Business Card design!?! at DVinfo.net

Andrew Goodman · February 14th, 2007, 07:29 AM

Hi guys, I have done a few weddings now and have a good few booked for this year… all which has come from word of mouth which is brilliant but I defiantly need business cards to hand out and for advertising. I have been meaning to do it for ages but finding it hard to know put on it in terms of design?

I think I would have a nice clean black back with white text but what do u put on the front? Name ok but, what’s the picture of? Camera? Bride? Bride and groom? Me?!? Cool design? Any thoughts would be welcome!

Also I am getting them professional printed, nothing worse then tacky cards.

Mark Holland · February 14th, 2007, 07:46 AM

I haven't done it yet, but I like the advice I was given. "Create (or have a graphic artist create) a logo for your company. Put it on everything from your cards, to your equipment." The logo gives someone a mental image to go with you and they'll likely remember you better.

It sounded like good advice to me, let us know if you do it, and how it works out.

Good luck,

Mark

Steven Davis · February 14th, 2007, 09:00 AM

Wedding = Pretty, it's that simple. If you use a picture of a bride, make sure it's an action shot, and she's smiling, or something. Impression impression.

We actually have a company color, so you might want to think about that as well.

We use overnightprints.com for our cards. They work out well, if you use them, tell them I sent you, I think I get a free card or something. :}

Richard Wakefield · February 14th, 2007, 09:39 AM

hi andrew, which part of britain are you from? i recommend azimuthprint or printing.com or vistaprint (in that order)

make sure you design in CMYK and NOT RGB. or at least get a proof if ur unsure.

graphically, it's always best to keep a colour scheme/theme throughout ur logos/leaflets/business-cards/website, for obvious psychological reasons :)

i've got very striking, full-colour bleed stationary, which i'm really happy with...i'll email u an example if u like

(n.b. my business cards say 'contemporary film productions' instead of 'wedding films', simply for the reason that i'm branching out to do music videos, school plays etc and i didn't want to be limited to just wedding clients when handing them out. ....worth thinking about.)

Robert M Wright · February 14th, 2007, 09:53 AM

Brilliant white linen, for card stock, can look very nice.

Vince Lucena · February 14th, 2007, 10:12 AM

I created my business card trying not to image one facet of my services.
Being a Graphic/Web designer, and having done other business cards for other companies gave me a leg up in coming up with something that Visually represents my company.

I decided on 4-color front and back. It's normal for a person to immediately flip the card over to see if anything else is on the other side. I always get a "WoW" response when some one sees my card.
The front has my Logo, neutral image and basic contact stuff along with tag lines of services provided.
On the back I basically did an "About Us" type message with a smaller version of my logo on the bottom.

This design took me roughly 4-5 weeks to hash out. The Logo and message took the longest to create. But it would lead to easier web site creation from this point on.

I believe the 4-color full bleed job ran $90 for 1000 cards.

If you take a peek at my site, it resembles to a certain degree the look-n-feel of my card.

Good Luck creating yours...

Andrew Goodman · February 15th, 2007, 03:43 AM

great advice guys, just one point am still stuck on... would i use a picture of a bride ive filmed or get a stock image somewhere?

ive prefer stock image but where would i get one? i have filmed three wedding just and theyve all been ppl i know so thats why i would think about stay away from ones ive done

Steven Davis · February 15th, 2007, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Goodman

ive prefer stock image but where would i get one? i have filmed three wedding just and theyve all been ppl i know so thats why i would think about stay away from ones ive done

Why would it matter, you can use stock if you want, but I'm a purist on this point. All the images we use are from our work.

The first bride picture I ever used was from someone we knew. I don't think that should matter.

Giroud Francois · February 15th, 2007, 06:21 AM

be creative...
you can get cd shaped like business card with samples on it.
you can get cheap 32mb usb memory key with your company name/phone/mail.

Richard Wakefield · February 15th, 2007, 06:30 AM

If u insist on stock pics, then u can't go wrong with sxc.hu, otherwise use ur own pics or none at all.

Patrick Moreau · February 15th, 2007, 08:25 AM

We just redid ours last week aftermoving into our new studio. We went for something that we summarize our style in one photo (luckily we also do photo so we can use our own work). We wanted a simple font that was readable but also not too plain. I have attached our latest card.

We have a couple different versions of the card with different backs, some with simple text on a black back to another photo.

Patrick

Vince Lucena · February 15th, 2007, 09:09 AM

Nice Card.... Here's a draft of mine...
http://motionone.tv/images/small_320x200.gif

Dawn Brennan · February 19th, 2007, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

We use overnightprints.com for our cards. They work out well, if you use them, tell them I sent you, I think I get a free card or something. :}

I just wanted to say thanks for this post. I was in the process of redesigning and reordering some business cards and some other materials for a bridal show coming up and checked out overnightprints.com. They are very reasonably priced! I ordered everything from them for 1/2 of the price of my other company. I can't wait to get them!

(I tried to tell them you sent me, but they don't ask anywhere when ordering online!)

February 14th, 2007, 07:29 AM	#1
Andrew Goodman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Britain Posts: 30	Business Card design!?! Hi guys, I have done a few weddings now and have a good few booked for this year… all which has come from word of mouth which is brilliant but I defiantly need business cards to hand out and for advertising. I have been meaning to do it for ages but finding it hard to know put on it in terms of design? I think I would have a nice clean black back with white text but what do u put on the front? Name ok but, what’s the picture of? Camera? Bride? Bride and groom? Me?!? Cool design? Any thoughts would be welcome! Also I am getting them professional printed, nothing worse then tacky cards.

February 14th, 2007, 09:00 AM	#3
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Wedding = Pretty, it's that simple. If you use a picture of a bride, make sure it's an action shot, and she's smiling, or something. Impression impression. We actually have a company color, so you might want to think about that as well. We use overnightprints.com for our cards. They work out well, if you use them, tell them I sent you, I think I get a free card or something. :} __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

February 14th, 2007, 10:12 AM	#6
Vince Lucena Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Virginia Beach, Va Posts: 91	I created my business card trying not to image one facet of my services. Being a Graphic/Web designer, and having done other business cards for other companies gave me a leg up in coming up with something that Visually represents my company. I decided on 4-color front and back. It's normal for a person to immediately flip the card over to see if anything else is on the other side. I always get a "WoW" response when some one sees my card. The front has my Logo, neutral image and basic contact stuff along with tag lines of services provided. On the back I basically did an "About Us" type message with a smaller version of my logo on the bottom. This design took me roughly 4-5 weeks to hash out. The Logo and message took the longest to create. But it would lead to easier web site creation from this point on. I believe the 4-color full bleed job ran $90 for 1000 cards. If you take a peek at my site, it resembles to a certain degree the look-n-feel of my card. Good Luck creating yours... __________________ ......................... MotionOne Studios http://www.MotionOne.tv

February 15th, 2007, 08:25 AM	#11
Patrick Moreau Still Motion Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,186	We just redid ours last week aftermoving into our new studio. We went for something that we summarize our style in one photo (luckily we also do photo so we can use our own work). We wanted a simple font that was readable but also not too plain. I have attached our latest card. We have a couple different versions of the card with different backs, some with simple text on a black back to another photo. Patrick Attached Thumbnails

February 15th, 2007, 09:09 AM	#12
Vince Lucena Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Virginia Beach, Va Posts: 91	Nice Card.... Here's a draft of mine... http://motionone.tv/images/small_320x200.gif Attached Images __________________ ......................... MotionOne Studios http://www.MotionOne.tv

February 14th, 2007, 07:46 AM	#2
Mark Holland Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Central North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, & surrounding areas) Posts: 301	I haven't done it yet, but I like the advice I was given. "Create (or have a graphic artist create) a logo for your company. Put it on everything from your cards, to your equipment." The logo gives someone a mental image to go with you and they'll likely remember you better. It sounded like good advice to me, let us know if you do it, and how it works out. Good luck, Mark

February 14th, 2007, 09:39 AM	#4
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	hi andrew, which part of britain are you from? i recommend azimuthprint or printing.com or vistaprint (in that order) make sure you design in CMYK and NOT RGB. or at least get a proof if ur unsure. graphically, it's always best to keep a colour scheme/theme throughout ur logos/leaflets/business-cards/website, for obvious psychological reasons :) i've got very striking, full-colour bleed stationary, which i'm really happy with...i'll email u an example if u like (n.b. my business cards say 'contemporary film productions' instead of 'wedding films', simply for the reason that i'm branching out to do music videos, school plays etc and i didn't want to be limited to just wedding clients when handing them out. ....worth thinking about.)

February 14th, 2007, 09:53 AM	#5
Robert M Wright Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Minnesota (USA) Posts: 2,171	Brilliant white linen, for card stock, can look very nice.

February 15th, 2007, 03:43 AM	#7
Andrew Goodman Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Britain Posts: 30	great advice guys, just one point am still stuck on... would i use a picture of a bride ive filmed or get a stock image somewhere? ive prefer stock image but where would i get one? i have filmed three wedding just and theyve all been ppl i know so thats why i would think about stay away from ones ive done

February 15th, 2007, 06:21 AM	#9
Giroud Francois Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: switzerland Posts: 2,133	be creative... you can get cd shaped like business card with samples on it. you can get cheap 32mb usb memory key with your company name/phone/mail.

February 15th, 2007, 06:30 AM	#10
Richard Wakefield Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 680	If u insist on stock pics, then u can't go wrong with sxc.hu, otherwise use ur own pics or none at all.