In preparation for GraphExpo (yay!), many of the RIT students are busy printing their first ever business cards. Everyone is in a quest to standout from the norm and be remembered with a small 2″x3.5″ piece of paper. However, the real problem with business cards is that it always seems that when you “Google” creative business cards  that you find cards that if you do the math in your head would cost a student their grocery budget for two weeks! My love for these cards are super strong, don’t get me wrong (I look forward to the day when my business card can be made into a spork, it does exist and it is awesome). But for now, I thought I would demo three more expensive cards paired down for a smaller budget.

The Fold

This card from Signa is really interesting it not only has a dye cut on it but it folds to reveal more information! For this style of card with a fold the price would be pretty hefty since not only are you paying someone to fold the card but also you have to deal with a custom dye cut cost. To get around this, you could make a trifold card which would be three business cards “stacked” together. This allows you have more space and fewer cuts come press time. Also the folding can easily be done by hand if you are only making a few. The best part is…you get to put more information about yourself. Maybe  you could add your goals, an abbreviated resume or an example of your work…the possibilities are endless!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Embossed

Embossing is so wonderful! It adds that extra punch to many printed products even business cards and this card by John Henry is not exception. As usual embossing costs money and for those short on cash and equipment, it can really be a pocket drainer. Yet if you look at the card closer you can see other design elements being used within the card. For example, scale of the initials, typographical contrast and positive and negative space. By playing off these elements and using them as the driving force of the design you can easily imitate the general feel of the design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dye Cut

The coolest business cards are usually the dye cut ones. They feel different in your hands and look really cool. However, I have noticed they do get lost a lot easier in the shuffle since they are usually smaller but hey to each their own. The card done by Timebomb Custom Letterpress is AWESOME but considering they are a print shop they probably have a dye cutter on hand and made these pretty cheap. However, if you were to order these from someplace…it’s another story. There is hope and it is called AC Moore. If you go to AC Moore they have dye cutters that run from about 14 to 20 dollars each allowing the every man to have their own dye cut business cards. If you do it yourself you can really save on finishing costs from a shop. Fair warning though make sure you make the cards a bit bigger to compensate for the dye cutter!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What did I make for GraphExpo? You will just have meet up with me to find out!

Want to see more cool business cards? Check out http://designrfix.com/inspiration for some more cool ideas!!