Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Business Card Designer?

I remember a topic from a few years back, where there was someone on here that designed gas & Oil business cards and did it as a business.
I finally have formed enough opinions, that I know what I'm looking for (kinda) and I want to get some business cards printed up.
I hesitate to go to the local commercial printers as I don't believe they will have the image or insight that collectors do!
Anyone have any suggestions!

Kevin, buy yourself a program called "Print Master" and make your own,,, it's easy and cheap,, buy your sheets in Office depot or Staples,,I've been doing it for years,,, don't make too many at once in case you want to make changes or updates.. there is usually 10 cards to a sheet
Here is what mine looks like,,

vistaprint.com frequentky runs sales better then printing yourself, plus you upload your own image to customize it.

For a custom design to your specification, coordinate and printing 1,000 Business cards - $100.00 + S&H.

Later . . .

Jim

T-way, unclear from your post. Do you print business cards and is that what you charge or are you referring to Vistaprint?

Vistaprint is incredibly cheap!

...Kevin - the guy you want is an Oldgasser who goes by Circa Designs, it was his post you're thinking of...I've known him for over 20 years, he's about as stand-up a guy as you'll meet...

I was notified about this thread and thought I better chime in. Even if doing custom designs the price for 500 or 1000 cards still usually comes in under $100. Let me know if I can help. Here's the old thread that has a couple of card designs I did for fellow Oldgassers: http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=55171&page=3

I just did a custom designed card for one of my Canadian friends. Having 1,000 business cards digitally printed (FYI - there's no limit on the numbers of colors you can use on a digital printer) cost $79.00 + MI Sales Tax.
(That price has been the same for over two years now.)

Do the math - that means I charge less than $20.00 for the design work.

Later . . .

Jim

I went with Vistaprint and I was really happy with the results (I think I paid a little less than $30.00 for a box of 250 gloss business cards).

Sometimes they have email offers were you get 250 basic cards for FREE and you just pay postage. But yes custom cards will cost a bit more.

T-Way is still cheaper...everything Jim does is first class..

For everyone using an Inkjet printer, cards are Not weather/moisture Resistant.

Got mine done at a local print shop...did the layout there...500 cards $35.00

I used to use my ink-jet printer and then laminated them. Those cards could scrap ice off my cars windshield! HAHAHAHA!

Paddy, Bet they are Die-cut like the EN-AR-CO sign boy w/ exception of him wearing Hawaiian Shirts & Sneakers?

I guess I am a dinosaur...I use the business card function on an old word perfect program and do my own cards with my own art on both sides of them. I use double sided mat photo paper and cut them myself. Other than crying on the cards if my prices seem too high, I don't anticipate them getting wet. I also get as much contact information as I can and usually send a follow up e-mail, cataloging their information in the process so I am not depending on the cards. Sometimes I don't bug people for their infomation and just give them the card. I can figure out pretty quickly if someone is interested. The problem in my line of work is that people can enjoy looking at my stuff without the pull of owning something!

My neighbor is a printer and I could get 1000 high quality cards for free but I like doing 20 to 40 at a time so I can change out the art. I guess they are not going to be as durable, but the folks that get them aren't going to keep them in a stack of cards in their wallets that they will be shuffling through and wearing down on a regular basis to get parts etc, so it works for me.

Somewhere you all got off the subject KW asked about, he was asking about the design, not the cost of the cards.
He is looking for a design that he would like.

Every time I get a piece of service station literature I scan it, I have over 800 gb of scan pictures, and over 500 CDs filled with pictures, let me know what kind of a design you want and I'll see if I have something you might like. I even have a file that I started years ago titled "Business card images," just in case I need one. No charge, I remember the nice Coke machine you sold me a few years ago.

Jack Sim

I had mine done by "Vistaprint" and they are OK, but you have to do all the custom layout yourself. And if it does not come out right, there is no, "do over". I forgot to put my email on the first ones.......Dah..
I am sure the pros on here would deliver a much nicer card. I would have one of the guys on here do my next ones.

here are mines

Def a COOL card design John. Looks like a coke machine and without any copyright issues minus the Coca-Cola logo!

Kevin,

While my petro collection is pretty pitiful (my money goes to expensive paints), I am very visual and I think these are general tips that could be helpful:

Think about your target audience. If it includes the general public, keep it simple. Anything technical may stop them from reading the whole card because they'll think it isn't for them. If there is more than one target audience, does it make sense to have more than one type of card?

In addition to handing them out, are the cards going in a holder for a show? Are you leaving them on someone's doorstop. ETC.

Must haves are of course contact information, but also a website (or as Nucky did a blog) address. You can't cram all your best visual stuff on the card, so the card becomes the opener for your website of wares or services. Almost everyone, even seniors, go on the net, tho I would also have a nice slim notebook sized portfolio with decent sized photos on hand when handing out your cards, because there are a few old timers who do not do the internet.

Do you want the back of the card blank so you can write additional infomation on it? Like the time you will be meeting them at their home, etc. They are more likely to loose that scrap of paper you wrote the info on than your business card, or will look at that scrap and wonder who they were to meet. One-sided cards limit how much you can put on the front.

Definitly a simple graphic that sums up what you do, with clear contact information as Wes and James have. Though I must say Nucky was able to combine an over-the-top eye catching graphic on a one-sided card with text.

If the target audience is over 40, and it probably will be, make the text bigger if you have the space. I hate getting out a magnifying glass to see someone's phone number.

Also if you do multi colors, make sure the text stands out and is easy to read. Don't assume that red will stand out on green if, for example they are the same value (same darkness or lightness). If they were different values, they would stand out. Do some mock cards and have older friends and family tell you which is easiest to read. A professional printer should also be able to tell you which color format, plus what fonts you choose are the easiest read. I'm guessing most printers will tell you not to go too crazy with colors and fonts.

If you have text on both sides, you can add more stuff to it with graphics with contact info on one side and the second side only text. Old Racer's a great example of that. You can't mistake from his graphic that this is a serious collector of lots of kinds of petro stuff. And the text clearly shows what he is looking for. His card would also do well as a table top hand out, or perhaps in his case, something to leave on the door stop.

Sorry to run on, but I thought these tips might help.

QUOTE-IF YOUR TARGET IS OVER 40-BIG BLACK LETTERS.

I'll vote for that,or just hand them out to eyeglass wearers

Kevin,
This matchbook cover would make a great design for your business cards.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160778834649&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Jack Sim