Katie Kat Creations
TylerR_NKY (239 points) | Thu, 2009-04-16 20:54This is a card for my fiance's handmade jewelry operation. Obviously she put a lot of input in it, but I always like to have a 3rd party opinion before deciding on anything. The "Scrabble" font used for 'Unique Handmade Jewelry' was used because she makes jewelry out of old scrabble pieces.
Oh, and feel free to check out her site(I'm overhauling the design for that next) and buy stuff :D
'I am a patient boy, I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait'
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I don't like the design of this business card at all but I love the concept of the jewelry. I'll have to check it out later.
On the BC:
Q is not legible
Why aren't the squares connected to the necklace?
Get rid of the gradient on the necklace beads
I'd maybe get rid of the illustration of the necklaces.. or redo them.
You don't need to put "available online...", "email.." etc.. those are already implied. Just put http:// infront of the websites if you think they are needed. Also, consider getting an actual domain name from godaddy for $10 a year and then having it link to those websites rather than having a long web url. This way, you don't have to pay for hosting fees, just registration. Make it something easy that people can remember and just put that one on the card.
I think you need to go back to the drawing board in black and white
Also, consider redesigning the logo first and only then do the bc after it's "final"
The squares are connected to the necklace, it shows up better on the printed version.
If I got rid of the gradient on the beads, wouldn't they just look flat?
I agree about the domain.
Why redesign the logo? It was the final of about 20 versions and we are both happy with it.
'I am a patient boy, I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait'
Gradients just don't match the rest of the design.
The logo... meh, I just don't like it. Not sure what it is about it. Sorry. :( I just thought you threw it together for the purpose of this BC.
It's 3D art in Illustrator, but I will make a non-necklace version and try a different concept. The whole thing is most of her stuff is made with ball chain necklaces, I really didn't want to just put flat gray circles on there. The "Q" is pretty funky, I'm just going to redo the scrabble pieces without the corny grunge effects from the free font.
We all have our likes and dislikes of logos. This one just had some personal touches(the Katie Kat is her signature, and I used a picture of our cat with a live trace) so we're gonna stick with it.
Thanks for the input.
'I am a patient boy, I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait'
I don't like this at all. I think the colors are weak and not reflective of the products that your wife creates. Her products are artistic and elegant,(yes, I checked out the website, and it was very impressive!) and this design is bland and JoAnn Fabric/ugly crafty. On the website, it shows that she uses the scrabble pieces as a canvas to create a variety of designs, yet that is not reflected in the BC. Also how big is this card? I think that the scrabble looking words would get lost on a regular sized business card. How about you just enlarge 2 scrabble pieces, one showing the actual scrabble piece and then the other with one of her designs on it. Perhaps they could be set at an angle, near a corner. It may be a simple way of relaying the before/after process of her handmade jewelery.
I think you can pick some better fonts then you have now, maybe something with a soft serif. "Kate Smith" is kerned out too much, in my opinion, I would bring the letter closer together and make the font bigger.
Anyway, starting over would probably be your best bet, this current design isn't reinforcing the design your wife does. Hope to see your next revisions!
Also: I wouldn't create a logo using LiveTrace. In my experience (which is not too much, but....you know, whatevs:-P) it's always been a quick ugly solution. A better way would be to just trace over the picture yourself in illustrator, that way theres more artistic discretion.
The thing about Live Trace isn't you are just supposed to hit it and your done. It saves a lot of the initial time for a tracing. It can be ugly if used wrong, just like anything.
Aside from that, I am seeing the blandness. This will be a good project to take more risks on. Getting started on some thumbs for the revision right now.
I am a patient boy, I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait'
'I am a patient boy, I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait'
Please delete
I am a patient boy, I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait'
'I am a patient boy, I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait'
i agree that it looks fairly dull and "flat" (which i think describes how i feel more accurately when i look at it).
and it really feels pretty random from a typographic perspective. not sure why you added all of the tracking to the text and it all just feels "plopped" on there and spread out like you were trying to fill space. don't be afraid of white space, it's your friend. too many people have a desire to fill up any empty space, like it's wasted, but it's pleasing to the eye in general and it helps guide you to what's important, if you use it right.
honestly, it just doesn't look very well thought out. more like you took the "cliche" ways out on every decision. it does look kind of "crafty," but not really in a good "crafty" kind of way.
The card does not seem to accurately reflect the Jewelry from what i've seen...
www.abovegraphicdesign.com
www.facebook.com/abovegraphicdesign
Try changing the orientation of your card; the tiles can then run larger...
In this case I think the gradation on the beads work; if anything, I'd deepen the shade...more metallic like.
As noted above, I'd work on font selections, kerning, sizing and placement of, for your fiancé's contact info.
"
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Way too many things going on here. I don't know what to look at or read first.
For the logo, how about a single tile with a double k on it with the Scrabble points doubled on it - a bit of a play on scrabble that aficionados will love.
Is this about "kats" or Scrabble - choose one.
I don't like it at all. It's too complicated. Try focusing on one idea and keep everything else as simple as possible.
The boss is wrong.
I would like to see this card without the childish "Katie Kat" signature across the cat's face. The cat's face and the other splashes of background color could make for a wonderfully artsy card, but that signature just screams amateur.
The Scrabble tiles have nothing to do with the sites you're advertising. I spent all my time at those sites looking for jewelry made of Scrabble tiles and not paying attention to the things she's really selling. FAIL!
Unlike some others here, I don't object to the gradients on the litte beads, but really, do they do that much for you that you're willing to spend extra for the high-end printing required to render them properly? I don't think so.
If I were thee, I would get rid of the handwritten Katie Kat and replace it with a typeface not over the cat's face, but in the center area of the card, which will be white space and fully available to you because you are also going to take out the strands of beads and Scrabble tiles. You could increase the size of the cat's face, with the extra size added down and to the left. I would not put any jewelry on the card at all. (Does Tiffany's?) The coolness of the card itself will drive traffic to the site.
Take out the lines "Available on etsy at:" and so on. Just list the URLs (without http:// and www. -- all you need are the domain names) and the email addy (without the "Email:". Close up the tracking. Consider making it right-justified. Kate Smith can be bold, but I think would look nicer in the same point size as the other text in that area.
Mara
I just had another idea... instead of making a swoop with the necklace, make a more fun shape out of the necklace. like a sideways S shape or something. Good luck! I still vote start over but that's a place to start. :)