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jamesray50
03-07-2011, 12:29 AM
I have a new logo for my website and need a new business card. The place where I had my business cards picked up wants to charge me $85 an hour to design a card for me. I have no talent when it comes to design. I didn't like the other design. I've looked at Vista Print, but they have predesigned cards and I couldn't figure out how to use my logo.

Is there anyone on this forum that designs business cards that would be willing to give me an estimate?

Thanks,

Capitalist
03-07-2011, 08:18 AM
It's not something that I usually do - but I do have some background in graphic design, and I'd be happy to mock something up for you. I'll send you a PM.

SoloResults
03-08-2011, 02:13 PM
You could try a service like VistaPrint.com. They have many pre-built templates that you could customize with your own logo. Plus, its all online, so you shouldn't need any design software. Good prices too.

n_touch
03-10-2011, 01:27 AM
I would also just google free lance design or freelance business card designs. For them to charge you that much an hour is absurd for a business card. Sorry to say that. I have designed many, and in fact are going through our own redesign of ours. I think I spent a total of an hour yesterday making 6 different designs, so it is something pretty easy. Good luck.

Harold Mansfield
03-10-2011, 06:52 PM
Vista Print is not a bad solution ( not to step on anyone's toes who is offering services).
There is an option to design your own using your own logo and/or background image. You can control everything from the fonts to the paper.
It takes some messing around with to get the hang of it, but it's not bad.

I haven't ordered a batch in a while but I was happy with the last batch I got.

boogle
03-11-2011, 10:45 PM
I think to maybe answer your question about vistaprint, there are certain templates that are designed to allow you to upload your own image. On the left where you can filter your templates, one of them deals specifically with templates that allow you to upload your own logo. That approach will get you started. Finding a professional designer will go a long way though. As a side note, can I mention having a bing web search engine at the top of your site seems a little weird. You typically want to avoid things that take people away from your site for no reason. Maybe you were trying to get a search bar that searches your site... I went to it to find out what your rates were and then got taken to another book keepers site through bing, just a thought.

n_touch
03-12-2011, 02:32 AM
Good point on the search at the top, I didn't even notice it when I looked. The other thing about vista is they have a great turn around time, and are decent in price. If you want to wait a few extra days you can try a place like rushflyers. They are usually pretty cheap and do excellent work. They also have a design team to do your work if you haven't found anyone.

lav
03-12-2011, 06:47 PM
For them to charge you that much an hour is absurd for a business card.$85 an hr is cheap IMO.... lol

TotalPC
03-12-2011, 08:05 PM
an awesome service that i used regularly is moo.com

used to get a lot of their mini cards. But i believe now they do everything. You can use your own images or theirs and they have a cool online builder.

501graphics
03-13-2011, 01:19 AM
In my opinion, Vistaprint's print quality is horrendous, and their templates are quite stale. Then again, I'm biased because I'm a designer myself.

Jo Ellen, I'm sure you've found a source for your business cards by now, but I'll put this out there anyway: I typically charge $50 to design a single-sided business card, and $80 to design a double-sided card. For the real fancy stuff (premium cards, plastic cards, etc), I charge $100. Charging per project makes it easier for my clients to fit my services into their budgets), and I have too much going on around me to keep up with exact time, so charging hourly wouldn't be fair to my clients.

I hope you've had luck finding someone to design your cards! They're probably the most important marketing tool you have!

Harold Mansfield
03-13-2011, 01:48 AM
I've been saying that I wanted to get a nice card designed, but in all honesty..In just over a year in business I think I have given out 10 business cards total.

Spider
03-13-2011, 05:20 PM
I'm like you - I know I should give out more but forget and by the time I remember they have been sitting around in my pocket, being moved from shirt to shirt, jacket to jacket, until they are a bit grungy around the edge and I throw them away!

Duston McGroarty
03-13-2011, 08:34 PM
I like Fiverr.com for these kinda things... there's a lot of professional
designers there that will do some great work for five bucks!

I've had ecovers, logos and reports done there myself.

VistaPrint is a little screwy to use... what really irritates me about
them is they lure you in with the 250-500 free business cards
but when you go to check (after spending hours making your own
design) they want to charge yo $20 to have them shipped in 7-10 days!
Free shipping is 21 days!

Harold Mansfield
03-13-2011, 10:25 PM
Maybe I'm different, but I just don't see business cards as needing to be a major expense. Choose the paper, font, and throw a logo on it and what else do you need? Perhaps if I were a million dollar business, I may go for the rare cotton woven paper, custom fonts, and $60 an oz ink...but even then...I just don't see it in this day and age.

I think a simple well made card is fine. I'd probably be more likely to spend on a nice blue tooth phone that allows you to share contact info with other phones, than spend $85 an hour to have a card designed.
Of course I'm not doing enough physical networking to make my cards that important to me.
Although I can see it if you work for a company and are constantly places like trade shows and events where people are constantly exchanging business cards.

Steve B
03-15-2011, 04:04 AM
... what really irritates me about
them is they lure you in with the 250-500 free business cards
but when you go to check (after spending hours making your own
design) they want to charge yo $20 to have them shipped in 7-10 days!
Free shipping is 21 days!

I think that's a pretty incredible offer even if you have to wait a while. Actually, I'm surprised they have free shipping in addition to the free business cards. I've always had good experiences with Vista print.

boogle
03-15-2011, 04:34 PM
I am with Harold on this on, IMO all that matters is that the person who you give the business card too can look at it and remember who you are and why they kept it. I teach kids to play rock and roll, so my card says "teaching kids to play rock and roll". Business name, address, email, phone, website.

Unlike some other posts I do wind up giving a lot of cards away and do not think my simple design has ever hurt me, actually it helps because it is easy to read. I also threw a picture of a guitar pick on there just as a visual reminder. Save your design money for your website and tri-folds, my general rule of thumb is the more copy, the more I focus on design to make sure the point is made with-out disrupting the copy.

qualitymaintenance
03-18-2011, 01:13 PM
Graphic design is a challenge and can be expensive. I have had good experiences with hiring an intern to do graphic design for me. There is typically no charge (however, I usually pay them a little something) and they do good work. Just find out from VistaPrint or whoever will do your printing what format the artwork needs to be saved in. Get the intern to save it in that format and also a format that can be edited for simple changes like phone number, address, webs address, etc. in the future.

Community colleges and univeristies are always looking for intern opportunities for their students. Graphic design students especially because they will need a strong portfolio after graduation to get a job. Contact a school in your area and speak with career services or the appropiate department for the major. They will be happy to pair you up with a competent and talented student.

Best Wishes!

yanni
03-22-2011, 10:26 AM
Do NOT use vista print. I always use E-Lance for all my design/copywriting activities. Check it out. You basically put the description of what you want done for your project. You add how much money you want to spend, and artists bid on the project. Since they are bidding against each other, prices are extremely competitive.