Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Pro Business Discussion => Topic started by: haring on August 21, 2011, 07:59:29 am
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Can you recommend a high end business card printing company? I have used vista print but the paper quality is not that nice...
Any recommendations?
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Don't go cheap on business cards. I hired a design agency, chose ten different motifs, got 1000 printed on really nice paper, the cards alone cost me €800. Worth every penny, if you get just one decent jobs out of it.
(http://www.camao.de/media/images/randlkofer.jpg)
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I second geesbert's comments. don't skimp. i found a small 2 man design firm via some work i saw on lovelystationary.com that i really liked and sent them an email about what i was hoping to accomplish. they turned out quite nice. below is a link to the design firm and the post they did on my cards. enjoy
http://cododesign.posterous.com/blake-marvins-letterpress-cards-sticker
Blake
blakemarvin.com
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I work up my own in Photoshop, and then print them with my Z3100 on Hahnemühle rag papers. They get great comments.
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www.moo.com rocks for very heavy, high-quality, photo business cards.
Neil
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I second geesbert's comments. don't skimp. i found a small 2 man design firm via some work i saw on lovelystationary.com that i really liked and sent them an email about what i was hoping to accomplish. they turned out quite nice. below is a link to the design firm and the post they did on my cards. enjoy
http://cododesign.posterous.com/blake-marvins-letterpress-cards-sticker
Blake
blakemarvin.com
The registration of the two spot colours is not very precise.
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www.moo.com rocks for very heavy, high-quality, photo business cards.
Neil
Moo is nice, heavy stock and a nice finish, but I wouldn't call their print quality high end. Noticeable jaggies in the photos for one thing.
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Weird, I never had jaggies issues with their work.
Neil
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I do something similar to Justan.
I had a custom stamp made and put the stamp onto an off white mat board cut into 2" squares. Anyone I've given them to is very impressed. They like the fact that the shape is a bit different. They like that the weight is substantial. They like the idea of using the mat board as a photographer. They also like the fact that it's, essentially, hand made. Even though it's not the standard rectangular shape, it still fits in business card books (most rectangular cards are ~2x3). The only thing I'd do differently another time is to make the text slightly larger. It's fine as is, but slightly larger wouldn't hurt. Stamp cost about $30 or so. Mat board costs about $10 for a full sheet of 32x40. Your time to cut and stamp is whatever it is.
There's a difference between a business card and a promo card. Promo cards or as some people call them 'trading cards' are larger, often more post card size and can contain more information. More difficult to file away and keep. I've never been a big fan of putting images on business cards (although I have done it) because the images can end up so small as to be inconsequential.
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Can you recommend a high end business card printing company? I have used vista print but the paper quality is not that nice...
Any recommendations?
As other have said, hire a really good graphic designer who also understands marketing and that your card / logo/ stationary, etc. is meant to showcase your work and not their work. They will have contacts with paper companies and printers.
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I am reminded of the restaurants with the impressive, heavy menus printed on luxurious stock with the best inks and calligraphy - and mediocre food.
If I receive a truly impressive and expensive business card, my first thought is that here is someone whose work is not good enough to bring in business, they must resort to marketing tricks.
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I am reminded of the restaurants with the impressive, heavy menus printed on luxurious stock with the best inks and calligraphy - and mediocre food.
If I receive a truly impressive and expensive business card, my first thought is that here is someone whose work is not good enough to bring in business, they must resort to marketing tricks.
Yeah, dream on. Clients looking for a photographer to sell their products always go for the photographer who doesn't show that they are able to use their craft to promote themself.
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Yeah, dream on.
Not that I ever really understand what most people on here are trying to say - ignoring language barriers; proper use of the Queen's English seems to elude many - but it seems that you and Peter are in agreement so I don't really see the need for the "Yeah, dream on." comment.
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I am reminded of the restaurants with the impressive, heavy menus printed on luxurious stock with the best inks and calligraphy - and mediocre food.
If I receive a truly impressive and expensive business card, my first thought is that here is someone whose work is not good enough to bring in business, they must resort to marketing tricks.
Taste and good aesthetics must be considered a marketing trick? ??? A photographer with a mediocre BC is a better photographer :o Please check this logo www.photometria.gr ,it was made by me and it's used without any change on my BC, I've printed 200 on good quality paper and now I'm looking for an excellent one to settle and print 5000 more! The logo can be read in 100 different languages and 3 different alphabets with 100% success!! ;) A photographer is an artist and his BC (along with his site) is his laconic expression! 8) Cheers Theodoros.
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You've got a picture of a girl in a dirndl holding a camera on your business card? ???
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I said nothing about taste and aesthetics. I was talking about extravagance when it comes to paper stock and printing.
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If you haven't already found what you are looking for, this will hopefully be of some use to you and perhaps others. I am a graphic designer as well as a photographer. I had quite a time trying out various online printing solutions before finding a select few that met my standards. Vista prints is certainly out of the question. For my own cards I chose uvcards.com/ (http://www.uvcards.com/) They offered quite a number of options (silk lamination gives a great feel) and an incredible price. (<$150 USD for 500) Their quality is quite respectable. One thing I particularly paid attention to when selecting a printer was die cuts. Some places looked like they cut them with scissors! :o
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If you haven't already found what you are looking for, this will hopefully be of some use to you and perhaps others. I am a graphic designer as well as a photographer. I had quite a time trying out various online printing solutions before finding a select few that met my standards. Vista prints is certainly out of the question. For my own cards I chose uvcards.com/ (http://www.uvcards.com/) They offered quite a number of options (silk lamination gives a great feel) and an incredible price. (<$150 USD for 500) Their quality is quite respectable. One thing I particularly paid attention to when selecting a printer was die cuts. Some places looked like they cut them with scissors! :o
Well, I recently gave Moo another try and got a very nice result this time. Not inexpensive, but very nice quality. I particularly like the finish and thickness, and the photo quality was very nice this time, although I would like to have more control over the exact crop of the photo. Do you know how uvcard might compare with Moo? Not expecting the same quality necessarily. But could use some less expensive cards for some purposes, and don't need them to be as thick.
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I can't stress enough how important it is to have a well designed and original business card that creates an impact. A photographer is an artist, and his business card should reflect his artistic capabilities, his brand, and his taste.
Being a graphic designer myself, I designed my own card.
For the paper, I chose Wausau Royal Complements Bright White stock triplexed for a very heavy feel, and I went with letter press printing. It really makes the card stand out, and actually makes a sound when you drop it on the table.
Although they were quite expensive, at approximately $1.80/piece, I think it was worth every penny.
Every time I give one of my cards out, they are treated like a piece of artwork.
The company I used to print the cards is "Studio on Fire" and Ben was very helpful, patient, and professional.
This is a link to my card: http://www.beastpieces.com/tag/zachary-goulko/ (http://www.beastpieces.com/tag/zachary-goulko/)
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I can't stress enough how important it is to have a well designed and original business card that creates an impact. A photographer is an artist, and his business card should reflect his artistic capabilities, his brand, and his taste.
Being a graphic designer myself, I designed my own card.
For the paper, I chose Wausau Royal Complements Bright White stock triplexed for a very heavy feel, and I went with letter press printing. It really makes the card stand out, and actually makes a sound when you drop it on the table.
Although they were quite expensive, at approximately $1.80/piece, I think it was worth every penny.
Every time I give one of my cards out, they are treated like a piece of artwork.
The company I used to print the cards is "Studio on Fire" and Ben was very helpful, patient, and professional.
This is a link to my card: http://www.beastpieces.com/tag/zachary-goulko/ (http://www.beastpieces.com/tag/zachary-goulko/)
Makes a sound when dropped? Really? A dollar eighty? Criminy, why not spend $10 and have your cards engraved on granite slabs? That'll make a sound, I guarantee it.
Now, maybe this kind of marketing really does work. Not being a commercial photog I couldn't say. Still, it has the distinct aroma of "silly."
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I agree on the importance of the card. Design and printing are very important. I started out using 4Over.com and they offer 16pt stock with a variety of options for ~$25/1000.
I have thought about researching other suppliers but they are excellent and I have little incentive to change.
One alternative I did use was Bay Photo. You can order cards on all sorts of cool stock with and without UV coatings. They will also print in very small runs if you want.
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I said nothing about taste and aesthetics. I was talking about extravagance when it comes to paper stock and printing.
Sorry, it was easy (I feel) to misunderstand, I'm still a bit thoughtful though about your comment that a "truly impressive" (I skip expensive..., because nobody can know -only suspect- that), "makes you suspicious". I feel that this gives space for acceptance to mediocracy! Regards, Theodoros www.fotometria.gr
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What in the world is a "high end" business card? A well designed card on the cheapest paper will trump a fussy design on fancy paper every time. I think there is too much concern about the physical properties of a card.
START OF RANT: I've got stacks of business cards from all kinds of artistic and business folks and it seems to me the most expensively printed cards are the poorest designed from my point of view of readability and clear statement of the business persons work. Most of them have terribly hard-to-read typefaces often in extremely small type sizes. Other design elements are way too obscure to have any meaning at all unless the designer was there personally to point out the subtleties. END OF RANT.
By all means get a good designer if you must to do the job. Just make sure they know your requirements about readability.
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Moo is fairly good, although for business cards I would rate UV Cards a bit higher. There are as I said many options to let your card stand out. Spot UV for instance or Foil. But of course as has been mentioned, the design is the most important aspect.
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What in the world is a "high end" business card? A well designed card on the cheapest paper will trump a fussy design on fancy paper every time. I think there is too much concern about the physical properties of a card.
START OF RANT: I've got stacks of business cards from all kinds of artistic and business folks and it seems to me the most expensively printed cards are the poorest designed from my point of view of readability and clear statement of the business persons work. Most of them have terribly hard-to-read typefaces often in extremely small type sizes. Other design elements are way too obscure to have any meaning at all unless the designer was there personally to point out the subtleties. END OF RANT.
By all means get a good designer if you must to do the job. Just make sure they know your requirements about readability.
"louoates" an excellent point: You and the designer have to work together as a team and the card, letterhead /stationary, ad and web design all must work together demonstrating to a client in not so subliminal ways about who you are, your level of quality, your attention to detail (like readability) and your values.
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"louoates" an excellent point: You and the designer have to work together as a team and the card, letterhead /stationary, ad and web design all must work together demonstrating to a client in not so subliminal ways about who you are, your level of quality, your attention to detail (like readability) and your values.
Zachary's card seems pretty high end to me. As best I can tell from the photo, it is well designed and produced. I think the extra tactile element is very nice. I think it conveys a sense of quality very well. And, if your clients are primarily involved with design in some way, I think they will respond very well to a card that emphasizes both high-quality design and high production values.