My business card...

Ok so I have been working on a business card for a while. Started from a simple non dynamic design to this...

Give me your likes and dislikes...

Edited by .:FMD, 10 June 2009 - 06:32 PM.

I like the overall look of it. but from my end your name, title, number and email look 'bumpy?' like the letters aren't on the same line? might just be my computer??

Also those colors really grab me personally. kinda like a bright red in the mix of black/grey's

I like the overall look of it. but from my end your name, title, number and email look 'bumpy?' like the letters aren't on the same line? might just be my computer??

Also those colors really grab me personally. kinda like a bright red in the mix of black/grey's

its actually just the screen that does that. Ive printed them out and they look good.

Disregard the "bumpy" letters and the reason they do that is probably the angle of the text.

kinda figured that..

Is that front + back or does it fold in the middle? From the presentation it looks like it'll fold in the middle, which would of course mean that one side would be upside down.

I like the design overall, it has a youthful, energetic feel to it, but I would avoid the swirly vector brushes that you've used around your logo on the bottom half. Just removing them and not even replacing them with anything else will make the design look better overall and less "stock" IMHO.

Also, the logo is used at different (random) angles on the same business card, which I feel unnecessarily makes the brand inconsistent and brings down it's value. This has the potential to turn into a good, strong brand, I hope you realize that potential when you develop this further.

I have to agree with Deathdart (again). Overall your card is dynamic and fun and I'm sure you spent a lot of time and energy designing the FROZN logo. Considering that this is your identity, your personal brand, why would you want to detract from it with all too common design elements? (I'm referring to the swirly vectors). Let the logo stand alone, it's strong on its own.

Thanks for the replys.

That is front to back and yes one side is upside down as if you would flip the business card from top to bottom.

For the angles of the logo...explain to me why that matters so long as the logo on the back is the same angle as the information and on the front its by itself.

The back image i thought was pretty subtle and that the lines will lead the eye to the logo and the drop in the back will be picked up as a secondary object.

As for the artsy vector images, It was a suggestion from a professional that is a motion designer, he said since I am young and the fact that I do not have much exposure, I need to be able to stick out in the motion world. A simple card will not do the job, especially in motion. Never thought that people would think it was "stock" since I have never used stock myself. I draw everything myself. Why pay for it when I know I can make my own? Ill probably remove it now that you mentioned that.

Looks a lot sharper without the vector swirls. I do see what Deathdart is saying about the angles too. They logos don't necessarily have to be on the same angle, but from my experience if you want to have different alignments they need to look deliberate and purposeful. When the angles are similar but differ slightly, it can look random and discordant. I think your logo looks exceptional and there is a great energy to this card.

Looks a lot sharper without the vector swirls. I do see what Deathdart is saying about the angles too. They logos don't necessarily have to be on the same angle, but from my experience if you want to have different alignments they need to look deliberate and purposeful. When the angles are similar but differ slightly, it can look random and discordant. I think your logo looks exceptional and there is a great energy to this card.

What about removing the logo from the back and making the secondary "drop" be at the same angle as the front logo?

All of the logos do have a purpose but i can see where you may miss that. The back logo is the same angle as the info/ blue line, The secondary logo is supposed to me aligned to the background grey" in the center the same angle but i noticed that is off. And the front logo is aligned with the first segment of the line.

Also, to add to smack's comment, people will almost never flip a card top to bottom, it's a natural tendency to flip it sideways. That's why all business cards are made to have the same orientation on both sides, not opposite. It's a proven business card layout that you would do well not to mess with unless there's a very specific, important relation of doing so with your concept.

About the angles, unless your brand relies on using the logo at several easily distinguishable angles at which the logo is used, I'd advise against it as it is considered a bad practice in branding. It reduces the recall value of the logo.

Aligning the back logo to the BG blue line doesn't justify changing it's angle, especially since the blue line itself is very random and not aligned to anything. If you insist on having different angles for the logo, at least make it more geometric by using gridlines at 0-45-90-135 degrees or 0-30-60-90 or a hexagonal grid or something of that sort and align everything including the BG lines to it. At least that way there will be some relation to everything and you can use this as a characteristic of your brand and continue the use of the same grid on whatever else you design.

I personally am not sure you understand why it is layed out the way it is, but there is a reason and i will take this in consideration as well as I will discuss with other designers and see how they feel about your branding technique. I am not branding myself as just strictly a graphic designer, but a motion desginer as well. More dynamics, less structure. The lines are a secondary design. Not to mention sticks out from the rest of designers out there. Rules can be broken, so long as it looks good and effective doing it. You and smack are the only designers that have brought the angle to my attention. Not even a veteran designer doing it for 15 years said anything, but then again he is a motion designer as well.

I think if your email is about your number is better, look like too little space for your email it looks cramped how it is placed now.

@FMD: You're not getting the point here. When a graphic standards manual is made, the usage of a logo is defined very very specifically; this is because a logo is your identity and as such should remain unchanged, unless there are certain criteria set for changing the logo. Slight and random changes to the angle at which the logo is presented are considered a strict no-no. I have nothing against the lines, they're fine and they go well with your website; I just suggested the angle thing to bring some sort of uniformity to it in case you were planning to align the logo to the lines.

About dynamism in the design, I'm all for it and the lines work great to this effect. My only concern is lack of uniformity in the logo, which is not synonymous to a dynamic design.

I would suggest that you talk to a branding person about this and not a motion graphics person, as the two fields are very different and experts in different fields will tell you different things. You could talk to Prof. Mahendra C. Patel. He is a very senior graphic designer, an expert at typography (he was an apprentice to Adrian Frutiger in his younger days), information design and grid systems with 40+ years of experience and he has always given me good advice, maybe he can talk to about this as well. Google him and you'll get his contact info; he's generally quite willing to help.

Your logo is looking very well but the white color of website is not showing well, Please use another color.