Business card opinions needed!

Hello all. I've searched this one, nothing that quite meets what I wanted to ask (although there was a good comedy thread...).

Basically, I'm a student looking at getting some business cards for networking events, with the intention of getting a card back in return being just as important as the card selling myself. Just wondered what people's opinions on the design of a good business card should be?

My inclination is something super simple, cream card with black lettering and that's it. Reasons being that I don't want to appear flashy when I haven't even graduated let alone worked my way up a ladder. On the other hand, there's the argument that a card should be memorable, but I'm not selling a service here, I'm looking to get an internship.

Anyway, feel free to offer opinions, what kinds of cards have people here invested in?

If it helps I'm studying Computer Science.

Oh and opinions on whether the business card holder should be inexpensive or expensive also welcome.

hate to say it, but for your situation just go on crowdspring or elance and post your project... you can get a decent card DESGIN (just the design, not the printing) for $50-$100. Then there are some really cheap online printers like vistaprint where you can upload your design and get it printed for cheap.

when you're giving the brief (basically, describing what you want in the card) make sure you are as clear and concise as possible - because the people designing will probably not be native english speakers (most likely teenagers in India).

Also make sure you get copies of the finalized files in the following formats:

.eps (most important)
.tif
.jpg
.png

for the tif and jpg, ask for them in 300 ppi (pixels per inch) CMYK format.

that should get you going

Your buisness card is crap.

I just had some made for myself. I had a local graphic designer student to lay it out, then I'm having it printed from an online vendor for about $50 for 1000 cards. I just told her I wanted something clean, simple and minimalistic looking. Ideally, I'd love to do letterpressed cards but don't want to spend $1-2 per card at this time and I wanted them rather quickly. Elance would be great. this is what they are. The edges are rounded and the card is actually slightly bigger than a standard card. The card stock is a thickish matte with UV coating on the logo. Since you are studying Computer Science, I would add things like your linkedin profile, website and maybe an online portfolio of your work on your business card in order to stand out. Chances are if someone will call you back, they'd like more information. One caveat is to make sure your email address is one you don't want a facebook profile of you doing a keg stand naked shows up.

Originally Posted by Clemson

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Your buisness card is crap.

Yeah, that's the one I saw when searching I'm thinking of also getting some novelty cards for the more "fun" companies, perhaps a card that is also a cd (except not disk shaped) with a program or two I coded on it.

Thanks for the advice, flashback. I'm looking at those sites now. I guess I just need to figure out whether it should have a 'design' per-se or just be plain. I'm certainly not adverse to getting them done cheaply, I don't actually want to appear flashy.

You can also see lots of examples of pre-laid out cards on www.crane.com

They have very classic cards and very high quality.

Originally Posted by Xericx

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I just had some made for myself. I had a local graphic designer student to lay it out, then I'm having it printed from an online vendor for about $50 for 1000 cards. I just told her I wanted something clean, simple and minimalistic looking.

Ideally, I'd love to do letterpressed cards but don't want to spend $1-2 per card at this time and I wanted them rather quickly.

Elance would be great.

this is what they are. The edges are rounded and the card is actually slightly bigger than a standard card. The card stock is a thickish matte with UV coating on the logo.

Since you are studying Computer Science, I would add things like your linkedin profile, website and maybe an online portfolio of your work on your business card in order to stand out. Chances are if someone will call you back, they'd like more information. One caveat is to make sure your email address is one you don't want a facebook profile of you doing a keg stand naked shows up.

Those are nice. What had put me off was some on these printing sites which looked like they were done in powerpoint or with clipart.

I don't even have a linkedin profile or a website, but I'm glad you mentioned them, I'm going to sort that out before any of these card shenanigans (I can't believe how clueless I am...).

Wordpress is a fantastic resource to make a webpage for yourself. I mean, www.arthurkade.com is a rediculous example from the DT forum....but you get the idea.

i get mine from a company called vista. you can order 250 for free, they are a world wide company. i will try and find web address and pm it to you.

Darron

I appreciate the sentiment but I can't order the actual physical cards online due to difficulties receiving mail. So it'll be a bricks and mortar store, but I'm not overly worried about the price

Don't be a small timer -- Beef Jerky cards

must have a watermark

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You beat me to it! LOL.

Originally Posted by JammieDodger

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I guess I just need to figure out whether it should have a 'design' per-se or just be plain.

where would you get the idea that being plain would be more effective than having something uniquely designed for you?

Originally Posted by flashback

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where would you get the idea that being plain would be more effective than having something uniquely designed for you?

It's in the same vein as not wearing a too expensive suit if you're a recent graduate at a law firm...

...I don't want to upstage anyone. Equally I don't want to look like I'm selling a service when I'm just trying to make contacts, I'm not a plumber. And lastly, it could be said that a plain business card says I've got the substance not to require something outlandish.

But regardless, a minimalist design should be fine so I'll go with that, rather than a plain design.