designing new business cards

[anotherdog]

Whenever someone tries to turn a business card into a sales brochure I sell them into a postcard. Business cards are for contact information. Clear and to the point.
Listing everything just makes a mess...and sort of looks desperate.

 

[zmatalucci]

are you stuck on the font for lil details?
Also, try some reverse black panels---top & bottom to list your services. Tale "lil details"
off of the weird angle, change the font, and give it some depth.

 

[Sticker Dude]

Dude take it from someone that doesnt really have that much designing knowledge
Hire someone to do you business cards!!
Your business card is your 1st and 2nd impression, If your card looks cheap and cheezy so does your work and business!!

 

[briankb]

It is surely better than the previous versions but still pretty bad. Have you taken ANY of the other people's advice? People who actually know what they are doing? A few of them even gave you proof of this by providing example work which is excellent.

I know this is something I'm curious about and probably a few others.

Are you trying to learn how to design a better card so you can do other design in the future or just for this one task of creating a business card? Everyone has strengths and weekness and knowing those will get your further faster than not.

I have an "eye" for knowing a good design and even what's wrong with one but I can't actually produce any of it. Which is why I have a business partner who CAN. He on the other hand doesn't like or care about "numbers" or dealing with vendors or technical stuff, I do and I'm good at that so it all works.

If I were stubborn I would think that because I can recognize good or bad layouts/design that I can at some point in the future produce them as well. Maybe, but I doubt it. My point is this. Learn your limitations and find your strengths and work within those constraints. Anything else is wasting your time. And in this case if you take on clients for vinyl signs and try to do any type of design for them it will just not work out for you. If they don't recognize the problem. Other people surely will and say something to them.

Seriously go the library and get a few books on design or just go to google and do a search on how to design a business card. The program you use ins't the problem in this case. I can guarantee you that my design partner and the other people that have provided you excellent FREE design examples could use any of the various tools and make something out of thin air because they have a fundamental understanding of design. Take a class on graphic design at your local community college. You'll learn more than you can imagine in just one semester.

good luck.

 

[lil Details]

the "lil Details" is what I started with and plan to stick with....a friend drew me something and I found that font that matched what he drew so well it was crazy. I have used the same font for my name 10 years now....I do like it....

I liked Steph's card....overall. Love Deaton's card, but like I said it in not my "style"....

Honestly, in my tinting business I have very seldom used business cards. I have it set up to where I really have not had to deal with customers directly. I tint at other shops and they are the contact for the most part...so really wanting a card that I can be excited about and look good it new to me.

 

[lil Details]

I do intend to learn "design" and make a sign business go strong. I want to be able to say that "I did it" with all of it.

I am listening....I hope I am....I plan to get some books and if I can find time I will take some classes.

 

[zmatalucci]

perhaps you should sub out the design.
If you have a style your stuck on, but can't replicate it... You're out of your league.
Sub it out, and get exactly what you want, with a professionals touch.
It will pay for its self.

 

[briankb]

yea that's good advice from Zeth. It's NOT a sign of weakness to sub out something that someone else can do better than you. It shows you can make a good decision, one that makes you stronger in the end.

 

[slappy]

I do intend to learn "design" and make a sign business go strong. I want to be able to say that "I did it" with all of it.

I am listening....I hope I am....I plan to get some books and if I can find time I will take some classes.

You don't need to take classes on design. I didn't. I sucked when I started. I knew nothing. We bought a building to sell truck accessories out of and the guy that owned it had a plotter, 2 macs and some software and included it in the purchase of the building. I didn't know how to get the machine to even cut or how to use the transfer tape. I have no design background and didn't really even know how to use a computer other then what i did in high school.
Do what they say, it's only going to help. Invest in the Mike Stevens book, get [FONT=verdana,arial]Dan Antonelli[/FONT] Logo Design 1 & 2 and get a subscription to SignCraft. All can be found here. Signcraft will even give you a free issue to consider it. And if you pay attention, and after getting to know people here, you'll recognize their names in that catalog.
Linger on the board here, be nice, sincere and honest and take the constructive criticism when given and learn. Your off to a great start. If your serious about furthing yourself and getting paid, you gotta invest. Like I said, I started out with nothing. I was charging $50 to letter doors. Now I'm charging up to $350. I've invested into the books and then eventually some sign fonts. I recommend you do the same. Steve C has a wonderful collection to start you out and the packages are reasonable. That's where i started.
Someone asked me once what my goal for the week was. I said if I hit $200, i'm happy. He then told me to set a goal of trying to hit $500 a week. I'm now in the $1000 - $1500 per week range. And let me tell you, it feels damn good. Thanks George



Thanks all for the feedback on the business card. I really appreciate it. I'm still learning photoshop and found the color burn tool! That's how I got that car in the background. Thanks a bunch

 

[Pat Whatley]

the "lil Details" is what I started with and plan to stick with....a friend drew me something and I found that font that matched what he drew so well it was crazy. I have used the same font for my name 10 years now....I do like it....

I liked Steph's card....overall. Love Deaton's card, but like I said it in not my "style"....

Honestly, in my tinting business I have very seldom used business cards. I have it set up to where I really have not had to deal with customers directly. I tint at other shops and they are the contact for the most part...so really wanting a card that I can be excited about and look good it new to me.

Man, I understand you like what you've been using for 10 years but I've got to tell you it's going to kill any chance you had of doing a good design. Your "logo" lil Details thing is the worst thing on the card. You're already starting out with a bad focal point, you can't "decorate" around that and make a good card....especially if you insist on that half-assed done crumpled paper background.

You say the designs done for you weren't "your style". Honestly, you don't have a style. The four cards you've shown are horrible yet you refuse to listen to ANY of the advice you've been given. You don't have the skill set to even SEE that your designs are weak, at best, yet won't take the help.

And you want a card to be excited about? Something you can hand a customer or a friend and WOW them? What you've got won't do that.

Come on...embrace the guidance, I'm begging you.

 

[briankb]

I think we're being punked!

 

[SoCalN8V]

the "lil Details" is what I started with and plan to stick with..

We change our logo about every 4 years to keep it looking up-to-date. Major companies change their logos all the time. Take a look at at&t, Universal, Coca Cola, etc to see how their logos have changed over the years. Here's a link: http://blog.styleapple.com/styleapp...ies-Logo-Design-Changes-That-May-Surprise-You

Updating your logo will keep it fresh. Then, maybe your business card will look better too.

 

[iSign]

I think we're being punked!

every time another unbelievable scenario plays out far enough that I truly suspect this... it always ends up being for real... and this guy showed us his photo with his first banner, on another thread... so once again...
you just can't make this stuff up!

so, lil details... I've got a suggestion for you.
I've read everything you wrote. I complimented that photo of you because it really does remind me of my first sign & the love I've had for this career ever since. That was 20 years ago... I was already 30 & finally found my calling.

The evolutionary path I've been on in that time is extensive, & the internet wasn't a part of it (for me) for close to half that time... but I learned a lot, and have a lot to learn...


...my suggestion is to start a new company. There is no law against running 2 companies in one place, by one guy.

The name is not going to help you & the look is not going to help you either.
As a small start-up sign company, you are not really expected to do logo designs. You will need to learn layout skills & you can do that here, plus on your own time with books and mags like those suggested.

If you have a sense of pride, and ownership & "heritage" almost with your own 10 year career path... then fine... maintain the heritage lil details has as a window tint company. Window tint customers are not likely to judge your tinting skills by your lack of design skills...

...but, sign customers will! Even though you can grow your sign business with very little design demands beyond basic layouts... you can't expect to use poor design to help sell yourself as a visual communications specialist. People just won't trust you if they are not at least indifferent about your image. You don't need to dazzle them... but if you underwhelm them... you're making your task to succeed a lot more difficult.

Make a new name & a new logo. Let people help you, but immediately help yourself by redrawing over and over several times a day, based on advice you are given... don't take anyone's design offerings as you new image, take their advice as inspiration to keep trying to create your own new identity...


..start a whole new thread to get some business name ideas going... in fact the whole "separate business" idea has merits for another reason... this could become your only career if you succeed, and starting out with separate books can help you document your investments & document your growth... which can help you work with a bank to help them help you grow even more.


Don't stay stuck. You seem like you could be punking us because you have some serious flaws right in front of you... yet you remain calm, come off as innocent... but you also stay stuck. You are in a place, looking to go somewhere... and the fact is... YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE!... Believe us... DON'T STAY STUCK ON THAT PLAN.

Start over, listen up, follow the advice you get & you will be schooling some other clueless noob in a few years, telling them how you showed up here like them... knowing next to nothing about this trade except that you love it!

It ain't too good to be true... it's true for all of us... but we had to wake up and make sacrifices... Even though I've been doing this for 20 years & I've designed several $500 logos for each of the last 5 years... I paid a designer to help revise my own logo 2 years ago, & paid another designer to help create my website last year. Both those guys are on this website & in those magazines... & I plan to be in those magazines too...

There's no law that you have to do it all yourself. You are allowed to go out and sell signs tomorrow... AND you are allowed to do it with some killer logo that you didn't design, or that you got a lot of help designing!

It's not cheating... it's good business. That's why they call this the sign business! It's not all about signs, it's about business too!

 

[Jillbeans]

Good advice from Doug.
Think of a new name for the sign portion of the business such as "Big-Ass Signs", a division of lil Details. I am kidding! But something that plays on the lil part, being the opposite.

Like Pat says, the lil Details thing is really not doing you any favors. You are emotionally attached to it. But if I was a customer looking for a sign, I would look at that and move on. It looks like something someone selling stickers at the flea market would use, in all honesty. Keep it for the tint stuff. Nothing about it says "signs" to me.
While you're at it, get a website, even a GoDaddy one/domain name because it also looks cheesy having a yahoo email addy on a bizcard.

I am not going to post up a suggestion because I do not want to waste my time trying to psychic-ly "guess" your "style", whatever that may be. But this last offering looks like Comic Sans got caught in the bathroom at the pants party pleasuring Chili Pepper and had a heart attack, and this card is his funeral announcement.
(I know that's not as funny as my other post but I am having an off day, we all get them from time to time)

When I do a bizcard I make the front have the logo and not much else. I get that part full-color.
I keep the back in black and white and put all the other info on it.

I can tell that us suggesting you to think of a new name for the sign part will get you thinking all sign-like. But whatever you do, a warning in advance, Algerian is not a good font for anything.

 

[Biker Scout]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk

 

[Joe Diaz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk

:Big Laugh Yeah, I love that one!

 

[Biker Scout]

"Your Business Card is Crap... what does it say about you?"

I really want to use that line when a customer brings in crappy work. :ROFLMAO:

 

[Biker Scout]

Follow up video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE_iIudFcgI&feature=related

"Your Fonts Are Crap!" :ROFLMAO:

 

[Rodi]

I do not wish to be thread pirate here, but I have to jump in. Why OH WHY do you have to have 4/c process for a business card? I run into this far too often… especially with sign people. A card, is tiny format and you are laying out large format background and so much "stuff" that the pertinent information is lost. Your business card is a hello, quick reference… leave any extraneous items out.
You ought to have a strong vector logo that can be identified. 2 spot colors (PLEASE MAKE ONE OF THEM BLACK for the type!) in Illustrator/Corel. Use type as part of your solution. This may seem limiting, but it will make your identity stick through all different sorts of marketing and advertising. I know you can get 4 color cheap, but does it solve your problem? You want people to pick up your card, quickly identify you, and get on the horn to you, where you can sell them what you do best. You can have 4 color brochures that show examples of your fine work, then have posters of real specific stuff.

 

[jiarby]

Why OH WHY do you have to have 4/c process

b-cuz they are $15/1000