Business & Post cards
Assignment
Using any software, and following the guidelines below, Design a business card.
Your cards can be single or double-sided. Double-sided cards cost bit more.
You are not required to design a postcard
Upload a jpeg of your business card into your Collateral folder and name it like this:
your name - bus card
Overview
The quality/cost value proposition has never been better. Business cards for $10 and Postcards for $30. That's cheap advertising. The Postcard campaign remains one of the most effective methods for attaining new business.
Names and Titles
When choosing a name and a title for your card and any other collateral, keep in mind the following:
The name on the card should match the name you are "doing business as". For instance; if your name is Ed Smith but you are doing business as Ed's Design Emporium... put Ed's Design Emporium on the card (as opposed to Ed Smith). Clients may reference your card to write you a check. And, you do not want the check written to the wrong account.
When choosing a title (Designer, Animator, Artist, etc.) It's best to use one that is relatively general. That way you will leave the door open for as many possible opportunities. If you use a very specific title (such as: Concept Artist), you may be closing the door on other types of illustration opportunities.
Printing Resources Online
These are reputable printers that we have used in the past. We have paper samples from them in the faculty office.
Layout
A standard business card is 2" x 3.5",. refer to the sizes on the layout below, which are from a typical template. that you would get from a printer. If you desire images printed all the way to the edge of your card, you must design those images to extend all the way to exterior dimensions of the bleed area. Also, keep in mind that the printing registration mat not be perfect (so don't create a design that depends on that).
Note: check with your printer's specifications, they may vary slightly.
Design Checklist:
Set up your card layout in Photoshop, Illustrator or inDesign with bleeds
Set your color mode to CMYK
Set your proof setup to working CMYK
Set your image size to 300 ppi if you are working in Photoshop or another bitmap software.
Print and cut out samples from a digital printer to get a feeling for how the colors will look. This is not a proof and actual colors will vary from printer to printer.
Once you have established a printer, check their templates and specifications and adjust your layout as required.
Postcard Campaigns
Carefully research and choose 10 -30 companies which you would like to work for. Make sure you are a good 'fit'. That means they regularly buy art and design that looks something like yours. Each card should have a single image on each side. Send them a different postcard twice a week for three weeks. If you don't hear from them by then, you probably won't. Below are a couple of examples
Kendall Alum. Dan Sakae click Image to Enlarge
Kendall Alum. Joe Garza click Image to Enlarge
Business Card Design
Keep it simple! Logos are optional. Even your name, type-set in a pleasing font, by itself will do the trick. Here are 100 examples of great business card designs. Study the typesetting, margins, and size of the elements in the examples. You will find that business card font sizes are small, margins around the edges of the card are large, and spacing between elements is generous. These are the hallmarks of a good graphic design layout.
Cards 0-60 are more minimalist
Cards 60-100 are more image intensive
Business cards are 2" x 3.5"(2.25" x 3.75" with bleed). Full-color printing is cheap... even front and back.
Adding things like UV gloss, rounded edges, embossing and die-cut shapes add incrementally to the cost.
Example
