Topic awaiting preservation: Online Print Company - Any good or any bad?

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of using this company to create some business cards for myself. Has anyone gone through an on-line company to make cards before?

Also, I would love to get some opinions as to what you think of this business card idea?





[This message has been edited by reitveld (edited 08-10-2002).]

dude you live in Kansas City surely there has got to be a printer there that could do this for you. wouldnt you rather keep the money in your community? a local printer could just as easily get the file by email and courier the finished product to you and that is all this other place would do. i would make the contact info etc. in the right hand corner smaller, other than that looks nice.

Moving this to the print forum

A friend used an online company for his business cards and the product was just fine. BUT Punchdrunk makes an extremely valid point. Keep your money in your community if you can. You just never know who the printer 'knows' and one of his/her clients could be pointed in your direction by the printer. Even if you end up paying a few more dollars I'd say it would be money well spent.

I tend to avoid using print companies that aren't local. In my experience, they have less accountability. If they screw up, or change something without asking, you cant deal with it face to face, which usually helps. Also, places that do just business cards can offer piss-poor product with very competitive prices. They throw everybodys cards on the press at the same time and run them. In this case, not a wide selection of paper stocks is offered to you. Often, your colors end up screwed because they aren't looking at hitting just your colors. This is another advantage of a local place that's printing just your card. It gets more attention. But it really comes down to whether you want a cheap card or a really good quality card.

Side note: Just want to offer some advice regarding that card. I'm assuming it's going to be the 2"x3.5" standard size. I think you should get rid of the fine glow and dropshadows. I think you'll be dissappointed in how they print at such a small size. Also noticing your card is four color process with a full bleed. These 2 things are going to kill you when it comes to pricing on this thing. Try to do any, if not all, type in vector, not pixel for smoothness. Just wanted to offer some help there. Wasn't sure of your print background.

Jeni, Thanks for the move!!! and... yep the full bleed will hurt me some but is worth the cost. As for the 4 color... I guess I was thinking that it would just be a 2 color process as I only have red and black. I will have to check with my printer to know how to lower costs. And for the drop shadow.... REALLY?!?!?!? ok... I'll have to investigate how to redesign it. Why will I be disapointed? Will I notice a drop off in the levels of gray?

Eveyone: hummm... very good point. I will check out local printers to help me out. You are right that I should work with someone face to face as this will be my first offset print job.

Thanks for the advice!!!

Yep, I'm anticipating you'll see some serious stepping in the those glows and shadows. I could definitely be wrong. It does depend on the line screen and the inks used. 2 colors you say? Well, that's not so bad. Good luck with whatever you decide.

About your card design ...

At first look, there appears to be a white dot under the n in zooboing. It looks a lot like a dot that should be above an i. It took me a minute or two to realize that dot was actually just a gap in the background graphic. I suggest tweaking that some.

Just your phone number? No address or email contact? Kind of odd for a business card methinks.

The .com gets kinda lost over there in the upper left corner. Maybe try for some bolder.

My two cents ...

Cell Number: 494

BeeKay: Well, great minds think alike. I also noticed this 'dot' and edited it out. As for the little contact info... everything people would want to know is on my website. I felt that that and my telephone number would be all that is needed. In the end I have decided to put all my contact info on the back of the card. I initially designed this card to hand out to those who don't know me, and with that they would have no need for all my contact info... but I have a second card that will have all the contact info on the front for those who know my work but just need to know how to fax me.

Thanks for your help guys!! You really have helped!!!

i have used one online printer that really impressed me: http://www.copycraft.com/

we did business cards with them, e-mailed the files on monday and had the cards on friday, and they were gorgeous.

as far as the card, i agree with beekay. at a glance i didn't see a portfolio link, took me a bit to see the dot-com. realize that all your clients aren't going to be design-savvy and need a few things spelled out for them, website and e-mail address are two of them. for me the card has a nice look to it but it borders on looking a bit too 3d-ish for my design tastes, the image just doesn't say a lot to me. personally i'd try doing something a bit more interesting with something like the blades of grass render or one of the architectural pieces on your site. good start tho, good luck.

chris (who was also an architecture major)


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