New bizcard

Hi Mara-darling. :)

I'll be honest, I don't have so much experience with the different print/paper processes you're referring to, but want to humbly offer my opinion about the design itself.

I'm trying to put my finger on the root of my criticism, and I think it's that there's something... outdated... feeling about this. I generally love the green-blue palette, but in this case, the color gradients combined with the title font brings to mind like a retirement village or something - like it should say Warrenton Towers.

I like the structure/layout of the whole thing, though, and the idea of the 'ghost' letters (is there a technical term for creating that kind of effect with really large, relatively translucent letters?).

Liorah, you've nailed Warrenton! The essence of the place is that it's stuck in its own past and delighted by the prospect of not changing. Looks like I've caught the town virus ;-)

I should probably take this another way, touching on, but not so close to, Stephanie's design for my website, and go to my preferred high-quality rag-content type of paper.

Frutiger used to be my go-to sans serif typeface, but I really actively dislike it now. That's what's on my website, though. I'd like to change to Verlag or something. Your comment gives me the nudge I needed to talk to the woman who's upgrading my site and see if she can do that for me without too much hassle.

Thanks! Should be interesting to read what others say.

Sorry Mara - I would say the same thing. Looks a little dated to me. The recessed look on the dark green bar is also breaking everything up in an uncomfortable manner for me. The good news is you're way ahead of me on this project - I haven't had a business card in 15 years. Think the last one was so horrid it left emotional scars that are still healing. It's always hard to work for yourself.

It feels like a brochure header to a pharmaceutical company. It's well done but it feels dated and off-target here :)

And the winner is...

Back to the drawing board! Thanks, gang. I knew I could count on you :)

you know, sometimes i think we designers try way too hard to "design" our cards and make them "designy."

if you have a great logo, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to have really clean, simple, and elegant typography with the logo and put the time/effort/$$ into having it letterpressed onto some kickass paper.

this may be even more especially true in a market like yours, mara. small town, lots of money... sometimes classy just outsells flashy.