[SOLVED] DELETE

[Appletax]

DELETE

 

[britechguy]

Your business cards should be direct extensions of your logo used for anything else, and it looks like that's what you've done.

I personally prefer one-sided business cards so that the back can be used for notes if someone so chooses, but it looks like your design is logo one side and contact information on the other. There's nothing wrong with that, It's just not my choice.

You should establish a consistent color scheme and background across the things like business cards, letterhead, etc. This really is not rocket science. Once you've settled on how you want your logo to appear you just extend that to everywhere it appears.

 

[Markverhyden]

I personally prefer one-sided business cards so that the back can be used for notes if someone so chooses,

I do as well. I've even put horizontal lines on the back trying that out as an "invitation" to take notes. Don't think they've really made much of a difference in the last 10 years with all the "smart" stuff everyone has.

 

[britechguy]

What do you think?

I say the following without a bit of anger or snark: You're really, really overthinking this.

The color is not going to be relevant to virtually anyone nor to carry much of any meaning to them to the extent that the graphics/logo do. Pick what you like best, that appeals to you most.

I don't know what you finally settled on as your logo, if you have yet, but I tend to either center that and put contact information below, or left justify it and put the contact information to the right. And I prefer to have the contact information on a relatively light background relative to the ink color(s) used for the text. It makes it easier to read.

 

[Markverhyden]

Out of all the business cards I posted, which do you like the best? Perhaps I will go with 1 side.

I am partial to the color green because it's more techy - color of most circuit boards. What do you think?

I like the first one, black and white. But I've got the artistic talents of a buffalo chip.

 

[Computer Bloke]

The color is not going to be relevant to virtually anyone

Strongly disagree!

Our corporate colours are basically pink and blue (actually magenta and cyan, making it possible to take spot-colour advertising slots at short notice back in the days when people read dead trees) and my wife and I whimsically had our cards printed to match.

People threw mine (blue) away but kept hers (pink) because they liked the colour. We solved that little problem by putting both colours on both sets of cards.

Real men aren't afraid of pink.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I'm not fond of black backgrounds on cards. I find them hard to read. 'Course I am old as f--- so that is probably why. LOL

I prefer the green one of the three. I would have white cards like I said and then a darker motherboard green if you are really trying to invoke that. That dark of a shade of green would not work on a black card and the current shade may not look as good on white, like a letterhead. Something to think about when picking the color.

 

[Diggs]

The color is not going to be relevant to virtually anyone nor to carry much of any meaning to them

Yes and no. The color doesn't really matter but people may not remember anything else about your business card they will remember the color especially when they go looking for it. (I remember it was a dark blue card.... hmm....)

 

[britechguy]

people may not remember anything else about your business card they will remember the color especially when they go looking for it.

I can't disagree with you there. But what I meant is provided you choose some color that is vivid, legible (for writing or a clear logo image), and inoffensive (for instance, I would never choose "bruise purple" or "mud brown") it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

I've even seen businesses that have their cards printed in multiple colorways whether using a black & white logo, or having the logo printed in one of those number of colorways.

I, too, do not prefer "dark theme" business cards and find them harder to read.

 

[E Bell]

I think they look great. There is enough information on both sides of the card to give the relevant information. You are a computer shop. My preference:

 

[Philippe]

Remember: "Everyone likes blue"

 

[sapphirescales]

Don't use your face on your business card unless you're a real estate agent. It's too cheesy. To be honest I'm not fond of any of these cards. Simpler is best, landscape orientation a must. I recommend getting plastic, waterproof cards. They look great and leave a nice impression. As a bonus, if someone accidentally leaves them in their pocket they won't get ruined in the wash!

Don't use a black background on print products. They look nice on screen but don't look good when printed. I can't show you my business card, but I just threw this together in about 5 minutes. It's very similar in layout/design to my own business card:

Sorry for how blurry/low quality the image is. I didn't really pay attention to image quality because this is just a mock-up. As you can see, it has a unified theme and is simple, straightforward, and to the point. It looks custom and not generic. The business cards you showed could be for pretty much any business.

 

[sapphirescales]

@Appletax The problem with that is most people don't even know what a circuit board looks like. I mean, hell, most people still don't even recognize the I/O logo. To most people that's just a generic abstract design. It's not clear that you're even a computer related company with that card.

EDIT: No offense, but it looks like some Fiverr designer is just pulling generic designs out of his a$$ until you accept something. Find another designer.

 

[britechguy]

@Appletax The problem with that is most people don't even know what a circuit board looks like. I mean, hell, most people still don't even recognize the I/O logo. To most people that's just a generic abstract design. It's not clear that you're even a computer related company with that card.

Since his logo reads, "Anthony's Computer Services" along with a stylized laptop (I think that's been kept) it shouldn't be difficult to figure out.

Visual appeal, any visual appeal, is important. It's a template and he's described what he intends to customize.

 

[sapphirescales]

stylized laptop

It's a little too stylized to the point of barely being recognizable as a laptop IMO. Though the name "Andy's Computer Services" should be a clue.

Still, there should be more to differentiate it than the name/logo, otherwise you might as well use one of those free online business card generators that just throw your logo onto a generic card design and call it a day. It's not professional and is akin to using the default Wordpress template for your website. I recommend against any design that shows esoteric computer stuff (i.e. capacitors, CPU's, bus lines, etc.) because it's just not recognizable to your average end user. That's like a gas station using the inside of one of their pumps as their logo. Nobody knows what the inside of those things look like unless they're in the business.

 

[sapphirescales]

@Appletax What did I just say about esoteric crap? Nobody knows what that is unless they're a computer guy. The end user sees the computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, etc. They don't see the bus lines on their motherboard or their RAM chips and have no idea what those things are or what they look like.

 

[britechguy]

It's not professional and is akin to using the default Wordpress template for your website.

I'm sorry, but your proposed design was about as "generic" and unprofessional as I can imagine.

You really have not an iota of design sense.

 

[sapphirescales]

Wish I had $600 to start a contest on 99Designs.

You don't need $600, just a bit of patience and time to find a good designer. I got my logo designed for $5 about 10 years ago and had it updated 5 years ago for another $15. I've always designed my business cards myself because once you've got a good logo the card itself is easy.

 

[britechguy]

Nobody knows what that is unless they're a computer guy.

BS. These symbols are used, constantly, in entertainment. Every "computer center" or those great "floating screens" you see on virtually every show that uses one has this sort of thing floating about somewhere.

You do not need to be a geek to have regular exposure to this symbology.

 

[sapphirescales]

I'm sorry, but your proposed design was about as "generic" and unprofessional as I can imagine.

Yeah, that's what 5 minutes and no real logo will do for a business card. It was just a mock-up, but it ticks all the boxes. Simple does not equal generic. If it had a decent logo then it would be much better but I can't design logos.