Business Cards
What is a
business Card?
'a small card printed
with one's name, occupation, business address, etc.' - google definition.
Basically a business card is just one way of advertising either yourself or your company. it is an easy way of transporting your details to possible clients or investors.
some tips when creating business cards
- Think about the pictures (they have to
represent you)
- what you want them to say on the
back
- size or shape
- a gloss finish or matte finish.
Where can you get business cards printed?
To produce a business card there are many online websites that can print your design for you, website such as moo.com, Vista Print, Hello print, Instandprint.co.uk.
This post will look into two different company that will
produce business cards and other materials that can advertise you
as a photographer or your business.
The first company is Vista Print. - http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/
Vista Print is a
company that will go the extra mile to make sure that your order is right for
you. If not happy they will make every possible option for you to be satisfied.
Vista Print
offers...
- High
Quality Prints
- Affordable
Prices
- Design
tool that will help anyone at any level
- Professional
Quality
- 100%
satisfied product, quality and design
“Anyone with the passion, ambition and spirit to
run a business should have access to customised marketing products that help
them connect with customers, professionally and affordably. We have pursued
that vision from day one – and we always will.” - Robert Keane, Founder & CEO, Vistaprint
The second company is Moo - www.moo.com/uk/
Moo is an online
print and design company that will go the extra mile, they are a company that
believe design is everything. They will not stop until the company has
satisfied the customer, and they are an award winning company.
Moo offers....
- Online
print and design company
- Professional
designs
- High
professional quality
- Affordable
Prices
We've
never thought 'satisfaction guaranteed' was the most inspiring phrase. We'd
like you to be satisfied of course, but we'd prefer it if you were absolutely
thrilled beyond words with your order. We take great pride in our work, and we
want you to feel the same about yours. So, even for the tiniest of typos, we’ll
move heaven and earth to make sure you get exactly what you want – or your
money back! - MOO's Promise
Styles of
Business Cards
Business Cards can come in all different shapes and sizes, I am
personally am going to look into the website MOO.com. From researching business
cards through this website, it has come to my attention that you can get
different types of business cards, such as
‘Moo’ is a combination of 50 business cards that comes with
· Printed in
premium paper stock with a smooth Matte or shiny Gloss Finish
· Hundered of
exclusive designs to choose from or you can upload your own photographs/style
· You can print a
different image on different one (all business cards different)
All from the price of £13.99
‘Square’ is a combination of 50 business cards that comes with
· Allows you to
show your creative and connected with a square Business Card
· Ideal format to
promote your business, products or Instagram photographs
· Hundreds of
exclusive designs to choose from, or you can use your own
· Use printfinity
to print different image on every one
All from the price of £15.99
‘Mini’ is a combination of 100 mini cards
· Mini cards are
half the size of original business cards
· You can upload
your own images or personalise the company ‘MOO’ designs
· Can use up too
100 different designs in each pack
· Shows of your
portfolio, your products, your business and yourself.
100 MiniCards cost from £12.23
Not only can you get different sizes or shapes of business cards but you
can also get different paper that they are created on, for example still suing
the website Moo.com
After looking and researching all the information and guidance that will
help me to decide on what exactly I wanted to base my business cards on I cam
up with this….
My
Business Cards
Producing
business cards is one of the hardest things i have ever done; there is so much
to think about.
Landscape or
portrait
Pictures to use
What are you
going to write on it
Gloss or Matte
finish
What size or
shape
Where to get
them printed
So the first
thing to do is decide where to get them printed and what they have to offer
you.
I decided to go
to MOO.com. I personally have never used these before until i had my business
cards made, i heard about it from university tutors and other members of my
class. (great company)
Then do I want
landscape or portrait business cards - what would look better for my
photographs?
I had different
photographs that i wanted to use both landscape and portraits photographs so
this was a tough decision and in the end i decided to get both landscape and
portrait business cards made because then i could choose which I preferred when
they arrived.
For my landscape business cards i decided to go
for a more documentary style, focusing on work that i have been doing for the
past year, work including my churches, landscapes and documentary style work
After deciding what i wanted on the front of the business cards i
had to decide what to put on the back and how to display the information. I
wanted the exactly same information but put on a landscape business card and on
a portrait business card.
What i
included on my business cards
To decide on
what you want to include make sure it advertises you and shows all the ways on
which the client can get in touch with you and see your work. make it easy to
understand and clean and tidy.
For example on
my business cards it included....
Name - Jessica
MP Walker
Occupation -
Photographer
Email -
jessicawalkerphotography@hotmail.com
Number -
07584855444
Size and
Shape
I decided to get
the standard size business cards with square edges as i felt this suited my
style better but you could of had smaller ones with curved edges, but it is
really your preference and what you want your business cards to look
like.
Gloss or
Matte
Again this is
down to your preference but i decided to give my business cards a gloss feel to
them, i wanted the to have a shine to the image and make it stand out, but
there is nothing wrong with a matter finish, again it is your own
preference.
I decided to go
with MOO because i had heard about this company many times from previous people
and peers and everything i heard was positive, but both companies that i have
spoken about are equally as good as each other.
Post Cards
What is a postcard?
'A cards
sending a message by post without an envelope, typically having a photograph or
other illustrations on one side'. - Google definition
Basically a post card is a way of sending a message to another person.
Mostly postcards are bought while on holiday or visiting somewhere and you are
wanting to tell you family/friends back home how lovely the place is. On the
front of the postcard is usually a picture/illustration that represents the
place you are.
Why i have chosen to do postcards
I decided to produce postcard as part of my promotional pack because i
felt that this way a good and pleasant way of showing who you are and you
photography. It is something that could be bought and then given to someone
else, a good way of making my work known. I personally think postcards are
handy because it not only gives you and image that one person could re use
either within their house but also it allows your work and detail be known.
Where prints postcards
Vista Print, Moo.com, Printaholic.com, Instaprint.com. These are just a
few companies that print postcards as well as other products.
Vista Print
I decided to look at Vista Print to see what exactly they had to offer
me, I wanted to see how there process was and what exactly materials and
quality they provided, below is some print screens of what I discovered.
From
looking at the website it was simple to follow and all of the information was
easy to understand. I find some website to be complicated and not fully show an
understanding to the process. Also what is good about this website is that it
shows the amount that it would cost you for certain products. Its not one of
them websites that tell you the overall at the end and gives you a shock.Vista
Print is versatile to your own preferences and welcomes your own opinion and
design
Moo.com was another website that I choose to look at . Looking at
different website allowed me to gain a better understanding of what each
company had to offer me. These two companies, Vista Print and Moo.com have had
both positive feedback when talking to people that I know.
Once gaining access to the Moo.com website and clicking on the Postcard
section of the site I was greeted with this
Looking at the website Moo I felt like I had a feeling of being
accomplished, it was exciting to look at and colourful. It had a feeling that
you wanted to design your work with them. Again like Vista Print it laid out
all of the information you needed to gain a better understanding of what they
offered. Moo also gives you the
opportunity to create your own postcards with your own designs offering you
support and opportunity.
Where i got them printed
Like my business cards i decided to get my postcards printed at Moo.com.
The reasoning behind this is because i was already printing with this company
but also because i have heard so much good information and how reliable the
company is.
My postcards
Deciding on what exactly you want on your postcards is as difficult as
when you were deciding what to put on our business cards. There are things you
need to remember, things such as
· Does it connect
with you and your style
· Does it represent
you
· Is it landscape or
portrait postcards
· What i want to show
Designing my post cards I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted landscape
or portrait ones. I wanted them to fit in with my business cards because these
are another way of advertising that i am as a photographer.
Firstly i needed to gain a better understanding of what postcards look
like and how they are displayed, so i looked on the Internet at example and
these are what i found...
After gaining a better understanding of what they looked like and had an
idea of what website I was going to use, I decided to use the company Moo.com
from my previous research I just felt that this company would suit my needs and
it felt more organised and interesting.
My first initial idea was to use the exact same photographs that i have
used on my business cards. These pictures consist of both documentary as well
as still life. I decided to keep my still like images of the flowers in as i
felt that these were both strong and some of my favourite work, these then
became my portrait postcards. The only difference between the business cards
and postcards were the fact that they were different size and my postcards have
a white boarder.
Although I was extremely happy with my portrait postcards I decided
since producing landscape and portrait business cards that I would create
landscape postcards. In this case this would allow me to show both styles of
photography, for example my portrait business cards are produces in a studio,
using studio technology, i.e. lights, tethering wire, equipment, techniques
where as my landscape postcards are more of a documentary style photography
that is produces while out on shoots, using only natural lighting, a tripod and
different lenses.
As I have said my landscape postcards is more of a documentary style and
I have chosen these photographs specifically because this is how I would class
my style, more of a documentary style photographer who produces work that is
more abstract. I look for shapes and consistency throughout my work, focusing
on something that is interesting and unique. My landscape postcards consist of
my documentary work, for example churches, seascapes and landscapes as well as
other abstract documentary objects.
I choose to design postcards when i was away on in Poland for an
educational visit. Postcards are a simple but clever way of advertising your
work and you as a photographer. My post cards show both my artistic still life
creation but also my documentary style. I would consider myself to have an
interest in both old and new stuff, as well as creating and re creating
photographs. Not only do you have your image/images on the front of your
postcards but also you advertise yourself on the back. This will include my name,
profession, contact details as well as my website.
What i intend to do with my postcards
Designing postcards as part of my promotional pack was intentional as I
though It would be a nice, easy way of advertising myself as a photographer and
my work. They are easy to give out once (or bought) and they are a nice
keepsake. Whenever you think of postcards you would associate them with being a
keep sake from being on holiday or just a nice way of sending someone happy
message, messages of their travels. The photograph is what sell the
place/company/person and I though that this was an interesting way of getting
me out into the world.
These postcards are a part of my professional presentation on myself,
allowing me to advertise myself as an up and coming photographer. I aim to
either sell them at my degree show as well as use a set of them in my portfolio
when presenting myself to an employer.
Stickers
Stickers, i created my stickers using Moo.com. This idea came when i was
looking through Moo to see what exactly they did as products and i thought this
would be a great little fun idea for my degree show. Not only does it show my
work but it also allows the people to take a sticker and advertise it too. I
thought it would be a nice gesture to the guests.
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