business card help

Um, contact information? :)

Seriously, how can anyone contact u without a phone and/or email address? I'm curious about the orange/yellow. Why this color?

I think it might help you to think of your photographic style (outdoor scenes, portraiture, or object focus?) and design to cater to that market. This card doesn't leave me with a specific message or feeling.

Check out http://www.logopond.com for logo ideas, and you'll get a sense of projecting a feeling/idea with your design. This is graphic communication; at least a small sample of it.

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Powerpoint is not a design application

contact info is on the back on the card in the attachment. I couldn't figure out how to get them in the same file. The orange color is sort of my signature, it always has been. What's a good font size for a business card? Thanks for the help!

Sorry, should have seen the 'back.jpg' image you attached (it errors out though so I can't see it).

Remember, a biz card is like a billboard: You have 3 seconds or less to get your message across. Not to mention that printing double sided biz cards is a bit more expensive than single sided. Keep that in mind.

I recommend two things:

1. Pick a stronger color. The one you have is too soft for a photojournalist (I assume you're on the go and very active shooting scenes at a moment's notice?) and because it's pastel it looks 'old'.

2. Think about your layout a bit more. It just looks like you put your color bar on the card without much thought. Did you measure where it is or is it arbitrary? Are you following the rule of thirds? That might be a good entendre, especially to other photogs in your industry...or maybe not. I tend to be cheesey that way. :)

In any event, I'd also recommend doing your designs in b/w first. Color tends to add to much to the equation before you have time to get your design together first.

Font size can cary, but I usually use between 9-12pt depending on the font.

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Powerpoint is not a design application

I'm a big fan of clean and simple design and you've got a great start. Here are some recommendations for improving what you have in my opinion.

On the front you have a sliver gap below your name that is distracting. Bleed your name off the bar into the white

On the back I don't think spelling out the address in this way communicates well. It appears you're trying to be creative but everything runs together and I've never seen St. Louis spelled that way before.

1026 Claytonia Terrace Saint Louis Missouri 63117

Try organizing your information a little differently. Make the front talk about your business and the back strictly contact information.

=================
[FRONT]
=================

sarahCONRAD
photography

[editorial • sports • corporate]

www.sarahconrad.com

=================
[BACK]
=================

Sarah Conrad, photojournalist

1026 Claytonia Terrace
St Louis, Missouri 63177
314.471.5943

sarah@sarahconrad.com

Personally, I'm not big on the font choice on the front (I can't view the back.jpg either)... looks very PC-standard, and like Nato mentioned, biz cards give a very quick first impression of you. Being a photographer, you don't necessarily have to have all kinds of photos on your card, but you do want the "Cool!" factor when you're handing the card to someone. Moreover, if you're going "simple", the font stands out even more. Check out www.dafont.com for something more exciting.

Good luck!

Dan

Thanks so much for everyone's comments! I had an epiphany last night that it might be cool to list some places I've been published on the back, sort of to use the card more as an advertisement. Good job natobasso for picking up on the rule of thirds thing! That's exactly what I was going for. I personally would categorize it as subtle, not cheesy. Now, graphics of cameras, that's cheesy!

I did, at one point, have a logo based on my initials sc, but too many people told me to lose it. In photojournalism, your byline is everything. So, your name is pretty much your logo.
I changed the orange a little bit to hopefully make a stronger impression.
The contact info is all in 8 pt. font. Is that too big? too small? My name is 15 and "photojournalist" is 10. The subcategories are 7 and everything on the back is 8 pt.
Any recommendations on font? I use avant garde in my name because the letters that comprise my name are all pretty round, plus I am a woman, so I try to emphasize the curvy thing. The rest is in incised lt. No reason why, I just like it.
The new attempt should be up at the top now. I figured out how to get both sides in one file (duh). What do you think? Am I getting closer?

You're trying to do too much. Like I said before, your card is like a billboard -- you have 3 seconds to leave your message. What's the most important message? You want callbacks! So make that info the most important.

8pt type is okay, but if you print 8pt orange your contact info will be lost. Make it a little bigger, 9 or 10pt.

After that, you might just put one line under your name saying "Photos published worldwide" and forgo the list. Your card is starting to look like an ad and a resume/CV. It's not a resume it should be a 'call me for more work' card, in my view.

If you have to do a 2 sided card, I'd say make the front all about just your name and 'photojournalist -- published worldwide'. Then put just your contact info (and website?) on the back. It will make for a much more engaging and interesting card.

If you specialize in feminine interest stories, your card color could work, but I think your profession a pastel color doesn't connote strong, spontaneous or go getter. Things that seem to typify a photojournalist.

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Powerpoint is not a design application

I can't see your JPEG, but judging from the image that appears here on the site, I'm wondering what the dimensions of your card are. Standard for US business cards is 2' x 3.5". Yours looks quite different from that. This can be irritating if people use those bizcard folders sized to manage standard cards, as a lot of PR people do.

If I were you, I would skip the second side and invest the money in letting your design bleed on the one side -- try doing an exaggerated newsprint-looking halftone of a face that could stand for any newsmaker, bleeding left and bottom. Strengthen your second color (the orange, the text especially, will not scan or copy well and looks wimpy/girly -- the kiss of death in the news business) and add your BASIC contact info.

Even though I recommend bleeding the design portion of the card (assuming you take my advice and add that), you still need to take Melange's advice about the margins for any text or boxes/lines. I give 3/16 to 1/4 inch on bizcards, using 8, 10, or sometimes 12-pt type, depending on the font.

What kind of stock have you selected? Are you print or electronic? Your choice of stock with that in mind can do a lot to enhance your message. If you're print-oriented, for example, you might choose a card stock that suggests newsprint. If you're an EJ photog, try matte coated white or even translucent.

Sarah, if you decide to go with something like what you're showing us here, I strongly advise you to speak with your printer. The very thin reversed type might fill in with ink and be illegible -- it's hard for me to tell, because we have no dimensions to help us figure out what point sizes you're using, but even in a large size, I'm sure that will be a problem.

Is the white area outside the boxes just artboard, or is that part of the card? Help!