Personal Business Card
Tadams (61 points) | Fri, 2007-12-28 18:02Long time lurker, first time poster. I must say this site has a lot of great critiques and suggestions.
This was my first pass at my personal business card. I've already got a couple hundred printed up and they look superb and have been a big hit. I'm thinking of having another go in the near future though so would love some suggestions as to what you think with the current design.
A little about me. I'm a designer/programmer dealing mainly with web, multimedia, and motion graphics. I try to stay far away from the print world as it just doesn't make my mouth water like the others :) I wanted a card that was different from the norm, and something that would stand out in a pile from other cards. I feel I achieved that here. Not to mention I have a nice way of handing them out which involves a 3-foot flame enveloping the card :)
Thanks in advance.
Edit: At the request of someone, I've gone ahead and added a flat version so it is easier to see clearer. I also blurred out my number as I just realized advertising it to the world on the internet wasn't the brightest idea.
Commenting on this Image is closed.
Your work is a breath of fresh air! Thanks for posting! I have one critique: What do you do? It's not clear on your card. (web design, print, or both).
Agreed!
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
Hi nato. The back side of the card clearly states what I do, although I admit, in this "presentational mockup" you can't really read it.
Across the bottom of the back of the card it says "web design - programming - multimedia - motion graphics"
A biz card is like a billboard, you've got 3 seconds before you pass it (in a card's case 'goes in the trash'). I'd put what you do on the front. :)
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
If you could, it would be great for us if you could post the card straight-on, so it's not presented at an angle, it's a little hard to read like this.
I'm liking the background of the card, the "charcoal" like colour, with some texture - it's nice. I'm not a huge fan of the font choices, they look somewhat awkward when paired together, more specifically the serif font with the contact information. The header font used for the name looks comic book-ish to me, like it's from SpiderMan. It kind of solidifies that in my mind with the metal treatment. I think that automatically puts interface and Flash design in my mind, but it might just be a personal reference.
Overall it's not a bad design, but it's too interface-y (I'm not sure that will make sense) and trendy for my tastes. I would rework the contact information font. Keep it up! :)
[EDIT] I just noticed, in the presentation you have here, the spacing with the logo and the information doesn't seem right. You have a lot of space on the logo/left side, but it doesn't seem like you have enough padding between the logo and the info or on the right side.
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Perfectly Lost Designs
Stephanie great critique thanks!
I've uploaded a flat version just for you :)
It's funny you mention interfacy, as one of my strong points is interface design and usability for web sites. Personally I like the "Metal" look and always have so I don't think that aspect is changing, although I do see what you are saying.
I also totally agree about the serif and non-serif fonts. I do think it looks a little off myself although I couldn't decide on one I liked so just stuck with it. (I had to design and get 100 of these printed in one day for a networking party!). Any suggestions for a font to better match?
In regards to your edit comment. You are right! I just checked, again probably due to the rush job, but there IS more space on the left of the logo than on the right hand side! No idea how I missed that, but you are SPOT ON.
These are exactly the kind of critiques I was hoping for. Thanks again!
No problem. :)
As far as font choice, I would go with something cleaner, with maybe just a hint of a "techy" feel, without going with a cheesy tech or alien font. Something that looks like it could come from the same setting as your logo. For example, the top font selection here.
Also, it seems a little unnecessary to include "http://" and "E:" and "M:" since it's very minimal information that is self explanatory.
Hope that helps.
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Perfectly Lost Designs
Thanks Stephanie.
Personally I hate that font, but I agree on your foundation. I didn't want to use the same exact font as I did for my name, but I agree something sans-serif and more square without being too techy is the right choice. I'll see what I can find.
Also I agree removing the E: and M: would be a good choice as you are right, it's pretty self explanatory.
I checked out your portfolio by the way, and I am really impressed with your logo work; all very professional.
To each their own, it happened to be the first one I ran across having that feel. No worries. Thanks so much for your kind words. :)
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Perfectly Lost Designs
looks good.
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
Not bad for a web/media designer, and I don't mean that in a bad way. Other than some font issues that you are working out with stephanie, I think it looks cool. Definitely hits your target market. Good job.
Thanks Bennett. I'll be the first to admit that I hate print work and logo designs, and was quite proud of getting together a business card that I actually liked. Thanks again.
What DO you mean by this, eh? :) This from an ex print designer and current web designer...
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
Almost.
Ha! Thought you could escape, did you?!?
The logo is fabulous. I want it on my truck. I want it as hair ornaments. I want it on top of my next sleek Italian fountain pen. Marry me!
Ah, but then we come to the fonts. The fonts. Todd, I had such high hopes for us, and then you went all seriffy on me. But Stephanie has already said all that and I agree with her (what else is new, huh?) so I'll only add two fontish comments. First, I think it would be nice to open up the kerning on Adams, especially (but not only) because the bevel effect requires both light and shadow to have some raison d'être (can we speak French here, since we're such good friends and all?), and with the letters all bunched up like that, ain't no light getting in. Seconde, (French again, impressed?), I can't tell if you have the beveled effect on the classes of service words on the flip side. At such a small point size, I'm thinking that might not work, yet leaving the letters flat could be seen as introducing another typeface, which I think weakens your otherwise strong (bold, manly, etc.) presentation. This would be less of a problem if you caved in and changed your serifs to something along the lines of what Stephanie recommended.
The flame! I want to see the flame.
Overall, this card is a knockout -- a comment NOT inspired by the H&S post, I assure you.
Question: what did you print this on? It would be awesome on translucent stock. Or would it? Let me think about that. Do tell in any case.
M
Mara
Wow Mara thanks for the comments!
Yes yes the fonts, I know! I was never happy with it and kept going back and forth on whether to change it, but because of the time frame I just said screw it and proceeded.
I definitely agree about the kerning on Todd and Adams. The more I look at it, the more I notice how it scrumbles (is that a word?) together near the end. I made the text in a 3d program so I think I'm going to do 2 things, adjust the kerning more, and also change the FOV on the camera that rendered it. I think both will help.
In regards to the classes of service. They are flat, and do not have the 3d look. My thinking was I simply wanted the T logo and also my name to be 3d and stand out from the rest. Hence why the rest of the text I decided to stay flat.
I'm thinking I might go with a font similar to what I used for the classes for the contact info on the card, or if I can find a font I like that is similar for the contact info, change the services to the same font as well. I wanted my name to standout from the rest hence why that Font is also different.
And I should take a picture of the flame, as it is quite an experience. I swear with the reactions I get from the flame alone, I could have my name written in crayon on a white card and still have people hold on to it :)
As far as printing. For the initial run (considering design + printing was done in ohhh 7 hours?) I just printed them on Averay matte, non perforated paper on my high-res photo printer. They came out looking great although I had to tweak the brightness/contrast a bit at first to get the details to show up.
When I finalize the design I plan on getting them professionally printed through a company my one client has used in the past who has always delivered exceptional quality.
Okay, now I REALLY want to see the flame! You're such a tease.
I'm glad the classes of service are flat, but I wouldn't use that some font for your contact info. I'd go with a simple sans serif font that offers the same shapes and angles, but without the bulk. Futura comes close. Oh BTW, you might want to consider altering the "T" in TODD so that it nests nicely with the "O" because right now, there's some tension there.
This card deserves a good print job. Talk to the printer at length about how your design will come up on different stock choices, and ask if you can do a press check when they run the thing. It'll help ensure a better result, and you might pick up some useful tips.
Not mouth-watering tips, maybe, but....
Mara
I was going to mention Futura as well, as a font substitution for the contact info.
Love the design work, though, and it'll look all the better after some of the minor tweaks you'll be doing.
also, since you're going to be doing short runs of the cards, if you want to use an interesting paper, you can probably get away with ordering samples. if you get 10 12x19 sheets, you could get 25 cards/sheet (full bleed) and a total of 250 cards (or 500 of you could wangle 20 sheets).
if you have a good friend at a printer, you could have them order samples for you and get 10 press sheets, which would be 25x35, 28x40, or something like that, and have even more. just have to make sure you can run the sheet through whatever machine you're having them output on.
one of the hard things about short run and interesting paper is that you often have to buy minimum quantities (like 500 press sheets), making it very expensive. but if it's really small, like a business card, you sometimes can make do with samples.
I really like the look and feel of the business card, well done. I'm new to graphic design, and hoping maybe you can tell me what inspired you to create such a cool logo? Did you use Illustrator or Photoshop or both? Thanks!
Go chargers! He he.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust