New business card...

kelly1

Hello all,

I'm thinking of getting into photography as a side-line business, and I've come up with a business card.

Can people please let me know what they think of the following design?



I would appreciate some advice please

Regards,
Noel.

smelltheglove

It doesnt shout photography to me with the design and I think for business cards the proportions are off. A close up of the eye would make me think more of makeup than photos.

GavinZac

Lose the script font on "Photography", make it match. Its not easily readable, a business card is in effect a tiny poster, first impressions are everything, it has to scream PHOTOGRAPHY at you. Change the fonts altogether, actually, I'd go with all-capitals in the small caps style, with a little bit of extra character spacing. Also, I'd change or remove the colour of the eye - it'd save you money not to do it, and its a little distracting from the point of the card, which is your name.

Just my opinion of course, dont want to come off sounding like Patrick Bateman

sNarah

I agree with Smelltheglove here in regards to the design... I doens't really appeal to me in a photographic way.

Also - The middle font is off in my opinion, you want to stick to one font to use all over your stationary. I like the title font and contact information.

And lastly, your email address confuses me. It has nothing to do with your "brand" and will therefore not be easily remembered (which is what you need if you want client to think of you!) + I would add a website link, definitly. I for one do not trust photographers that claim to be pro but have no website (no offence meant).

Hope that helps?

GavinZac

sNarah wrote: »

And lastly, your email address confuses me. It has nothing to do with your "brand" and will therefore not be easily remembered (which is what you need if you want client to think of you!) + I would add a website link, definitly. I for one do not trust photographers that claim to be pro but have no website (no offence meant).

I guess the contact details are fake, if not... wow, 088? :eek:

pixbyjohn

I love the aperture blades and the eye. As smelltheglove says , the dimensions are off for a business card but I like the design

ValueInIreland

I would loose any reference to AMATEUR, also what's on the reverse side? A tip I picked up at a business breakfast once was to ALWAYS use the reverse side. Keep the front simple and clean and use the reverse to give a little more detail (little!). I am not a Photographer, but for my business I have my Logo and contact details on the front and a short listing of some of the Brands of Products I sell on the reverse. You could use the reverse as a coupon - depeding on the type of business you are chasing?
I would also agree with sNarah's point about the e-mail address - a business should always use it's name in the domain - Hotmail, Yahoo and even G-Mail addresses just look second division and don't inspire trust.

pullandbang

It's also lacking a physical contact point. Where are you? Belfast? Belmullet? Ballymun? Ballybunion? If I picked up that card somewhere and I was looking for a tog, I wouldn't make the call.

kelly1

Any better? I realize the gmail.com looks a bit amateurish as does the
mobile phone number and lack of website but I want to start out very small and see how it goes. I don't have much of a portfolio to construct a website. I might just do flyers for notice boards to begin with and business cards later if there's much interest. And I don't plan to take on any weddings any time soon!

Thank you all for the advice. ValueInIreland, never thought of using the reverse side.

Regards,
Noel.

Nforce

I'm no expert...but,no offense, I don't feel your card is very eyecatching/interesting. Some great examples here or just do a google image search for photography business cards.

artyeva

i'm not sure what your budget for these are but you should check out MOO.com. photo on one side, contact details on the other, and you can mix the images you print in one order. they sometimes do discounts on p+p. i've had good feedback from mine, ie people can see the kind of images you're capable of, and i just edit them in that i give out a particular image depending on the situation. and i'm not a pro, btw

dazftw

kelly1 wrote: »

I don't have much of a portfolio to construct a website

Start here. No point in having someone ring you and say

"Im interested in getting some photos done can you show me some of your work"

"emmm uhhh urrrr yeahhhhhh"

A good portfolio is key.

Put up notices and be sure to say what kind of photography your doing. Portraits commercial etc etc..

joepenguin

How much would you be paying for that Noel? If its a first time effort on the cheap fair enough but i dont think its eye catching enough to warrant the going rate. Having said that it depends how you use them to get clients / work.
So not bad but could be better. If it was eye catching the email address etc would be irrelevant. People wouldnt care what the address was if the card looked the part. Thats just my 2c though.

kelly1

I'm a failure!!!


:pac:

Thanks guys, I'll have to think about this a bit more...

magicbastarder

this may help.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Take a photo of a bouquet or a couple of wedding rings or something like that and fade it out in the background, or on the reverse side.

You're a photographer... stick a photo on it!

magicbastarder

kelly1 wrote: »

I don't have much of a portfolio to construct a website.

i know it's not the immediate question (btw, avoid using clip art for the business card), but i suspect that the above is a bigger problem than making a good business card. without a portfolio, you're just a chap with a camera and some business cards, so i suspect you'd be best advised to go out and get some good shots you can show potential customers.

smash

here you go http://graphicriver.net/category/design-templates/business-cards

Can't believe I'm giving away my secrets here...

kelly1

How about this?



OR



Graphic design is definitely not my forte!

PopeBuckfastXVI

What kind of photography are you hoping to do?

Do you want to sell prints? That card design says 'landscaper' to me, as in you take your own pictures and sell prints, but you're not available for hire to do something like portraits or weddings.

If you are looking to do weddings then stick something weddingy on there, if you are looking to do birthdays stick something birthdayy on there... see where this is going!?

Also no harm to explicitly state what you will do... weddings * birthdays * portraits * sports

Xiney

as has already been suggested, moo.com.

I have a choice of cards to give to people + it's a mini portfolio that I have with me at all times. They look modern and business like at the same time, and really showcase what kind of images I'm capable of.

Jim

Surely "Amateur Prices" would mean free!

101001

a tentative suggestion... MKIII is not really a professional looking business card. To me it looks like a cheap poster, just text over image (for me the 1st looks more business like). The more knowledgeable photographers here probably have the right idea using images on the card but you also dont want to clutter/confuse the card.

My suggestion would be to use maybe 3/4 (meaning three or four) images on the front of the card. Laid out like a contact sheet (or thumbnail gallery) spaces between, if you understand what i mean, on a solid colour background. And as buckfast said, indicating what you do, 3/4 differing images, little text underneath each indictaing wedding, sports etc.

With the solid colour it'll make the typography a little easier and it'll also be more pronounced. I do like the logo though its doing all the things a logo should

DotOrg

have a look at these:

http://koikoikoi.com/2010/07/35-inspirational-creative-business-card/

a good business card should grab the attention and make people remember you. it shouldn't use cheap & tacky looking fonts or look like it was put together in microsoft word or microsoft paint








or i quite like my card for my music photography, designed to look like a photopass