Another Critique my Business Card Thread

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

07/06/2010 08:38:20 PM · #1

Been working on my cards and would like your input.

Also you can check out my site in progress to see how it relates. I am scraping my old minsophoto.com site but will transfer the domain so it will point to my new site here.

ETA redone cards

I am not all that happy with the placement of the text, any suggestions?

Message edited by author 2010-07-07 17:44:17.

scarbrd

Leica M10

07/06/2010 08:58:21 PM · #2

I think it's too busy with the text on the left.

Try losing some of it or stating what you do fewer words.

Maybe go smaller on the other text too. You could lose the "photography by . . ." and replace it with a phone number.

Just my 2 cents

07/06/2010 09:02:05 PM · #3

Originally posted by scarbrd:

Yeah I had a feeling it may have been too busy, not sure how to convey it better though. Maybe just

Portrait photography by Joshua minso or portrait photographer : Joshua minso?.

mgarsteck

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

07/06/2010 09:03:50 PM · #4

great image actually. Instead of doing the smoky thing you are doing, maybe do a transparency gradient so that it slowly fades from black to your image

scarbrd

Leica M10

07/06/2010 09:10:10 PM · #5

I lime the image too but if you want to drum up portrait business. A landscape doesn't convey the right message IMO.

"Portraits and Fine Art Photograhy"

Something like that.

Message edited by author 2010-07-06 21:10:35.

chromeydome

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/06/2010 09:13:52 PM · #6

An alternative to consider might be the Moo card (regular business card size, not the mini cards): It is basically a double-sided card, so you could put some of the info on the back, and make the front less busy.

The other cool thing is that you can put up to 50 different front images in for an order of 50 cards--you don't have to, of course, but you could select sample shots from the various types of shots you list, and then hand out targeted cards, too. Plus, it is a cool way to show your work: you hand the person a stack of 10 different cards and say take whichever one you like. They get a quick sample of your work, and often ask if they can have more than one, since they like more than one. :-)

I use them, and have no text on the image side, text only on the back. But you have two sides to play with, and the cards are very high quality stock, well printed images.

Plus, you can Show the categories of work you offer, instead of having to take up space listing them.

Message edited by author 2010-07-06 21:15:07.

07/06/2010 09:45:43 PM · #7

Originally posted by scarbrd:

I lime the image too but if you want to drum up portrait business. A landscape doesn't convey the right message IMO.

"Portraits and Fine Art Photograhy"

Something like that.

I think I like that. I can lose all of the text on the left and my name at the bottom and do something like

Portraits and fine art by joshua minso

07/07/2010 05:44:34 PM · #8

I redid the cards

I am not all that happy with the placement of the text, any suggestions?

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

07/07/2010 06:46:05 PM · #9

bump. please

mycelium

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

07/07/2010 07:17:33 PM · #10

First, it's WAY better than it was before.

Second, I'd encourage you to play around with a more legible font. Since there's no tie design-wise between your website design and your business card, you're not locked into anything. Trajan Pro is a favorite of mine. Consider using that for both "Minso Photo" and "Portraits and Fine Art Photography," with a sans serif font (like Helvetica) for the URL.

I also recommend left-justifying the text (namely here I'm talking about the URL since the rest is LJ already) rather than having it floating around not really oriented to anything. Also consider putting the tagline ("Portraits and Fine Art Photography") directly above the URL.

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux M Aspherical MF - Black

07/07/2010 07:33:00 PM · #11

Excellent, thank you. I was trying to keep the site and cards very similar but you are correct the script is a bit difficult to read when printed to size. I will play around with the fonts you suggested and LJ the url.

here it is

Message edited by author 2010-07-07 19:42:32.

scarbrd

Leica M10

07/07/2010 08:13:44 PM · #12

Originally posted by jminso:

Much better!

chromeydome

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/07/2010 11:02:19 PM · #13

I agree--that font and the new layout is Much better.

On a small tangent, I just today got this business card case Pricey compared to some other metal cases, leather ones, but I wanted one that is solid, strong, and protective: this one is kinda built like a lighter, and I can slip it into my hip pocket, sit on it, and the cards are fine. Since the Moo cards I mentioned below are a heavier card stock, I get about 10 cards in this case. The 15 they mention would easily be possible with thinner cards, no problem. I wanted a case that I always have on me, so that I never miss out on a gig/opportunity because I didn't have a card to offer. And I didn't want to hand out a ratty, curved, dinged card I had carried in my wallet, either. The local Office Depotmax didn't have ANY metal cases, so I found the sturdiest leather one, a rolodex thing, that did okay, but still tended to warp. So this is a cool dang case. "'Course, I've only had it one day, so factor that in :-)