New business cards

[Sonny]

About four months ago we launched our new website and redesigned blog for portraits (link is in my signature). I finally got around to creating our new business cards. Let me know what you think.




With a layer (named Scratches) using the brush tool.

Front


Back




Without a layer (named Scratches)

Front


Back

[acscarrow]

Both are great, but my vote is the one with the layer.

[Houston-X]

definately with "scratches"

[Debbi]

Originally Posted by acscarrow

Both are great, but my vote is the one with the layer.

Originally Posted by Houston-X

definately with "scratches"

Agreed.

[HeatherLou]

Scratch, Scratch!

[ggeen]

I agree, scratches gave the card some depth.

[hue-e]

I like the one with the texture in it, which has more depth than the second version. however, adding a very soft drop shadow to your logo will give it even more depth.

have you tried printing these out to see if you'll be able to read the tiny text around your logo?

lastly, I'm not entirely feeling the photo layout on the back. not sure what it is. but I might consider a more creative approach.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by hue-e

I like the one with the texture in it, which has more depth than the second version. however, adding a very soft drop shadow to your logo will give it even more depth.

have you tried printing these out to see if you'll be able to read the tiny text around your logo?

lastly, I'm not entirely feeling the photo layout on the back. not sure what it is. but I might consider a more creative approach.

I've tried adding a drop shadow but the effect is nullified because of the outside circle is black. Black on black doesn't work very well.

I haven't printed the card. As long as I send the design to a high quality printer I'm not too worried.

I kinda agree with you about the photo design on the back. At this point I've hit a stumbling block and couldn't create something that keeps with the look on the front. So I defaulted with the obligatory photos on the back.

[ka5txl]

I prefer the 1st one with the layers, as far as the pics on the back the seniors one strikes me more as maternity than seniors but I guess it's do to her pose

[hue-e]

Originally Posted by Sonny

I've tried adding a drop shadow but the effect is nullified because of the outside circle is black. Black on black doesn't work very well.

I haven't printed the card. As long as I send the design to a high quality printer I'm not too worried.

I kinda agree with you about the photo design on the back. At this point I've hit a stumbling block and couldn't create something that keeps with the look on the front. So I defaulted with the obligatory photos on the back.

you drop shadow doesn't have to be straight black. try adding a nice subtle one, at like 40%. you'd be suprised how a subtle difference can make a big change.

as for the photos in the back, why not try masking the photos in circles to carry the shape of your logo to the back of the card. maybe try arranging them in a straight line or offsetting them from one another and vary their sizes. it's ok to have part of them running off the edges too.

don't be fooled about printers, for the most part printing screens are pretty standard and you'd be surprised how fast you lose text quality when you get under 5pt type. If you have a means to print it out before sending it, I HIGHLY recommend it. it's part of the design proofing process.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by hue-e

you drop shadow doesn't have to be straight black. try adding a nice subtle one, at like 40%. you'd be suprised how a subtle difference can make a big change.

as for the photos in the back, why not try masking the photos in circles to carry the shape of your logo to the back of the card. maybe try arranging them in a straight line or offsetting them from one another and vary their sizes. it's ok to have part of them running off the edges too.

don't be fooled about printers, for the most part printing screens are pretty standard and you'd be surprised how fast you lose text quality when you get under 5pt type. If you have a means to print it out before sending it, I HIGHLY recommend it. it's part of the design proofing process.

- I'll try the ds at 40%.

- Masking circular photos is a great idea. I'll give it try. Simple yet effective.

- You have a good pt <---(photoshop character palette humor ). The circular font size is 3.33pt, font style set to bold, and tracking is 700. Unfortunately I don't have a way to print a sample before sending it off. I wish I did.


Thank you Patrick for all the ideas.

[hue-e]

no problemo.

unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that 3.33pt text is gonna get lost just because of the off-set printing pattern doesn't translate text well at that size. you might consider losing it off the logo and trying to convey that idea some other way.

as far as test prints, try kinkos or a friend with an inkjet. inkjet will probably work best because they more closely represent a dot pattern, similar to offset. laser (at kinkos) uses a different method for translating image to paper, which is cleaner by nature.

[bryanlindsey]

I definitely like the cleaner one, no scratches. Go figure.

Also, you might consider a better looking photo for "Family." The shorts and the kid looking off camera really make for a snapshotty photo IMHO.

FWIW :)

[Stifled_1]

With layer has an artistic flair. Without layer has a nice neat suit and tie feel. Which one do you feel represent your style better?