Print Design and Direct Marketing

Leave a lasting impression with custom business cards

"Paladin" (last name only) was a Renaissance Man circa 1870: an adventurer, bon-vivant, gourmet, gambler, and investment speculator who also happened to be a very adept and deadly gun for hire. He was wired, not telephoned, for hire.
This is the business card shown on television.

Business Cards  No matter the size of your business, organization, church, or club, to leave a lasting impression on those you meet, it's advantageous to have business cards. Traditionally, business cards were made of dark text on white stock. Later, cards could be seen with one, two, or three colors (as Warren Camp chose to use for On a burgundy-red semi-gloss background, Warren used glossy-silver for his company abbreviation. Remaining text was made with a white sans serif font.his first business card in 1977). Today's professional business card often includes one or more aspects of a striking visual design. With the arrival of digital printing and batch printing, it's become cost effective to print business cards in a variety of colors.

Want to eliminate the printing cost? Business cards can be printed with a good-quality digital copier, which bakes toner on the card's surface. The first two examples below are "copied" business cards.

Look Professional While Showing Off

A graphic design business card can provide people with your contact information in a format that looks professional, legitimate, and impressive. Your new card can be seen as a mini-portfolio of you and what you have to offer. Its design message should be memorable as it invites people to contact you.

Laid out appropriately, a simple, basic design can often give the right touch. Here are four examples of Warren Camp Design's personal cards with a professional look.

Personal Yet Professional Cards

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The Choice Is Yours

What you ask your graphic designer to include on a card is certainly up to you. Too much data can look crowded and be overwhelming to read. Choose what is essential; consider including a message that speaks to your target audience. At all costs, avoid adding clip art, which is so "eighties and nineties."

Choose whether your new card will be one- or two-sided. With lower costs from online printers, it's possible to get a full-color, two-sided card at a reasonable price.

Two-Sided Cards

Click the thumbnail images to enlarge them, see the front and back, and read their captions. Click again to reduce them.

Classy Background Cards

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Ready for a new Business Card?

Designer Steps 1, 2, and 3

1. Preliminary Layouts  Before Warren Camp collects your chosen content, and you and he determine the card's layout, sketch one or two of your ideas and send them to him. On receipt, he'll create a few preliminary layouts to help you envision the possibilities. If you're considering two-sided printing, decide where you want to place your logo and contact information. Think proactively; make suggestions in the preliminary phase.

2. Design  Once you've chosen your preferred layout, Warren designs the card using Adobe Illustrator, one of the best software tools for business card design because of how well it handles type and a variety of other design elements. He'll check with your printer to find out the accepted file formats, using the printer's templates whenever possible to ensure smooth printing and cutting.

3. Printer Delivery  Once the design is completed and approved, Warren transmits the files to your printer or to you, if you prefer to take responsibility for the printing. There may be a print shop cost to make a proof of your approved design; Warren recommends this step because it allows you and him to preview the card's layout and quality before printing.

Warren Camp has extensive experience creating many types of high-quality business cards, posters, door hangers, postcards, bookmarks, newsletters, brochures, and so on. He enjoys designing and executing print advertising and marketing pieces. See many more of Warren's recent print design productions in the left column. Or see a number of his digital design creations.