Where to get business cards made.
October 18, 2011 2:07 PM Subscribe
Every so often I come across awesome business cards online, today Design milk has 10 of the most awesome I have seen.
Where does one get cards of this quality made?
I didn't tell you this, but maybe a place like Cranky Pressman (with Special Technique Business Cards) would be a good start.
posted by circular at 2:11 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by circular at 2:11 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]
Pretty much any old school print shop can do these. All of these are pretty straightforward from a printing perspective and they just require letterpress capabilities.
If you're going this route. You likely want to find someone local since you're really going to want to handle and view the card stock in person before doing a printing run.
posted by bitdamaged at 2:29 PM on October 18, 2011
If you're going this route. You likely want to find someone local since you're really going to want to handle and view the card stock in person before doing a printing run.
posted by bitdamaged at 2:29 PM on October 18, 2011
Seconding local print shop. If you happen to be in Wisconsin I can recommend one. Yes, it will be expensive unless you plan to print thousands.
posted by desjardins at 2:30 PM on October 18, 2011
posted by desjardins at 2:30 PM on October 18, 2011
You hire an actual graphic designer (the kind that will want to discuss paper samples, font choices, etc. with you) and work with a real press. And be prepared to spend real money.
Those are cool cards. Most of those are fairly expensive cards, too (especially in this "25,000 cards for $10 overnight" world) There's a lot of custom diecut, custom embossment, specialty paper, etc. going on with those cards.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:30 PM on October 18, 2011
Those are cool cards. Most of those are fairly expensive cards, too (especially in this "25,000 cards for $10 overnight" world) There's a lot of custom diecut, custom embossment, specialty paper, etc. going on with those cards.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:30 PM on October 18, 2011
Hire a professional graphic designer and tell them you are willing to pay for specialty printing techniques.
I used to run a screen printing shop and would quote designers for cool spot colors (glow in the dark, metallics, etc!) all the time. The designers all have tons of resources to make things like this happen and were enthusiastic about these more creative projects, the problem was always the client balked that it cost a lot more than Kinkos and usually required high print runs to balance out the time involved in setting the job up.
posted by bradbane at 2:33 PM on October 18, 2011
I used to run a screen printing shop and would quote designers for cool spot colors (glow in the dark, metallics, etc!) all the time. The designers all have tons of resources to make things like this happen and were enthusiastic about these more creative projects, the problem was always the client balked that it cost a lot more than Kinkos and usually required high print runs to balance out the time involved in setting the job up.
posted by bradbane at 2:33 PM on October 18, 2011
For printing, I can highly recommend Taste of Ink Studios. Gorgeous quality, helpful staff, really reasonable prices (all things considered), and fast turnaround. I did my own cards, so I can't speak to their design services, but the ones showcased on their site are in line with the ones in your link.
posted by mireille at 2:50 PM on October 18, 2011
posted by mireille at 2:50 PM on October 18, 2011
I used to work for a company with a small high quality DPS division, they did stuff like this all the time for corporate clients, die-cut, foil, etc. They subcontracted a lot of stuff to Metro Graphics NY
The first run is the most expensive since they have to make the die, after that they can pull it off the shelf and re-use it.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:09 PM on October 18, 2011
The first run is the most expensive since they have to make the die, after that they can pull it off the shelf and re-use it.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:09 PM on October 18, 2011
Rachel Street Press in Chicago just did some gloss on matte cards for me and I am very happy with the overall quality.
posted by hortense at 3:15 PM on October 18, 2011
posted by hortense at 3:15 PM on October 18, 2011
The ones second from the bottom are a stock template from Moo.com. Fairly reasonable rates and the quality is considerably better than any other DIY online outfit I've tried.
posted by Temagami at 6:02 PM on October 18, 2011
posted by Temagami at 6:02 PM on October 18, 2011
What's the price ranger per card on this type of thing?
It depends on quantity and printing techniques. If you're doing 100 it will be very expensive. If you're doing 1,000, then slightly less expensive. If you're doing a registered deboss it will be more expensive. If you're doing 2 spot colors one-sided it will be less expensive.
I'll simply restate that this is the kind of thing that you would hire an experienced graphic designer for. Beyond the print production (the craft) is a concept (the design) that makes these cards exceptional. A good designer will know which printer can handle the production.
posted by quadog at 10:31 PM on October 18, 2011
It depends on quantity and printing techniques. If you're doing 100 it will be very expensive. If you're doing 1,000, then slightly less expensive. If you're doing a registered deboss it will be more expensive. If you're doing 2 spot colors one-sided it will be less expensive.
I'll simply restate that this is the kind of thing that you would hire an experienced graphic designer for. Beyond the print production (the craft) is a concept (the design) that makes these cards exceptional. A good designer will know which printer can handle the production.
posted by quadog at 10:31 PM on October 18, 2011
As a professional graphic designer, I'd like to high-five quadog on his great answer.
The people who simply suggested a print shop gave great advice on where to get the thing printed, but first you need something DESIGNED to take to said printer. That'd be like just hiring a building contractor to DESIGN AND BUILD your home. You also need an architect. Now, that doesn't mean that some print shops don't employ talented designers...
You need to hire a designer that has experience with this sort of work, and knows how to work with a printer on producing specialty printing techniques.
A search for "business cards" on www.dribbble.com might land you some prospects.
As for pricing, there really isn't a way to tell you, other than to say "expensive." You'll need to pay the designer for their time, the print shop for their time, and then there are all the anectodals... things like paper stock, and any specialty techniques (like getting a die made for diecuts, or a plate made for a deboss...) This is completely custom stuff, and as such, there is no hard and fast way to price it. Again, an experienced designer will guide you through all of these steps and should negotiate/acquire prices from all the associated vendors on your behalf.
posted by teriyaki_tornado at 8:05 AM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
The people who simply suggested a print shop gave great advice on where to get the thing printed, but first you need something DESIGNED to take to said printer. That'd be like just hiring a building contractor to DESIGN AND BUILD your home. You also need an architect. Now, that doesn't mean that some print shops don't employ talented designers...
You need to hire a designer that has experience with this sort of work, and knows how to work with a printer on producing specialty printing techniques.
A search for "business cards" on www.dribbble.com might land you some prospects.
As for pricing, there really isn't a way to tell you, other than to say "expensive." You'll need to pay the designer for their time, the print shop for their time, and then there are all the anectodals... things like paper stock, and any specialty techniques (like getting a die made for diecuts, or a plate made for a deboss...) This is completely custom stuff, and as such, there is no hard and fast way to price it. Again, an experienced designer will guide you through all of these steps and should negotiate/acquire prices from all the associated vendors on your behalf.
posted by teriyaki_tornado at 8:05 AM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
I know we're talking in generalities here, but what is expensive for business cards? $0.25 each? $0.50 each? $1.00 each? $5.00 each?
(Our simple corporate ones with a one-color logo cost us $0.03 each.)
posted by smackfu at 10:26 AM on November 2, 2011
(Our simple corporate ones with a one-color logo cost us $0.03 each.)
posted by smackfu at 10:26 AM on November 2, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by amanda at 2:11 PM on October 18, 2011 [2 favorites]