First Video Post: My New Business Card Design
Recently, I had over 4000 My New Business Cards printed, and I had planned to write a post about it. Moreover, I had been toying with the idea of producing a video for this blog for a while now, so I whipped out my HandyCam and filmed this 5-minute video explaining the new business card design.
Okay, it’s my first attempt, so I set the recording resolution too low, it has some random boxes showing at the top of the frame, it was unrehearsed and for some strange reason, I kept saying “urrrr” every 10 seconds. However, I hope you get the gist of what I’m trying the explain.
I discuss the Equest® card I used, 10mm round-cornering, Pantone® spot colors and typography. Here goes:
Business Card Design from Andrew Kelsall on Vimeo.
As stated, comments and questions are welcomed…
Definitely a good choice to go without images. You’re right. It’ll keep you from wanting to change it sooner than you need to.
The 400gsm looks great too.
Are you 100% happy with how the rounded corners turned out? Maybe it’s just how they appear on video but is there a bit of an angle where they should be smooth?
*Heads off to tell everyone to use Andrew’s info@ address*
.-= David Airey´s last blog ..AIGA President Debbie Millman on spec work =-.
@David → I’m pretty happy with how the corners turned out, but there is a very slight point where the rounded cut-out area meets the straight edges. Some cards, however, are smoother than others.
I was busy block-paving my garden patio when I decided to make the video, so I picked up the nearest [used] card that I saw, and probably isn’t one of the better ones I received.
Did your rounded corners turn out 100% on your own card (the Plike one)? Not having round-cornering done before, I don’t have a tangible example to compare my own to.
I knew it was a mistake telling folks of my info@ address 😉 As always David, thanks for commenting…
Like yours, some of mine are better than others, so I usually carry a few that I’ve taken one of my fiancee’s nail files to, just to give them that professional finish (saddo, eh?).
.-= David Airey´s last blog ..AIGA President Debbie Millman on spec work =-.
@David → Come on now, are you sure the nail file belongs to your Fiancé? wink wink.
I think I’ll send out a tweet to see who else has had round cornering done. The case deepens…
How did you know, Andrew? I keep them with my varnish and false eyelashes.
Here’s something I learned since getting engaged: a fiancé refers to the male partner, whereas a fiancée (extra “e”) is in reference to the female partner.
.-= David Airey´s last blog ..AIGA President Debbie Millman on spec work =-.
what is this ” errr ” you constantly refer to? just kidding. The cards look great, that’s some serious stock they’re printed on.
I’ve had 1 set of cards printed with round corners with similar results, some we’re fine while others had the slight corners David mentioned.
i had my own cards cut to 90mm x 45mm with some slight faults too. The cards were even heights but the content was slightly higher on some cards like they’d been cut too low.
I had the printer redo them, the content is now consistently placed but still a fraction too high. I wondered if I was being too critical or if it was time to get a new printer. Seems it might just be the way of it with non standard 90×55 cuts?
.-= Andrew Keir´s last blog ..The machine that made us =-.
@David → When I posted my reply to you, FireFox underlined the fiancee word as a mistake, so I pasted it into Google and Fiancé came up, so I just pasted it in, D’oh! I wasn’t aware of the difference, but thanks for the info. I’m sure this will keep me from landing in hot water in the future 😉
@Andrew → Yeah, “eers”, “hmms” and slurrs. Needless to say, I think my next video will be an improvement. Been recorded did funny things to my mentality I think.
A 90×55 cut? That sounds unique. Do you have a link to the design on your site? I think that if we weren’t too critical, we’d never improve as designers. Designing for ourselves appears to be both the best and worst part of being a designer I reckon.
@Andrew → I found your card on your site ( http://www.andrewkeir.com/personal-business-card-design/ if anyone wants to take a look )
I can only imagine the amount of “ums” I’d have if i did a video post. It took me about 10 goes to do my answering machine message.
In regards to the question you left on my blog, having the cards cut to 90mm x 45mm was peanuts, $12 per thousand I think from memory.
.-= Andrew Keir´s last blog ..The machine that made us =-.
Don’t sweat it, you are doing a great job Andrew.
It is absolutely horrifying to hear yourself speak, all of a sudden you realize you sound like a complete git going “uh” and “ahem” every other word.
Lovely write-up… Err… Speak-up?
.-= Jonas´s last blog ..strandell: Mental vinballe =-.
Nice design Andrew, I have noticed problems like this with die-cut corners before. You’ll have to invest in a nail-file like David has.
.-= Danny | dannyhinde.com´s last blog ..25 beautiful blue websites =-.
@Andrew → $12 per thousand! Dear me, that’s cheap. Mine were £63 per thousand, but of coarse, was printed on premium stock and 3 Pantones®.
@Jonas → Yeah, I’ll learn from this one, and hopefully next time, I’ll use cue-cards or something…
@Danny → Hehe, I’m sure David has many spares in his wallet 😉
Thanks everyone for your comments, they’re appreciated…
$12.00 extra per thousand cards cut i mean to say Andrew, not for the cards themselves. 5 or 6 pounds I think that is for you.
@Andrew → That’s starting to make more sense, lol.
Another informative and inspiring post Andrew. Love the video, allows you to explain your design in greater detail, you’re braver than me – I see a future on QVC!
I’m in the process of creating a suite of promotional cards, similar to playing cards, and wondered where you got those printed? Do you know anyone who could produce a small box for them to be placed in?
Hope you can help. Keep up the good work.
@Dan → QVC? I think I’d be fired on the spot 😉
Regarding the playing cards, I’ve noticd that one of my print suppliers prints them here: RCS Printers, Playing Cards
They’re really expensive though, but there are the real deal, with a proper metallic core on 300gsm Solar Block Card…apparently.
I have some samples at home, and they do look good, but the minimum number of packs is 25, with a minimum cost of…gasp…£433+VAT. Hope this helps…
Thanks for your response Andrew. Cost is looking to be prohibitive so I think something along the lines of a pack of ‘business cards’ is the way forward! Watch this space!
@Dan → No worries. I think over £18 for a pack of cards is somewhat expensive for a designer. Now, designing them for a client, er Rich client, would be a rewarding job 🙂
speaking of unusual sizes what do you think of these business cards for your next set Andrew?
They remind me of Bruce Forsyth’s Play Your Cards Right!
http://estb.msn.com/i/CA/499964F2763E12D72DCB0ECF4F18.jpg
@Dan → Yeah, we’d all need a “Brucy Bonus” to afford those, lol
It’s always fun to hear the voices (and accents!) of people I know online. I’ve yet to record anything, but my “accent” is as plain and boring as anything, being from the west coast of the US.
That’s a great idea to make your website the boldest information at the bottom. Way to direct the viewer’s eye! And honestly, it was a little bit of a comfort to me to hear that this design took you a few rounds of revision. I don’t know why but I always tend to think that everyone but me is able to just come up with a great design right off the bat the first time. It looks great, Andrew, and you definitely have continuity between the card and this site, which is always good to see.
.-= LaurenMarie – Creative Curio´s last blog ..New Article and Portfolio Featured =-.
Cool card Andrew. I noticed the corners seemed slightly jagged also. I had only 2 opposite corners cut on my business card and they all turned out to be cut really smoothly. The printers outsourced the die cutting to some other company though, so I have no idea who they are.
@David, what else do you have in that handbag of yours ya big girl’s blouse!?
.-= Brian Yerkes´s last blog ..5 Things Clients Say and What They Really Mean =-.
I like your mark!
Re rounded corners: I used to have a round cornered card… there should be no visible break in the radius of the corner. You need to get on your printer (or find another one!) to do them smoothly. I’m in the US, so I can’t recommend anyone over there for you. I know plenty of people here who can do the job right for you.
Might have something to do with the die line. Did you create it yourself? Sometimes the in-house production people at printer’s are less detailed oriented (and sometimes they’re fabby, of course!) I would check that die and see if that’s where the problem is.
@Lauren → Well, funny you should mention accents, as I reckon mine is plain too! I’m from northern England, so I don’t have that “posh” London accent many Americans think all us English have.
The first design I had in mind was to use the cogs image to use in the background of the header, using Metallic ink in a Duotone image. However, I was dead-set against using coated stock, which would have made the ink “pop” as expected (coated stock would have given my cards an undesired ‘feel’).
Anyways, a few iterations later, I decided to let colour be the driving force behind the design, which I’m quite content with.
@Brian → After looking at some more of my cards, I think I chose the worst one possible to make a video with, lol. The others aren’t really jagged, but just a very slight “imperfect” curve. I’m mostly happy with it, but as all designers are, my perfectionism would want 100% accuracy.
@Rachel → No, I didn’t supply a die line, but selected a “round cornering add-on” service. This does beg the question in regards to whether there is a difference between an actual round-cornered die-cut, and a standard cut with round corners applied?
For example, mine were cut to size, then were put through a round-cornering machine at the printers. Maybe this method will always give a slight “jag” where the curve hits the plain side?
I wonder if some companies who supply an absolute perfect curve are using a business-card sized die-cuts instead? I’ll ask on Twitter, as now I’m curious. This is my Designer’s Moto:
It’s not a great saying, but it works for me 😉
Thanks all for your valuable input…
I was always a fan of ” The more you learn, the less you know “
@Andrew → Hehe, yeah, that too…
“No, I didn’t supply a die line, but selected a “round cornering add-on” service. ”
I suspect this is where your problem is. When I spec’d mine, I created the die and gave it them. They copied it exactly. Ask if you can supply your die, maybe? Anything ‘pre-fab’ in graphics/printing has tendency to be a bit buggy, in my experience.
Love your motto! You’ll go far with that… 😉
I really like the design. It is simple but strong.
You can never go wrong with typography. And I like how you utilized the front and the back. I also love the color combo. (Purple is my favorite color).
I hate it when people throw too much stuff on their business cards. So great job.
The video was great. So no worries.
@Monika → Yeah, I too am not a fan of really graphically-intense business card designs. Some people think that the more you put on there, the better it must be (for some reason). Thanks for your comment 🙂
Hi Andrew
I really like your cards and I like the video too. Nice to hear your voice!
.-= Jennifer Farley´s last blog ..Guinness – Great Drink, Great Advertising Design =-.
@Jennifer → Thanks 🙂