-
I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...
designing new business cards
- Thread starter lil Details
- Start date
all_things_art
New Member
i might be shallow ,but i judge people by the decal on their car, the banner hanging on the building and the sign on their shop.... if someone handed me anyone of those bussiness cards(besides deatons) i would not take my bussiness there.i don't mean to sound harsh ,but shouldn't a sign or a card reflect our style and creative mind in this field? somestimes a card is a customers first glimpse at what you can do as a designer,
first impressions is everything,i say search the hell out of this site for designs that catch you eye and than ask yourself why they work ?
keep your design smiple and clean
first impressions is everything,i say search the hell out of this site for designs that catch you eye and than ask yourself why they work ?
keep your design smiple and clean
Pro Image
New Member
iSign
New Member
Thats a really nice layout there Steph....................
yeah, it is! Deaton's rocks of course... but this one starts with the light-on-dark that the op still wants...
I'd probably want to see those 3 copy blocks tightened up with half the space between them that we see now, moving the top two blocks down & seeing if we can live with all that space at the top. With the marble texture & lightening... maybe it will work!
Craig Sjoquist
New Member
black / white card ....is great way to express good bussiness, plain, simple, straight forward, conservative appeal... and that's how you should layout your card .. your 1st card had a good idea ... but thinks your better at a black and white image for your card
your old card was fine ... with updating a bit ... be great
your old card was fine ... with updating a bit ... be great
Deaton Design
New Member
Nice work Stephanie!
Ryker, try and get either Coreldraw or Illustrator to do layouts with. Although some of the sign programs like Flexi and Signlab, etc. are good for doing layouts, Corel and Illustrator are what most use for doing this type of thing. There's a learning curve on both, but they can be learned, and once you use them, you'll swear by them. And please remember, these signmakers arent being mean here, just honest. We are all trying to help you out and put you on the right track. Its all being said and done with the best intentions.
Ryker, try and get either Coreldraw or Illustrator to do layouts with. Although some of the sign programs like Flexi and Signlab, etc. are good for doing layouts, Corel and Illustrator are what most use for doing this type of thing. There's a learning curve on both, but they can be learned, and once you use them, you'll swear by them. And please remember, these signmakers arent being mean here, just honest. We are all trying to help you out and put you on the right track. Its all being said and done with the best intentions.
Jillbeans
New Member
It looks like you had a party in your pants with a bunch of oddball fonts and you all ended up doing the Macarena.
The second one looks pretty much the same except you decided to do the YMCA.
Not one of those fonts is serious, and outlining them and inappropriately shadowing them just looks sillier.
Please, for the love of God and all things sacred to us sign folks, do read the Mike Stevens book I told you about yesterday. And check out Dan Antonelli's logo design books. Or if you get real lucky on eBay, some of Cecil Ward's books or even the rare H.C.Martin books.
I am not going to go into the technical critique of the card as it has all been said already. You seem like a nice guy and eager to make signs. Get just as eager to learn how to make them the correct way, using good contast, a nice snappy layout, etc. What you design should look great in black and white even before you start adding effects and things.
Pat, it is an honor to be compared to John Deaton. I think we both like the same colors and alphabets, we are both big fans of Arthur Vanson, who is my biggest mentor.
I am still learning how to design after 24 years of signs and about 4 years on Corel now.
Love....Jill
PS
Pay special attention to Slapakiss (Steph) she started out knowing literally nothing about signs and look how far she has come in such a short time. By listening to good advice and practicing. Flame did this too.
The second one looks pretty much the same except you decided to do the YMCA.
Not one of those fonts is serious, and outlining them and inappropriately shadowing them just looks sillier.
Please, for the love of God and all things sacred to us sign folks, do read the Mike Stevens book I told you about yesterday. And check out Dan Antonelli's logo design books. Or if you get real lucky on eBay, some of Cecil Ward's books or even the rare H.C.Martin books.
I am not going to go into the technical critique of the card as it has all been said already. You seem like a nice guy and eager to make signs. Get just as eager to learn how to make them the correct way, using good contast, a nice snappy layout, etc. What you design should look great in black and white even before you start adding effects and things.
Pat, it is an honor to be compared to John Deaton. I think we both like the same colors and alphabets, we are both big fans of Arthur Vanson, who is my biggest mentor.
I am still learning how to design after 24 years of signs and about 4 years on Corel now.
Love....Jill
PS
Pay special attention to Slapakiss (Steph) she started out knowing literally nothing about signs and look how far she has come in such a short time. By listening to good advice and practicing. Flame did this too.
cgsigns_jamie
New Member
:ROFLMAO: That just made my morning.
Pat Whatley
New Member
That will be a panel on the wall by the end of the week! :ROFLMAO:
k.a.s.
New Member
First I want to comend you for taking some fairly harsh critique and not getting all defensive. A lot of people post things just to hear compliments then tell us we a arrogant when people rip the design. Listening to good advice will help you in the long run.
That said, even though your first layout was not good it could have been helped 100 times over by just changing the colors. Take what you first had and do several things, make the backround just black(no paper) then make the shape behind your name (if you like that) and make it blue with white letters. Now change all your secondary copy to one nice block font, make the letters white and add a slight blue shadow. Do this things and you will have improved your card and at the same time you designed it.
Kevin
That said, even though your first layout was not good it could have been helped 100 times over by just changing the colors. Take what you first had and do several things, make the backround just black(no paper) then make the shape behind your name (if you like that) and make it blue with white letters. Now change all your secondary copy to one nice block font, make the letters white and add a slight blue shadow. Do this things and you will have improved your card and at the same time you designed it.
Kevin
ericmitchell29
New Member
Deaton, what is that font on the card?
I like it.
The "lil" font.
Great job by the way.
Eric
I like it.
The "lil" font.
Great job by the way.
Eric
awesome layout!! super clean, easily read, and not overcrowded. +10 for you!
anotherdog
New Member
Graphic Design is a curious beast. While people would hire someone to work on the plumbing, to rewire the fuse box and even hire a band to play at a wedding. When it comes to the design and layout of signage or print, they happily belt out something in word using times or helvetica and ask for that to be the new look for the business that puts bread on their table.
I keep telling people that first impressions are the most important, Signs and Cards are the first impressions in most business, yet some of the designs are like chewing on foil.
I guess one of the reasons this forum is so open with its critique is because we hardly ever get to be completely honest with the customers who walk in the door with something their daughter created on the computer last night.
It's nice, but....
I keep telling people that first impressions are the most important, Signs and Cards are the first impressions in most business, yet some of the designs are like chewing on foil.
I guess one of the reasons this forum is so open with its critique is because we hardly ever get to be completely honest with the customers who walk in the door with something their daughter created on the computer last night.
It's nice, but....
Deaton Design
New Member
Jill, you missed by not being a comedian. Some of the things you come up with, lol.
That would be Tallington, from Letterhead Fonts.
iSign
New Member
...you mean I wasn't supposed to be honest with all those mothers who took their drawings & their quotes & never came back
iSign
New Member
by the way, it never gets old looking at other peoples work when it is great. I went back to see John Deaton's layout again after his font identification... and there are so many really nice little treatments in there to draw on, while it looks like so few elements at first glance... sure there is a fade, but not only is it subtle... the tie in with that white inline is subtle too... and yet so huge for adding pop. The typesetting of it's ragged baseline adds a lot & the tight kerning helps that thin black outline work great without being too much. Love that subtle medium blue shade... and seeing that color used at the bottom... hell that's 3 tricks right there I an go use to make any layout better... thanks John!
In my printing days I printed my own cards when most shops sent them out...I took heat for it, but often made payroll with folks coming in for their cards. Remember a few rules..
Contrast over colors...clean fonts, preferably no more than two (other than custom logos). Up to 1/4" free edge, preferably 3/16". Don't tray to dazzle, try to provide basic information. You will find in time that your work and your customers will be the best card you have. Don't overthink this one. Keep it clean, ditch the colored background. Your card will not sell for you. It's not art, but info...treat it as such. Sounds like you are fired up and ready...make some simple cards, go out, and get 'er done. One last thing...use white or light paper...the card that a customer will keep the longest is the one he or she writes secondary info on the back of...your card, if kept 1 sided, is also a scratch pad.
Contrast over colors...clean fonts, preferably no more than two (other than custom logos). Up to 1/4" free edge, preferably 3/16". Don't tray to dazzle, try to provide basic information. You will find in time that your work and your customers will be the best card you have. Don't overthink this one. Keep it clean, ditch the colored background. Your card will not sell for you. It's not art, but info...treat it as such. Sounds like you are fired up and ready...make some simple cards, go out, and get 'er done. One last thing...use white or light paper...the card that a customer will keep the longest is the one he or she writes secondary info on the back of...your card, if kept 1 sided, is also a scratch pad.
Last edited:
copythat
New Member
Huh!!!!!!!!
Are you sure that this is what you want us to see.
Try using the the kiss system and Keep It Simple S.....
Dont forget that this card represents you as the professional in your field. And looking at that sample leaves me wondering what to make of what you actually do. I create cards all day. And turn jobs down that look like the sample. I wouldn't want someone to ask who printed those cards! I tell clients that I will redesign them to help you sell your product. Guess I'm coming across rude but I rather you get the sell then scare them!
Are you sure that this is what you want us to see.
Try using the the kiss system and Keep It Simple S.....
Dont forget that this card represents you as the professional in your field. And looking at that sample leaves me wondering what to make of what you actually do. I create cards all day. And turn jobs down that look like the sample. I wouldn't want someone to ask who printed those cards! I tell clients that I will redesign them to help you sell your product. Guess I'm coming across rude but I rather you get the sell then scare them!
lil Details
New Member
zmatalucci
New Member
not trying to be a dic-, but it still looks like something designed in microsoft word.
It needs more depth.
It needs more depth.