New Business card design - thoughts please

[Analog6]

Please give me your thoughts on this.

for-forums.jpg

[Ms Monny]

It has a classic look. Maybe a thought to consider is to have the blue part on the front, and the description on the back, incorporating the blue either by a 1/2 inch strip on the side?

I like the lens with the landscape inside and the font is classic and easy to read. Your name isn't a plain-Jane name, so having that in the business name is good ("Photography by John" doesn't have the same ring to it...no offense to Johns! LOL).

[ricktas]

I would get rid of the http in the web addresses. it is superfluous with most people never typing that in. I don't even bother with the www when I type a web address these days, but standards seem to be to include it when writing a web address down

[Analog6]

Thanks, Rick & Monica. I wnted it to (a) be simple and (b) say 'photography' straight off.

Yes, Monica, the blue is the front and the mono the back.

Rick, I'll gladly drop them, it will make it less cluttered.

Now all I have to do is get the front PDF down to under 2Mb (it's 2.7) and I can send it off.

[Ms Monny]

Ah, thought it would be a bit small and cluttered if they were all on the front! LOL

[achee]

^ X2, there seems to be a lot of words there, for a business card, IMHO (I'm not a qualified designer!).

Also, the aspect ratio seems non-standard, to me, but I guess you know what you're doing there.

I see a bit of white showing on the far left. Add 2-3mm bleed to the design.

[I @ M]

#1 Straighten the horizon in the landscape image.
#2 Drop the hasselblad lens and replace it with something like Nikon or at a last ditch attempt, Canon that the buying public know. You are advertising to punters, not photographers.
#3 Get rid of the CAPITALS in places where they are grammatically incorrect, they look BAD.

Other than a bit of tuning I quite like the concept and layout.

[Longshots]

If you scale this down and print it out on your printer at the actual size of the business card I doubt very much if you could read it I'm afraid

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Yep I tried it - I assume that what you have is a double sided card. Well at card size most of the text is diffuclt to read - not impossible - but tricky.

[mikec]

If you scale this down and print it out on your printer at the actual size of the business card I doubt very much if you could read it I'm afraid

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Yep I tried it - I assume that what you have is a double sided card. Well at card size most of the text is diffuclt to read - not impossible - but tricky.

+1, I can tell by not even printing that the font will be too small for the back part of the card. If it was me, I'd dot point it a little more which would encourage them to either talk to you more, or have a look on your website where you would have a portfolio of images.

[Speedway]

Agree with William re the text I find it impossible to read at card size.
Cheers
Keith.

[Analog6]

Thank you all for your comments, they are much appreciated. I am printerless at the moment and I guess it showed.

Amended versions - 2 fronts and a back with reduced words and increased font size.

for-ap.jpg

Re the Hasselblad lens, I first used the camera, and an image of it, on my business cards and invoices back in the 1980s. I still shoot with the H2, and medium format Mamiya as well. I have Canon gear but am moving more and more to the medium format. So I'm using the gear I use for my image.

I straightened that dawn image with the grid in PS and it still looks off!

So, which front and is the back OK now?

Thanks again

[achee]

Also, the aspect ratio seems non-standard, to me, but I guess you know what you're doing there.

Oh, I finally get it, that was a front AND back

I reckon the "O" and "dille" on the front are a bit mis-aligned.

[Warbler]

Try http://www.clickbusinesscards.com Much easier and you can put your own logo into their on-line card designer. Good quality and great service.

[Analog6]

Try http://www.clickbusinesscards.com Much easier and you can put your own logo into their on-line card designer. Good quality and great service.

I particularly didn't want an in card designer, I wanted something individual. That is the company I am going to use for the cards, and this fits their template (DESIGN 288 under Option 2) for your own design. Thanks for the suggestion though.

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Oh, I finally get it, that was a front AND back

I reckon the "O" and "dille" on the front are a bit mis-aligned.

I thought that too but it is typed as one piece of text in Photoshop, so it has lined it up. I've tried other fonts but this is the one I really like and have been using for a couple of years now as a 'signature', so I don't want to change it.

[Speedway]

Much better Odille, just increase the font size for the web and email addresses on the front as these are still a little hard to read at card size, for my old eyes anyway.
Cheers
Keith.

[Erin]

The kerning and leading/tracking... it needs to be fixed. It hurtses my eyes.

Sorry, it's something I got picked on a lot about whilst I was doing my dip in graphic design. Now it's just one of the first things I see before anything else.

Fiddle with the spacing between the lettering on the front of the card to even it up... it'll flow better. Small things but big enough to notice. (Can PM you how to do this in Photoshop if you like.) Of course, just my 2c - feel free to ignore me if you like it the way it is.

[Analog6]

The kerning and leading/tracking... it needs to be fixed. It hurtses my eyes.

Sorry, it's something I got picked on a lot about whilst I was doing my dip in graphic design. Now it's just one of the first things I see before anything else.

Fiddle with the spacing between the lettering on the front of the card to even it up... it'll flow better. Small things but big enough to notice. (Can PM you how to do this in Photoshop if you like.) Of course, just my 2c - feel free to ignore me if you like it the way it is.

I know how to do it, Erin, I used to do ad work for a newspaper using PS and inDesign, but that is unaltered as the spacing comes for the font itself. I'll have another play.

[rnicetin]

Looks great. One question though - you've listed two phone numbers. Is the landline your home number? If so, will it be obvious (ie. will the kids answer that phone with giggles etc). If it's going to come across as unprofessional, may be better to just go with the mobile phone number.

[William W]

Amended versions - 2 fronts and a back with reduced words and increased font size. . .
So, which front and is the back OK now?

The back is way too cluttered for efficiency, IMO: I would have many fewer words printed on the back.

The Front, designates you are a Landscape Photographer who maybe can also do other things if requested. . . that's how I see the GP will view that Business Card.

Is that what you want?

WW

[Nazz]

I think your second version is pretty close to the mark. As has been pointed out, the people reading your card will generally not be photographers themselves, so the brand of your lenses is irrelevant, and I quite like the Hasselblad name ! It's something different, and for the people that will look at the card will probably not even be something they look twice at ! The wording on the back also is looking much better in version two. Also as a personal preference, I like the landscape image that you have added in version 2 the best, the one on the left

The one thing I have noticed, after someone mentioning your two phone numbers... is the home number there your actual number, or just written for the purpose of showing the card on here ? Wondering if your area code, being NSW actually is "07" or if that is a typo.