Personal business card design
This post takes a very brief look at how my personal business card is produced, and mentions the great customer service I received in the process. It’s printed on white 330gsm Plike, with single colour black on the front and pearl white foil blocking on the reverse.
I love the feel of Plike (short for plastic-like). It’s unlike any other business card I’ve felt.
There were initially problems with the ink off-setting onto the back of another when stacking for delivery. This was due to the substrate needing a special ink, which unfortunately my printer, Splash Print, didn’t know about until after the first run. Splash Print’s customer service was great however. They sent me 100 of the best cards from the first print (which were quite usable), re-ordered more stock and ink to re-do the job, then sent the full amount for no extra cost.
I’d use them again for special finishes.
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Update: 24 May 2011
This post was published in 2007. Today I’m more likely to use these letterpress note cards.
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94 appreciated comments on “Personal business card design”
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Wow, you are anal about business card design…
But then again, it came out really nice, so maybe if more people were anal, things would be less ugly in the world…
I find designing for myself sheer hell. You ended with a great product. Nice to see both sides used. I’m assuming you’re in the U.K. Do many designers utilize both sides? I’ve been doing it in my little corner of Canada for many years now – although it is viewed seen as novel.
The rounded corner is a nice touch. I like the stand alone logo on the back side as well.
Ed, from what I’ve seen more designers will use both sides. You have a blank canvas there to promote yourself, why leave it empty?
I’m all for white space and simplicity, but cards can be much nicer when double-sided. I could have saved a couple of hundred pounds by not printing the foil, but it’s about setting yourself apart. You never know how many hands your card might pass through.
People who take pride in their work can come across as anal. The positive adjective would have been “Quality Conscious”.
Being a control freak myself, I totally relate on this.. and fully agree with J David..
“A little more pride and a less uglier world”
I love the logo design..
Nice….
My name is Darren and I’ve just set my own recruitment consultancy up called Character – thought it was a nice link between Character as a typographic reference and Character’s as in people – let me know if you agree.
I’m a designer myself and so named the business, developed the brand (ident, website design and all written copy) myself.
I’d be inclined to agree with previous posts that it was probably the most difficult job I’ve ever worked, and i’m still not overly chuffed with the final outcome.
For cards in particular started off really elaborate (sp?) but in the I ended up going very simple.
Their on a 330gsm uncoated, fully recylced stock with just a single colour ink over the top. I really wanted to get the idea of growth over and hoped by making everything feel very organic it would do this. Time will tell of course and I’m sure they’ll be a few ammends next time – shame I have 2000 of the buggers though!!!
Feel free to check out the website at http://www.charactercreative.co.uk and let me know what you think and if any wants to get in touch please feel free.
Hi Darren, I took a look at your website. Nice imagery. The typeface for your logo looks interesting. What is that? I think you should increase the size of your body text. It’s not the easiest to read. Also, there’s no link to the homepage.
Do you have a photo or image of your card? I’d love to look.
The imagery is all shot with my camera phone would you beleive!
It’s a place right up in the North of Scotland near where I lived for a couple of years as a child.
The font for the logo doesn’t exist. I developed it from I don’t know what now and beleive me it took weeks, months even to get it near right. Still think it could be better (Don’t like the relationship between the C and the h but ran out of time before sending to print)
There’s no imagery on the cards at all. it was considered to begin with but I seen it done a few times before and never really liked it.
I’ll have a copy of the cards on my myspace page so you can take a look at them there if you’d like to.
Liking your card stock, Darren. Good job. I’ll send a reply to your email shortly.
David, fantastic card! I’ll need to re-do mine when I re-brand next year (pairing up with a friend of mine in business).
I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble – any chance of mailing me one? The ‘box of inspiration’ would appreciate one!
I’ll mail you mine if you like, although it’s nowhere near as good (hence the need to re-brand!).
My address is on my site if you would consider saying yes :)
Best wishes
Rich
P.S. Darren – I love your card too! The stock is rather good. Paper makes the difference, unfortunately I didn’t figure that out before I got mine done.
Thanks Rich, I’ll take a note of your address and send one over when I get a chance.
Looks good!
Oh, the tasteful thickness of it! :) :)
Seriously… I LOVE LOVE LOVE the single curved corner.
wow. this business card is great.
Very nice card. I really like how clean it is — there is no question where you should look. I also enjoy the finishing touches.
Thanks very much!
That reminds me, I still need to send one to Richard. Sorry for the delay, Rich.
Karly, the rounded corner was a trial done by hand, as I wasn’t sure what corner radius to ask the printer for. I saved myself a couple of hundred pounds by having the cards delivered as rectangles.
Hi Dave,
looks it is nice to touch it. What size does it have?
Plike, It is similar to matt foil on chalk paper, is not?
Hi Miroslav,
Standard card size: 85mm x 55mm.
I’m not sure what matt foil on chalk paper feels like.
hi david,
your tips really help me alot in designing a business card!
i just started out designing my own business card and would really like to hear your professional comment about my design!!!
http://photo.xanga.com/sohjunhao/ff388158436051/photo.html
cheers! :)
Ive been nudging my info in PS for days. All my friends and family love the simplicity of my card and say its fine. I just need it to be perfect.
http://img47.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bcex2oe1.jpg
That image isnt even the final product…..still nudging.
Hi Hao, the first thing I wondered was why you use a Gmail address when you have your own domain? It would appear more professional if you use a domain-specific address. I like the simplicity.
Tim, likewise with your email address. My recent experience of Gmail exposed some issues. What dimensions are used for your card? It looks unusual.
We all can be picky when it comes to our own items. In my opinion, those cards came out quite nicely!
Hi David, I love your site, your articles and comments are inspirational. Your site was recommended by a friend when I wanted to get her opinion on my new logo. I would be appreciate it if you could have a look at my logo and give me your comments, its on my website http://www.nichestudio.com.my.
ps- I just started out doing freelance web design.
Thanks!
Alex, Janice,
Thanks very much. I needed to enter a username and password to access your site (Janice), so can’t provide any feedback.
Good luck though.
David,
Where I could get some business cards made that are made out of Plike like yours?
Thanks,
John
John,
Contact a commercial printer and ask if they can order Plike for you. When I had my cards printed, the subsrate was ordered specifically for me.
We’ve moved offices and our new cards just arrived. Printed on a recycled stock called wove by fenna papers – beautiful stuff with just enough texture.
Check them out and let me know what you think here: http://www.myspace.com/charactercreative (in the picture section)
We’ve got a new site too since I was last on here – Inexhibit kicks ass!!
http://www.charactercreative.co.uk
P.S we’re holding an event in Leeds on the 12th of June called Stopping the buck. If anyone can make it along please do.
Darren
Darren,
I’m guessing you enjoyed the experience with Inexhibit then? Good job getting the new site. Can’t login to MySpace for some reason (to view your pics section), but will remember to have a look at your cards next time. I hope the Leeds event goes great.
David, those business cards are gorgeous. I had to wear a bib when I was gawking at them (lol). I created my own business cards in Illustrator – this was the first time I ever made cards and the first time I ever used Illustrator. It was a lot of fun. I kept the layout and design similar to my portfolio site so there was a consistency.
DC Card Front: http://dougcloud.net/show/dcardfront.gif
DC Card Back: http://dougcloud.net/show/dcardback.gif
Haha. Thanks Doug.
For your first time creating cards, and your first time using Illustrator, I think you’ve done a sterling job. Well done keeping that online / offline consistency too. It’s important.
Thanks, David. I’ve had Illustrator for about three years, after winning CS in a design contest, but I was so intimidated by it I never bothered to get to learn it. But then a friend suggested I make my own business cards and I knew AI was the best program to use. So I took a deep breath and plunged into it, using online tutorials (which are very sparse for AI) and I even bought the Illustrator CS Classroom in a Book.
Doug,
I’ve found the Visual Quickstart series an excellent book collection, published by Peachpit Press, though I’ve not seen the ‘classroom in a book’, so perhaps it’s just as good.
(David – the link to the Plike suppliers is dead now – don’t they know cool URLs never change? :D)
Richard,
Thanks very much for the heads-up. I did a quick search on their site and updated the post with a fresh link. Not the best site management to change URLs. I agree.
That is wonderful. So clever how you incorporated the visual identity into the shape of the card. Great job!
Dear David,
Thank you for keeping current on the “Plike supplier” link. We (the supplier) unfortunately went through a major shopping cart change which caused all links to be recreated.
We greatly appreciate sites like yours which keep people informed and stay very conscientious of link changes.
Your site is creative, professional and informative — Great work!
Sincerely, Lori
Thank you, Ammi.
Lori,
It’s my pleasure. I know it can be frustrating when you think you find the info you’re looking for, only to come across a broken link.
Great card, David! I noticed you don’t have an address listed on it and I was wondering what led to that decision. I’m making new business cards for myself and I have heard arguments for and against listing an address. Could you enlighten me? Thanks.
Hello David
I’m an entry level graphic designer and I really enjoyed watching all your work on your site. Each one is just wonderful. Your business card looks real neat and the rounded corner is very smooth. simply great
I found it very interesting that you elected NOT to put a physical address on your name card.
You must be going at the pure desing end of it, rather than a functional business perspective.
What if I got your card, and I wanted to send you a brochure about our company. I would have to either call you, or go to your website and try to find an address there.
Or, is it that you didn’t want people contacting you via mail?
I really ask you this because adding the address would have changed the cards layout a lot. It would of not been able to keep the minimalist theme to it. I live in North Amer. and I would love it if we could get away with not having an address.
Chip, CK,
The main reason for my lack of a physical address is because the vast majority of my business is conducted online, and I’ve moved home on an almost annual basis for the past 10 years.
I hope that helps answer your questions, but if not, do let me know and I’ll elaborate.
Thanks for commenting, and thanks also to you, Cesar, for the compliment.
I too love this business card. Nice work Dave. So you use Splash Print as your primary printer? I’m looking for a good one, but I live in TN.
I realize my site needs a major fixing, but I was wondering if you or anyone else could take a look at my logo itself? On my website, it is styled up, but I’m talking the basic shape of the logo. Would you round the corners or add anything? I respect your work and would greatly appreciate any tips. Here is the site: http://www.GetYourGrahics.com
I was also wondering if anyone thinks I should change my site name to my own birth name, Derek Kimball?
Again, nice work David…i just recently came across your site and love the tutorials and thorough walkthrough of your work processes.
Hello Derek,
I actually don’t deal with printers very often nowadays. The reason being that most of my clients hail from overseas, and I advise them to strike up a relationship with a printer in their locality. Good contacts within print companies can really help save you money. It’s simply better business sense.
As for what to call your business, this needs to be a very personal decision. My actual name works for me, as I’m the only one providing the service. I did, however, start out with a more generic name, as shown in my portfolio evolution.
Good luck.
Hey David,
It was a facinating xperience navigating your website. I am looking at it as a reference for designing a card for my husband who is into Property Business
Your Card..I must say…quite impressive! One look at it and a person knows what to xpect. The rounded corner cut made all the difference I guess! Wow…I wonder how you manage to comeup with such inspirational work.
Best Wishes!
Shruti
That’s very kind of you, shruti. Thanks a lot, and I hope your husband’s card turns out well.
Hi David, i just wanted to say that i really like your logo designs and attention to detail. I do agree that using a good quality card for print only enhances the design.
Keep up the good work.
Hi David, I just wanted to say that your work is my new inspiration to become a premier-level designer. I am fairly young, and have made the decision 6 months ago that I’m going to be a graphic designer for a living. Your card is excellent, but I wonder how you got the printers to print it with a curved edge. Is it a request that you made? Also, do you have any advice for a young would-be designer with a big dream?
Thanks for the encouragement, Jane.
Agyei,
If you want to achieve a similar result (curved corners), ask your printer about ‘die cuts’. They might have some pre-made templates which will save you money, or they can create them according to your specifications (more expensive).
Advice for a young designer? Be humble, and never stop learning.
Good luck!
Have you ever considered getting real plastic stock? The company I work for specifically prints on plastic cards. White, clear, frosted, matte, etc. We’ve gotten some really cool designs come through. You can do some crazy stuff with the clear/ frosted stocks.
Im really interested in checking out the Plike. Is it more of a smooth or matte surface? I’ve always been more of a fan for matte. Im going to try and present these to the boss man, and see if its something he might like to try.
Hi Tom,
I’ve thought about using plastic, but I love the feel of Plike, and have enough cards to last quite a while yet. The surface is smooth and matte. :) Not as smooth as plastic might be, obviously, but I think you’d be impressed with the finish.
David,
Hopefully that didn’t sound like I was trying to make a sale or anything. I’m just a designer here, not a sales rep.
I am really interested to see these Plike cards. Do they tear or scratch easily? What downsides have you noticed? I know you said they had a problem with the ink not drying correctly. Im guessing they fixed that by now. Have you noticed any color fading or other odd things about the stock?
Thanks for the reply.
Don’t worry, Tom. It’s good of you to comment.
A particular ink is required for the substrate, and you can find info quite easily with a Google search (sorry, pushed for time, otherwise I’d give a link myself). If you want me to send you a couple of my cards, all I’ll need is a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Send me an email for my address.
No worries, people are busy! No need to waste a few cards on me. Thank you for the offer though.
I am in the process of contacting the company for a few samples. My hope is, if these cards are really cool, to present them to the president as a new option for customers. Hopefully set them up as a vendor.
I might actually use them for my own personal business cards.
Thanks again for the helpful information.
For what it’s worth, I highly recommend Plike for business cards.
I hope the samples arrive soon, and good luck with your presentation.
Im really looking forward to seeing these cards.
Thanks,
Hi David, i find this a spectacular read, including everything else you have written about. You’re a knowledgeable guy and very generous too for sharing your experience to the world. I commend you for that and thank you for the pleasure.
I have a question for you, and I hope you don’t mind sharing your views – you may reply to my email if you wish. I am a student designer and have recently done some designs for a client friend – including business card design, logo design and stationary. I am perplexed as to how much to charge him. I know I have spent many hours on his work but feel bad about charging him proper prices even though he expects me not to charge him much as I am still a student. But i do want to be paid fairly as I too have bills to pay.
What are your thoughts and how much should I charge him, say for example on one business card design or one logo design.
Many thanks.
:-)
Hi David,
I want to make a business card on plike also, but i have polychromy in my logo (3 shades of red) and the printing guy that is not going to work on Pearl-Plike-Sheets and i have to do it on White-Plike-Sheets.
But i want to make it on Pearl-Plike-Sheets , what do you think ? it will look ok on Pearl even if i have polychromy?
All the best,
Adi
How about just using a foil instead of coloured inks?
Plike is such and interesting stock on it’s own it should do all the talking for you.
Iris Associates (sheffield) have their cards on Plike with a single foil and they look great.
Darren
Aftab,
You’re very welcome, and thanks for reading. Pricing is dependent upon many things, not least the talents of the designer. It depends on what you believe your skills to be worth.
Adrian,
Like Darren suggests, what about using foil on white? The Plike is a substrate that doesn’t need any complication, so foil and Plike (plus black or grey) works great.
Neah, is not going to look fine.
Just like you David, I want to print on white 330gsm Plike, with polychromy colour on the front and polychromy with lake selective blocking on the reverse.
I’m just curios the kind of plike did you used David for your cards, is it Plike (Plastic-Like) Paper – PEARL or Plike (Plastic-Like) Paper – WHITE ??
Many thanks,
Adrian
I used white Plike.
First I want to qualify this comment by saying that I am a mechanical engineer and by no means a graphic artist of any kind. I’ve been starting to toy with ideas myself for a business card for an engineering consultancy I would like to start.
I think the card looks excellent and I am curious now to go feel this material for myself – sounds very interesting. One criticism though – I do really like the rounded corner detail and the way it follows the shape of your DA logo but then the same logo is set against a square corner on the back side. I don’t mean to imply both corners should be rounded – I think your design is superior to that, but it is just kind of a mismatch when I look at it. Again – maybe real designers would say that is on purpose and enhances the style of the card but as a matter of personal taste I was thrown off by that.
Maybe if the style of the logo was to be different on the front and back the back could be left aligned – marking use of the same corner rounding and highlighting the beautiful symmetry of the logo?! (perhaps ditching the second line even with just the logo left aligned). Maybe you already thought of that and didn’t like it – just an idea.
Excellent website and typographic information also – thanks!
Thanks for visiting, Kyle. You’re right, I did think about the positioning of the logo on the reverse, but unless the logo was flipped to read backwards, it wouldn’t have worked.
Personal taste plays a big part, and rightly so when the card is a personal one.
I love your business card design, after seeing hundreds on the web yours always sticks in my head because it’s so consistant with your logo because of the die cut corner.
Really great design work.
Much appreciated, Danny. How about you? Have you got yourself a personal card?
Not at the moment, I’m researching some ideas and gathering inspiration at the moment – that’s what brought me to your site! I think my identity needs a lot more work before finalising anything.
Well, good luck with it. I know how time-consuming the design of a personal identity can be, and if you ever think I can help, feel free to give me a shout.
David:
Great card design. I’m currently looking for a business card stock that will go well with our very unique financial firm. I have three logos we are trying to choose between and I would appreciate some professional criticism if you don’t mind. My email was included. I’llsend you picks right away.
Cheers,
CK
Wow, amazing! You’re the man David.
This card’s still popular even in 2009 (I saw this has posted in 2007).
Very, very good work.
Nice
but puting U’re logo on both side of the card is .. pointless in my humble opinion ;)
let it breeeeeath
Dang – I’m just catching up on some back reading and missed outon an opportunity to win some of these for free.
Still – fab idea and even better that they are waterproof. I can seeme getting some.
And to the others that think the ads are a bad idea. Why? They’re a small / new business making a start and let’s face it, Vistaprint do it and have done for years and, as I recall, it was a couple of years before they offered an ad free version.
As I type this I look round my desk and everything I can see has a brand logo / name on it – so why not these guys?
I think you meant to post your comment on my Squiz Cards post, Stuart. Regardless, thanks for having a look at my personal card design. I recommend purchasing some Squiz Cards once the option to remove the logo is available, but if you want to go ahead beforehand, I’m sure Ben will appreciate your business.
I love that finish. With the reflective finish on the main logo. Very smart looking. I wish our local printers were able to pull off that kind of quality. As a new designer myself I am really struggling to find suppliers that can really pull off great quality work.
I’m looking into using Plike for my own business cards. I’m still a student, but I’ve got a portfolio show coming up at the end of March that I’ll need some nice ones for.
I’m in The States (Fresno, CA to be exact), so I have no idea where I could get my cards printed on Plike… have any clue?
Also, you said you had some initial problems with the first batch of cards from the printers… what were they exactly?
Any info you could give me about printing on Plike would be MUCH appreciated!
Hi Magie,
Ask commercial printers if they can order Plike for your job. It’s unlikely that many will stock it, but the chances are good they can order a batch. Plike needs it’s own special ink, so tell your printer he/she will need to order it, too, or the ink might transfer onto the back of a separate card when stacked for shipping.
Good luck.
Very nice business card. I like the die-cut shape and the fact that ist’s minimalist. Mind if we showcase it on our site? Will link back to you of course.
Strongly branded business card – I like it.
I like that you opted not to have your physical address on it, more and more clients are going this way now… the more small businesses that work from home don’t actually want to promote their home address as their business address – and purely want to concentrate on sales online… so I fully agree with your approach!
Good job!
NICE! Found your card. Simply amazing. I like the no addy on the front and am curious about the inclusion of the phone number on the front. I once handed out business cards with my phone number on them and got so many unsolicited calls NOT related to my business (sales calls) that I ended up changing my number. It may be a problem only stateside but I’ve heard other folks with similar stories here as well.
place holder
When a business card is designed correctly there is no need to ask any questions, and there is no confusion. It just does it’s job.
Lovely card.
David,
Can Plike paper be printed on with a decent quality inkjet printer such as mine at home?
No problem, Andrew. Thanks for the interest.
I’m not sure, Justin. Another question to ask is whether your inkjet can use the relevant ink mentioned in the post (I don’t know specifics, though).
Hey David!
I have a question regarding your business card design.. Why is it that on your website here you don’t use the same logo as you do on your business card? Is it because you have two separate wordmarks to represent your business? I’m out of school, working as a graphic designer at home and definitely still learning! : ) I also need to rebrand myself so I’ll be making some cards soon after my logo is complete. Thanks for your time!
Danielle
Btw, did you create the font for your business card logo yourself (from scratch) or is it based off of an existing font? It’s really nice!
I just updated the post after your question, Danielle. It was published in 2007, and I’m now using the wordmark you see in the top-left of my site. The old font I was using is called Danube (available free or for a nominal fee).
I must say, your name logo is ingenious. I love seeing plays on letters like that. Inspiring :)
Hi David,
I’m a graphic design student from Australia and I’ve found your site to be a great resource for inspiration these last few months.
I love the look of your card and am currently designing my own as an assessment task (and valuable resource).
Although I’d love to try the plike card, I’m not sure if it will be available at my printers.
If I can get it though, you meantioned special ink is needed.
Is it possible to get foiling or clear UV varnish?
I’ve linked my design below,
I want the card to be a matte black, the DJ logo will be black also but with either a clear UV varnish or a black foiling.
And the white will be printed white, but also have a clear UV or white foil over top of it.
Will that be possible on plike? or should i just use a matte black paper card?
Also, I haven’t had my work printed professionally very many times in the past, so I’m wondering, if I am putting a white/silver foil on, is there a chance of the foiling wearing away over time? should i print white underneath if it does? or is it better to just leave it black underneath in case of misalignment?
Im sure your a busy fella so I don’t want to overload you with questions but it would be great to get your opinion anyway.
And if you have any suggestions for the design itself, I’d be happy to hear them.
Thanks mate, keep up the monumentally amazing work.
-Damon James
A link would help.
not sure which link to use so heres both
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/3804/djdfinal.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40/djdfinal.jpg/
One last thing, I’m aware the website is not working,
Mostly due to the fact I haven’t made it, or bought the domain yet.
That will come later in the year but will buy the domain soon I hope.
Foil’s not a problem on Plike. It’s shown on my old card in this post. Don’t think there’s any need to put foil on top of ink, though.
Personally, I like more white space around wordmarks than shown on your design. I’d probably avoid the centre-alignment, too.
Good luck, Damon.
Cheers for getting back to me David. thanks for the advice,
I want happy with the back either, tried a few thing but hard to keep it simple, had a nother design with the text layed out similar to yours but on the right side, but made it look too much like it was the front of the biz card. I shall play around with it.
One question though, what did you mean by white space around the wordmarks?
do you mean the front or back?
im not sure if your saying to move the front’s text more in from the edges,
or make the back text smaller so there is more space around it.
Sorry if ive misinterpreted.
Thanks again for the speedy response to.
(back to reading your other posts)
Heres the other design i was talking about for the backing of the card.
And with the foiling on plike, do the usual foiling methods work?
Just cos i knew there was issues with the ink not setting right so wasnt sure if a different method was used to fix the foiling or not.
Im guessing not or you would have said earlier but thought id ask.
Thank you so much for your help so far.
link
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8529/djdfinal2.jpg
No probs. With white space I simply mean give your content some breathing room round the edges, regardless of whether its a wordmark, contact info, symbol, etc… Your best bet for print questions is to ask your printer.
Thanks David,
I realised what you meant after you posted and didnt want to clutter your thread any more than I have.
After adding a ‘gutter’ around the edges it does look a lot better, thanks for the advice, and changed the back a little more.
Unfortunately I dont think i can get plike for a justifiable price for something I will probably change (being my first personal biz card).
so im opting for a 350gsm matte cello with a UV varnish on just the grey logo.
Did a test print on 150gsm matte photo paper and taped the two sides together and Im pretty impressed with how it turned out, the black printed great with 60,35,35,100 mix and the stark white really pops.
Glad I got your advice as Im really happy with the back now, it flows much better with the front and better expresses the style that I am good at (funny how the style Im good at didnt come naturally when it was a personal card?)
Thank you again for the advice and the inspiration.
Regards
Damon