Based on all the great feedback on the intial business card designs, I’ve settled on these two final designs:
A
B
Back
Please post a comment with your preference - I see it as spacing (A - hard left edge) vs. readability (B - alignment of data).
Some of the feedback I received was instrumental in helping me make the initial decision. Here are some of the points that I thought were important.
- Cutting is inconsistent - if you put text in a full bleed box, it needs to be close enough to the internal edge that it is clearly aligned with the internal edge because the external edge distance will be variable. I didn’t want to bring my color bars up higher, so the text in the bottom bar was too close to being centered and in danger of looking wrong due to the cutting of the cards.
- The rub-off effect combined with the ability to jot notes easily on a white background convinced me to go with the grey on white background instead of the white on grey I had initially planned on.
- The “don’t make me think” approach is appropriate - include all important information on the front of the card.
There is one more design factor that I had in my mind that I didn’t mention in the previous post. The business card is part of the larger image created by the web site, letterhead, etc. and consistency is very important. I think these design is most consistent with the new web site design I’m working on:
UPDATE: Thanks for the great feedback. I placed the order for version B. Total cost was $48.27 for full color front/greyscale back with ground shipping. I’ll post some photos when they come in.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Scott Sanders adds this Comment:
B, not even a close race. Much more natural.
December 9th, 2004 at 3:32 pm
Ryan adds this Comment:
I think B looks a lot better. To me (I’m no graphic designer), B looks more professionally done. I could have come up with A, but not B. Maybe that’s why I like it better.
December 9th, 2004 at 3:40 pm
Michael Koziarski adds this Comment:
I vote B too.
Also, your logo itself is very nice. Was it designed by the King?
Or from an external agency?
December 9th, 2004 at 5:05 pm
Greg adds this Comment:
B for sure, as it keeps all the important information in a coulmn. Your brain just filters out the ‘Voice, E-mail & Web’ descriptors and you concentrate on your details (which is the purpose of the card).
In design A you have to actively read past these descriptors to get to your contact details.
December 9th, 2004 at 5:09 pm
Phil Boardman adds this Comment:
B, like I said before, all the information is lined up, though (I thought) the footer line looked better being seperated (either in a box or below a line) and being centred.
The footer line tells people what you can do for them. It’s too important to have faded out at the bottom, it needs more emphasis - that faded out look is for information people can probably tell already (that xxx@kingdesign.com is an email address).
Perhaps even inverting the colours of the footer {background:silver;color:white} would help it stand out without drawing too much attention to itself - again, centred would help the footer look balanced.
Just my thoughts…
December 9th, 2004 at 5:09 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Michael: Yep, I designed the logo - thanks for the kind words.
December 9th, 2004 at 5:13 pm
Elaine adds this Comment:
B, definitely.
December 9th, 2004 at 5:15 pm
Phil Boardman adds this Comment:
For the footer
December 9th, 2004 at 5:21 pm
Thor adds this Comment:
I’d go with B.1 (with the footer highlighted and centered). Both a & b seemed a little off balance to me, but although b seemed more off balance than a, I liked it better.
December 9th, 2004 at 5:41 pm
Andy Fragen adds this Comment:
B, It reads much more naturally. Nice and clean.
December 9th, 2004 at 5:46 pm
Alex Aguilar adds this Comment:
B for better
December 9th, 2004 at 6:35 pm
Roy Schestowitz adds this Comment:
Alex, you know these things are subjective, but to me, the blue and red lines at the borders are not a perfect fit. I think it’s worth re-iterating.
December 9th, 2004 at 9:43 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
I’m sorry, I thought I’d made it clear that those were just crop lines by including the template in the previous post. Those are not part of the design.
December 9th, 2004 at 10:39 pm
Serge K. Keller adds this Comment:
The majority seems to go for b, and who am i to go against the majority? ;o)
Yes, B seems more natural, _but_ (especially if I take the website mockup in consideration) I can’t help but wonder if you shall really retain those descriptors (’phone’/'email’/'webiste’)? If you where to ditch them, would the card really be less clear? After all, you can’t possibly mix them up, and the context makes it clear they’re all a contact information.
Just my 2 pennies…
December 9th, 2004 at 11:24 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
I’ve thought about that too, also: do I want to be doing business with someone that can’t tell the difference between a phone number, an e-mail address and a web site URL (especially if I added http://)?
December 9th, 2004 at 11:32 pm
Greg adds this Comment:
I’ve personally never liked seeing http:// on business cards and would rather see ‘Web:’ to indicate your URL if necessary. Hopefully the clients you’re dealing with will know the difference between these 3 types of information. One point for keeping them could be that if in the future you decide to add a mobile, or a fax # you won’t have to alter the format of the card.
Another option for keeping it cleaner might be to use T: (or P:), E: & W: for your three lines, which would keep the left magrin more in line. Or you could come up with an icon for each: telephone, envelope & globe.
December 10th, 2004 at 10:08 am
Roy Schestowitz adds this Comment:
How come it took you so long to design? Without intention to disrespect, why not work over a template? It’s a job of just a few minutes…
December 11th, 2004 at 7:29 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Roy, I’m afraid I don’t understand your question…
December 11th, 2004 at 8:43 pm
Roy Schestowitz adds this Comment:
Sorry, I was too succinct and vague. What I meant to say is that there broadly-accepted and surveyed-over templates for business cards. Why not just toss the necessary text into one of these templates?
December 12th, 2004 at 9:03 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Gotcha. I guess for the same reason I (or any company) spends the time developing their own corporate id instead of using a template. I want something unique and something that meets my standards.
December 12th, 2004 at 9:08 pm
Roy Schestowitz adds this Comment:
Ah! You convinced me. Uniqueness. I guess it’s also important for a design business to work on its own design.
December 13th, 2004 at 4:26 pm
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Business Cards from GotPrint
I got my business cards from GotPrint today. All in all, I’m pleased with almost every aspect of doing business with them.
The card stock is quick thick and strong, the glossy side is very glossy, the cutting seems uniform and consistent and the …
December 22nd, 2004 at 12:24 am