Business Cards

[lava]

Hey guys, I'm designing business cards for the little operation I'm starting.. I wanted to know if you guys knew of any cheap sites where you can upload the images for your card, and that will let you design the front and the back (with none of their advertisements in my card)

Also... which is the best antialias setting to use so that the text looks as sharp as it can in photoshop?
Raf

[ahmed]

http://www.vistaprint.com/? :)

[lava]

yeah... my coworker showed me that just now... but I've been trying to find what their policy in advertising is... cause I've seen a vistaprint card with their logo on the back, and it just sucked. I can't find any info on that.

[eyeinfinitude]

This site allows you to custom make business cards and upload your graphics.

IPrint.com

If you're designing your business card, I suggest using a program like Quark Express and if you don't have that then use Illustrator because these programs have better text management than Photoshop.

[ahmed]

Originally posted by lavaboy
cause I've seen a vistaprint card with their logo on the back, and it just sucked. I can't find any info on that.
if you use their payed service, there wont be any logo's or such of their own..

[Soul]

Why do you need a company to do it for you?

- Soul :s:

[UNFLUX]

yeah i print all my own, for all the people under me too. Easy and
cheap.

[lava]

I'm designing it... but then I'm going to take it to a printer. I'm not going to buy that business card paper... I've worked with that before, and I want something that looks professional.

[Soul]

Fair enough :)

- Soul :s:

[AnOraK]

maybe we should all do a Kirupa Cribs kinda thing with our cards...

[UNFLUX]

you've never seen my cards have you? I don't work in a realm of
unprofessional, just so you know. If it looked bad, I wouldn't
have suggested it.

My cards do look professional...I get complimented all the time, thx.

[reverendflash]

Raf:

If you buy <i>good</i> stock, the edge looks just like the ones from the printer. Plus, you can get Photo stock, print to the edge, and basically give everyone a beautiful photo should you want to. Personally, I designed mine in FW, then printed on photo stock, and printed a monochrome design on the back.

Believe me, I couldn't afford to have cheesey business cards. The last ones I had designed cost me $4k...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[AnOraK]

u talking 2 me unflux?

if u are then u r misunderstanding what i meant....

i think it would be good to see everybody elses cards, in the same manner as we let everybody see our other work...

[UNFLUX]

AnOraK, no i wasn't talking to you. I think what you said is a cool
idea actually. :)

Raf insinuated that my cards look bad and unprofessional, so I
needed to clear that up for myself.

My cards rule, and cost me way less than paying someone for
them. All clean edges, and great looking graphics. And the
personal satisfaction that I did them myself.

Rev - $4k?!?! :!:

[AnOraK]

no worries m8....

soz 4 my confusion...

[reverendflash]

The cards and a bi-fold brochure were done in 3 colors by a wonderful designer named Mya Kramer.

click here (http://aulman.com/mpc/) to get a feel for the look we created...

the printing alone was over $1500...

but they were supposed to compete with others, so I had to go big time.

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[UNFLUX]

no worries m8 -

man, I love that expression...use it all the time. :love: :beam:

[reverendflash]

so do I...

I always get "I'm not Australian." Of course there is usually a very loud band playing, and someone just stepped on me (I'm only about 5'7" and shrinking)...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[UNFLUX]

oh ok, cool.

u just wanted to show off a design of yours, huh? ;)

[reverendflash]

I was trying to compete with established caterers to expensive Yuppies in the early days of "The bubble." I was trying to carve out a niche, but couldn't last long enough to get word of mouth to get around (who hires a chef from the Yellow Pages?)...

So, I started with the logo, and she took off with the colors and basic design. I then made the website (one of my first attempts), which led to me going to design school...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[UNFLUX]

cool story rev. sounds like the beginnings of a great biography...

"Oh that Rev was such a character back in those days..."

Little do they know... :evil: :beam:

[RenaissanceGirl]

I use Illustrator for my cards... which I make at home, like Rev and Unflux. I don't buy those perforated business card papers. I just get a really good stock paper and use a paper trimmer. I like doing it this way because it's flexible (if I change my mind about the design next week, no problem) and I don't have to print a minimum amount (I just don't need 1000 business cards).

[UNFLUX]

good point RenG, cuz I don't either! I print a sheet or 2 here and
there as I need them, and that's 10 per sheet. No sense in
spending $40++ on custom printed cards and having 900 of them
just sitting there getting wasted.

Changing the design? or logo? or name? or address? or
phone#? Can't do it if you get them done @ 1000 count. Looks
really bad saying, "Oh sorry. Here, let me write my new # on
there for you." You want to be professional, you have to portray
yourself that way. And a lot of times, preperation is key. ;)

[reverendflash]

that is usually the difference between getting the gig, and almost getting the gig. There are a lot of "good designers" out there. And most of them are hungry.

Hey, maybe I should combine my last 2 businesses and cater to the designers (I know you guys eat like crap)...

:beam:

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[UNFLUX]

says who? ;)

[reverendflash]

in general...

in my opinion...

just curious, how many "fast food" meals have you had in the last month?

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[UNFLUX]

3...4 tops. why?

[AnOraK]

i got ours double printed....

we have see through bright orange "cromatico" envelopes and when you put in letterheaded paper, it has the eyes from the logo looking at you from the reverse of the paper when you turn it over to open the envelope...

they r expensive envelopes so they only go out once to clients, after that its normal white ones...

the business cards are folded; and same again when you open up the cards the eyes look at you from the inside when you open it...

only down side is that girls tend to think they r "cute"...

i wanted them to b "cool" ha ha...

[reverendflash]

that is just the tip of the iceburg, and you are an exception.

Most would say 10-20.

That stuff is sooooo bad for you in sooooo many ways...

but I won't preach...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[UNFLUX]

i have a family and I love to cook. So that's why...we love to eat!

AnOraK - I'd love to see this! any way you can show us? sounds
very clever.

[RenaissanceGirl]

Rev - I go about once a week tops.

[AnOraK]

give me 5 mins and i'll scan some stuff

[reverendflash]

Ren:

What do you do for lunch usually?

If you bring your own, congrats, that is tough to motivate.

If you go out, what do you normally order?

just comparing to the design houses I've worked in SF...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[UNFLUX]

sweet! i can't wait to see it.

RenG, same as me. Usually when my parents visit, we go out.
That's usually on Saturdays.

[UNFLUX]

I'm a BIG FAN of turkey & cheese for lunch.

[reverendflash]

I'm fortunate, I work at home...

So I can cook whatever I want, whenever I am hungry... or more like whenever my g/f gets hungry (she gets demanding when she gets hungry). Usually I have friends over at least twice a week, and cook for them (one of my few social outlets right now).

I can't stand sandwiches (my father would eat one for every meal if he could)... except for PB&J...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[RenaissanceGirl]

On few occasions, I will bring leftovers from dinner the night before. If not... all I have is coffee. So I guess my diet isn't very good either :D I probably drink about 8-10 cups of coffee a day.

[reverendflash]

ouch.... a wound up filipino designer... could be kinda fun to sit back and watch tho...

j/k

most of the designers I know eat terribly, can't hold onto a relationship, and spend way too much time at work.

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[RenaissanceGirl]

Rev: will you be my friend?

I love eating out though, but never at fast food places. I'm a sucker for fine dining.

How could you NOT love sandwiches?? I love tomato, fresh spinach, and mozzarella on sourdough with a dash of pepper. I fry the sucker and make it into a grilled cheese.

[UNFLUX]

Originally posted by reverendflash
I'm fortunate, I work at home...
me 2 - UNFLUX is my home. And soon will be my very own office
space right here as well.

If I worked somewhere else, I would undoubtedly eat more fast
food. I know that for sure...I'm not dedicated enough to make
my own lunch to bring all the time.

Although, I'm dedicated enough to make my wifey a lunch every
time she goes to work, so who knows. But that's only twice a
week.

[RenaissanceGirl]

Originally posted by reverendflash
...
most of the designers I know eat terribly, can't hold onto a relationship, and spend way too much time at work...

I'm none of that except for the eating terribly part http://www.geocities.com/renaissancegerl/renSmiley.txt

[UNFLUX]

that sounds sooooo good RenG. I think I may go make one now!

*runs to the kitchen*

darn it! no spinich or tomato. Well, I'm writing this recipe down
and getting all the ingredients next time I go to the store. I'm
drooling now, thx. :)

[reverendflash]

I used to go to a different new restaurant each month... I miss those days...

All I need to do is hook 1 big fish.... **looks around the apt. for suitable bait**

got burned out on sandwiches. I'm also not fond of pasta in general, however I love garlic and marinara sauce, so I put up with pasta for those types of things once in a while (not nearly enough for my g/f)...

funny, abzoid has none of these "dislikes" and we grew up together at the same time...

Revhttp://www.aulman.com/rev.gif

[AnOraK]

sorry bout the quality of the scans

this is the biz card which folds down the middle & the envelopes

they are a lot brighter in real life and they have that touchy feely thing going on.....

dont laugh (http://www.loafdesign.com/stationery/)

[RenaissanceGirl]

Originally posted by UNFLUX
that sounds sooooo good RenG. I think I may go make one now!

*runs to the kitchen*

darn it! no spinich or tomato. Well, I'm writing this recipe down
and getting all the ingredients next time I go to the store. I'm
drooling now, thx. :)

Go forth my friend. It's also really good with fresh basil instead of spinach.

[Marz]

I eat about once a week...

Campbell's Chunky Soup or my own creations come to play at the other times...

:) As for business cards... I haven't made any yet... Haven't gotten around to it.. :)

playamarz

[UNFLUX]

AnOraK, I think that looks great! Cool idea, indeed. =)

[prstudio]

why dont you just give the illustrator or psd file to the printer? i don't see the need for using a site to do it?

i designed one for a band like that, just inputted my dimensions and the printer took care of the rest of it...

"printer" = printshop

[UNFLUX]

well, the moral of this story is:

There's always 10000000 ways to do the same thing, when it
comes to a computer. ;)

[lava]

Originally posted by UNFLUX
AnOraK, no i wasn't talking to you. I think what you said is a cool
idea actually. :)

Raf insinuated that my cards look bad and unprofessional, so I
needed to clear that up for myself.

My cards rule, and cost me way less than paying someone for
them. All clean edges, and great looking graphics. And the
personal satisfaction that I did them myself.

Rev - $4k?!?! :!:

chill man... I'm saying that printing them MYSELF will look unprofessional. I don't have a particularly good printer, nor I'm planning to pay 50 bucks for a new color cartridge that's not going to make it to 250 double sided cards. As for changing the design, I'm making it as final once I get them printed. My contact info is not going to change, and I'm not planning on getting an office soon.. and I don't want to have to worry about making business cards every once in a while cause I'm running out.

Rev: you should post some of your recipes man... or at least tell me what to do with my chicken breasts... I'm getting tired of just sticking them on the george foreman grill.