Business card and logo for CC

[minnum]

Hi guys,
I'm trying to think of a business name and logo and have put together this first draft of a business card just to get some ideas going...

Do you think it works??... do the words "Be unique, Be beautiful...etc" work well and link in well with the idea of Minna B and the bee in the logo?? Don't want it to be cheesy or tacky!

Would love your thoughts,
THANKS

[ricktas]

I think the B in your name, and reflected in the Be Unique etc works well. I dont think you need the BEE at all.

[jev]

I'm sorry to say, but in my book you made a mistake in the design. When I looked at the card I immediately thought: "Hmm... contemporary? Looks like it was designed in the fifties!". The fonts used remind me of a couple of old books on lettering I acquired by inheritance. The bee just reinforces that idea.

[minnum]

Thanks so much for your input guys.

Jev, I really appreciate your honesty. Back to the drawing board I guess... you make a good point. I have a friend who is a graphic designer I'm hoping she'll help me, I just want to get a rough idea together first to show her. Will have a rethink.

Thanks again :-)

[ricktas]

Minna, go to www.clickbusinesscards.com.au and have a look at the template photographer ones on there, it might give you some ideas you havent thought of yet.

[NQ_Dee]

Minna, as I have done the business cards for our concreting business and some basic ones also to hand out for photography at events, I thought I would share my experience. Firstly, repetition is key. You have clearly put alot of work into your website and it is simple and beautiful. Try to follow this on in your business cards and stick with the same colour schemes and fonts. By keeping to the same "theme", your brand will be easily recognised whether people see your website, business card, signature on an image or letterhead. Just my 2c

[minnum]

Thanks so much for that advice NQDee, I will def. keep it in mind, - the colours on my website are easily changed. The front page of my website I keep changing too because I haven't quite created something that is "ME" yet. I def. agree that when I find my 'look' I need to be consistent with it and apply it to my blog, website etc etc. I've been thinking about the whole contemporary thing too... I think I'm going to take that out and not mention anything about contemporary photography. I think my style is more timeless and clean... I don't use colour-pop actions or other actions to create a modern look, I like clean, simple processing. And when trying to design a logo I keep getting drawn to swirley, pretty, girly type things so that must say a lot about my style too, right?
I might be wasting my time as my friend might create something fabulous from scratch for me, but I guess I need to tell her roughly what I want, and this is def. getting me thinking. Here's another logo design... CC welcome... please be as harsh and honest as you like, I want to end up with something I can be proud of and these are just drafts to brainstorm...

[minnum]

Rick thanks for the link.... good prices! I will keep them in mind.... Had a look for ideas too. Thanks

[NQ_Dee]

As I said, your website is really well done and I think they white, grey and blue scheme works really well with with your crisp and clean style of photography. Remember, these are your cards and you can be as creative as you want. Just make it easily transferable to other forms as I said before. I thought I would share my card and CD label design to shown you what I mean by being transferable. (BTW, this is just the initial design for printing at home ..... when I get them printed professionally I will tidy these up a bit).

[Kym]

Probably a business manager thing, but the simpler the better. (This is the non-creative part of me speaking as well. )

I have many 100's of business cards in my card index and the ones I like the most have very little graphics, name at the top and good contrast larger font to easily read phone numbers and emails.

Its about function! Some cards are printed on special plastics and have sexy graphics - yes they standout - but are next to useless because they are hard to read.

I don't care about how it looks; a business card is about information. While NQ_Dee's card is stylish, the font makes it difficult to read and I feel swamped in the graphics.

One of the best cards is my old IBM card (where I used to work) black text on white card with a small IBM blue logo at the top right. Totally elegant and clear to read.

Another thing is orientation. Some do a portrait style - this sux big time as you cant read anything while its in the card index. Use the classic landscape.

Also: Stick to standard size! Nothing worse than a card I cant fit into a standard holder.

Edit: According to the above your first card is better. Maybe simplify the logo.

[dh52726]

card #1 first think i thought of was a funeral card (really it was) the letters used are what i'd expect from a business like that, sorry. I like the bit in blue though.

#2 better, but not professional looking.

(you did say be harsh and honest )

NQ Dee's cards, i like, but the writing (apart from the name) is hard to read at a glance. And i'd invest in a non bigpond email.

I come from a business background so art work on cards is nice but the writing has to be easily readable.

But as it is also a advertisement of your profession, finance is pretty boring so we can get away with single logo, title name and number all in the same font its expected and appriciated!

[minnum]

Thanks so much guys. I spoke to my friend (the graphic designer) this morning and she's more than happy to come up with a logo design for me in return for some photos of her son... pheeeeew, I can stop wasting time on something I'm not good at now :-)

NqDee, I love the colours and the graphics on your card and I really like the font used for your name. It looks awesome :-) However, like Kym said I think your contact details should be easy to read. I would use a different font (also for the line "photography for all your sporting events" That font just doesn't look as professional as the rest of the card. If it wasn't for that I think your card is perfect :-)

[Kym]

http://www.godaddy.com/ for low cost domain names - .com about AUS$15.00 / year.
These have email redirects to your ISP email if you want.

[ABC]

Just another thought to add to the mix...
I liked the first of the two though the colour of the 'B' made it get a bit lost I thought. One thing which stuck in my mind is that if you went down the route with the curly 'M' and 'B' you could reinforce the 'B' in your tag lines.
Change the tags to 'B unique' 'B beautiful etc and reuse the colourful and curly B

[minnum]

Thanks for your suggestion. I am going to let my graphic designer friend work on it from scratch and see what ideas she comes up with, I'm sure she'll do a fab job and I can quit producing "funeral-looking-cards" lol he he lol :-) I see what you guys are saying, it no longer looks as great to me as it did at first.... ;-)

[mcdesign]

Minna, you have a great image on your blog..the family at play, this would make a great card with very simple type at the top, 'Sans serif', your details (kept simple) could go in one line at the bottom, don't forget you can always have extra details printed on the back, this is what I did for my freelance practice. Get your friend to have a look at it. Margaret

[jev]

Probably a business manager thing, but the simpler the better. (This is the non-creative part of me speaking as well. )

I have many 100's of business cards in my card index and the ones I like the most have very little graphics, name at the top and good contrast larger font to easily read phone numbers and emails.

In the role of business manager I would agree, you would probably be right. Searching effectively in a 100+ card role requires a simple, clean design to be effective. But... Mina does targets private families, not big coorporate business. In that case, a card that fits her style and features a little more personal touch is much better IMHO.

[NQ_Dee]

NqDee, I love the colours and the graphics on your card and I really like the font used for your name. It looks awesome :-) However, like Kym said I think your contact details should be easy to read. I would use a different font (also for the line "photography for all your sporting events" That font just doesn't look as professional as the rest of the card. If it wasn't for that I think your card is perfect :-)

Glad to hear you've handed over the design (and potential headache) to someone "in the know" As someone else mentioned, incorporating the big curly decoartive B into your little catchlines along the bottom is a great idea.

As for my card, as I said I knocked that one up a while ago to print off at home for some to hand out if needed. I'll hopefully be getting some printed up soon though so when I've edited those (definately including the text!) I'll probably do the same and post them up for an opinion

Hope the cards turn out well Minna and you'll have to give us a squizz at the final product...

[minnum]

Thanks for your comments guys.
NqDee, sure will share when I get the design, I will probably be too excited not to :-) :-)

[wideangle]

As you are wanting to promote and sell your photography I would also think about adding in an image on the card, even as a feather in the backdrop can work well.