Recommendation for high end Business Card?

[markd61]

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.

[fotometria gr]

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

[louoates]

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.

[JonathanRimmel]

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.

[Ellis Vener]

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.

[David Eichler]

"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.