'm going to take my friend's advice who is such a person, who told me to add those things in the first place.

I'm a bit confused, is your friend a business major or a graphic design major? I am neither, but as a consumer, if I see a business card, I don't need to be told which is the phone number and which is the email. As someone said earlier follow the K.I.S.S rule.

 

[Jaemie]

...your comment does not adhere to my guidelines.

"Your" guidelines?

My very meager input would be to think about leaving out the words "telephone" and "email".
These days, the format of both are pretty universally recognised ... so leaving them out would give a slightly "cleaner" look.

Are you a graduated business major working for the government managing the east coast?

Huhhhh??? Whatchu putting in your hookah pipe, mister?

 

[SCraig]

Massive Arrogance / Ego!

Agreed. I'll stay out of the religious area, but the arrogance and ego are most assuredly there. I absolutely guarantee you one thing though: If he chooses to follow a career in photography he's going to have an uphill battle with that attitude. It's hard enough for the ones that are truly talented and are amenable to criticism.

Oh, and I posted this realizing that it will be ignored by the OP since it doesn't adhere to his guidelines, but that's OK since I think I'll add him to my ignore list anyway. There are enough people around this forum asking for honest help to waste time with people that are going to argue with every response.

 

[cgipson1]

Massive Arrogance / Ego!

Agreed. I'll stay out of the religious area, but the arrogance and ego are most assuredly there. I absolutely guarantee you one thing though: If he chooses to follow a career in photography he's going to have an uphill battle with that attitude. It's hard enough for the ones that are truly talented and are amenable to criticism.

Oh, and I posted this realizing that it will be ignored by the OP since it doesn't adhere to his guidelines, but that's OK since I think I'll add him to my ignore list anyway. There are enough people around this forum asking for honest help to waste time with people that are going to argue with every response.

I already did.. but I keep peeking out of curiosity! lol! Entertaining to say the least!

 

[KmH]

* No religious discussions or debates are allowed. Exceptions are only an objective explanation of a religious ceremony that may have been photographed during the course of a wedding shoot, or other photojournalistic event that may require some informative background.