Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Business Cards Arrived Today...

A while back I decided it was time to break down, give in, and bite the bullet. It was time to make some business cards. I know they are something that I have needed for a long time, but being in a creative business, using a generic Vistaprint template just didn't seem like a smart move. So, this meant I would have to design my own. For a long time it seemed more practical to just punch myself in the face until I forgot about it rather than getting it done and over with. After all, I didn't get asked for my info in person that often, it was mostly through emails to people who were already considering me for a job anyway. Then I realized that maybe this was my problem. Perhaps adopting the 'preemptive strike' method and having cards to whip out in the middle of a conversation could be a good thing.

So, about two weeks ago, I finally designed and ordered my own cards. I decided to go with Vistaprint based solely on the fact that I was familiar with them and their prices seemed on the lower end of the spectrum. When it was all said and done, I ended up paying around $9.00 for 250 cards with front and back custom designs, which doesn't seem too bad to me. Here are the designs:

Front


Back

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, "Zack. You designed these two weeks ago and you're conceited enough to brag about them, but why wait so long." To which I reply, "Get off my back, OK!" But seriously, I wanted to wait until they arrived and I could do some quality checking on them first. That way I could pass along any helpful hints to avoid mistakes. Now, like I stated earlier, I went with Vistaprint because they were cheap, so I wasn't expecting amazing results. My main concern was that their upload process would lie about the amount of cut-off. Turns out what you see is what you get, so I am very happy about that. However, there were a few minor issues that disappointed me but didn't ruin my cards.

The first problem could be a matter of my own frugality, but on the matte finish that I chose, the colors are off. On the back design I chose to have it printed in black and white since the design had no color and it was cheaper, but what I got was about 75% black. In fact, it almost looks grey or gunmetal. For the front design, my blue came out a shade or two darker and almost all contrast from the texture I used was lost. It just looks like one shade of dark blue with one even darker area on th right. My last issue is really just the flimsy card stock, but for $9 I really don't feel like I can complain about that.

Overall, I like them. As I said, since there were no cut-off issues, all my fears from the last two weeks have been laid to rest. To anyone interested in using Vistaprint, I would just suggest making your designs a hair brighter than you intend them to be. This should help with the color and contrast issues. Also, sign up for their emails and wait for a good deal. DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE thinking it will take forever for a sale to come along. When I priced this design with no discount it was over $20. Less than 24 hours later I got an email with two discounts (one site-wide and one for business cards) and I've gotten more every two or three days since then. 

Thanks for reading, if you know of a better deal for business cards, have questions about using vistaprint, or just like my designs feel free to leave a comment below.
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2 comments:

  1. I really like the design! I'm thinking it might be time to make my own, so I appreciate hearing the pros and cons of your experience.

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  2. Thanks Lynn! I'm wondering if getting Glossy finish instead of Matte would have made the color issue better, but I'm not really seeing the logic behind it. I would think the color would be the same, just with a shiny surface on top of it. :/

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