Look what the mailman dropped off the other day.
I've been in need of new business cards in a desperate way for sometime now. I've always designed my own cards to save on costs (and because I enjoy the work). I've used a variety of different online printers out there and every time I received the final product I swore up and down that the next time I'd do it right and get quality cards from a local printer. I've done this about 5 times now.
I've always struggled with what to put on my business cards that would appeal to the broadest group of potential clients while still being interesting. I've usually simply opted to not put a photograph and instead put my logo on one side and contact info on the other. However, I always wanted to put my photos on my cards - it's far more likely to be kept by a potential client after you've parted ways and has the added bonus of being a great mini piece of art. A few years ago a friend of mine showed me her mini moo cards which were cute and unusually sized and featured different photos on each card. I liked the concept of being able to have more than one photo on a card for the sake of variety. If I'm trying to convince someone to hang one of my landscapes, it seems only fitting that I can pass out a business card with a landscape photo on it. But alternatively, it doesn't make much sense when trying to get new portrait clients. Obviously I need cards with people on them. Moo cards seemed great because of the ability to print different photos per run, but I wasn't a huge fan of their mini size - sorry.
Well some years have passed and here I was again, in need of new business cards. So I decided to take another look at moo.com and I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only did they still make their signature mini cards, but they made full size cards too. Not only that, they even made cards with rounded corners! I watched their promo videos about their paper quality and printing process and was instantly sold. So I immediately got to work, selected 25 of my favorite photos, and decided to take a chance.
A week and change later, here's what arrived at my door:
Surprisingly nice packaging and presentation. I was very impressed by this level of care and design. I'm used to receiving my cards in something not much better than a glorified shoebox. This packaging showed commitment and integrity.
I ordered 200 cards, and they threw in a cool little black rolodex box to keep track of your collected cards. I felt kinda special, but I don't know, maybe they do this for everyone?
I even splurged on a $10 sticker book of 90 stickers. They're pretty rad.
You can print up to 50 different photos, but I decided to keep things civilized and printed only 25. Moo.com preferes a pdf print profile which I found to look a little bizarre when I exported my images, but with just a bit of tweaking I was able to get my photos to look pretty close to how I wanted them. Some of the shadows are a little muddier than I'd like, but that may be on my end and not necessarily due to the satin finish of the cards. A satin finish that is absolutely stunning by the way.
The cards themselves feel amazing. I'm totally in love with the rounded corners and the weight and feel of the card in hand is really just awesome. These are hands down the best feeling cards I've ever had.
I love this mini potfolio of business cards.
On the reverse I stripped away all the nonsense you usually get on a business card and simply listed my website against a repeating scroll of "RedTown photography".
I'm totally in love with these cards and can't wait to fan some out for a potential client and have them choose their favorite. In today's world there are so many different ways to get your work in front of people but there's still something to be said for a great business card. If you're in the market for some new ones yourself, this should be your first stop: www.moo.com
