Here is a business card idea I have come up with. I have been working on designs for personal business cards before this module, so this is a little closer to a final design than I would normally be at by this stage. However, I am prepared to make adjustments.
The card is set to CMYK, 85 x 55mm at 300ppi for a high quality print. A 3mm bleed is recommended, but as I intend to do a test print at the Digital Copying Services on campus, I have no bleed as their pricing list states the image must be 85 x 55mm. I have been recommended to use PDF format. If the prints are not satisfactory, I will then edit the image to have a bleed and use one of the (more expensive) online companies I have researched into.
I would like a double-sided card and want it to convey my own style. I am interested in 3D work above all else (although I would like to freelance in web and Photoshopping to a lesser extent also) so I have opted to use one of my 3D models as a focal image. The collapsing metal cube is faded into the background while the text showing who I am and what I do is in the foreground, being key information.
A faded, double purple line separates the two lines of text. According to crystal-cure.com, purple is the colour most favoured by artists, is good to meditate to and if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. I feel this is a good reflection of my personality in just one colour as I think of myself as a calm and peaceful person. A deep purple like this has always been a colour I favour in design too.
The image below is the original HD render of my 3D model that I have used in this card design.
The reverse of the card is, again, simple and reiterates to the reader who I am, what I do and also how to contact me. The style is kept the same. This does seem a little empty or unbalanced to me, but I don't dislike it.
The grungy style of the card is intended so it matches the style of the website I've been building. After many redesigns of the website prior to this module, I have recently settled on this theme.
I intend to make layout changes and colour tweaks as I would like my website, business card and possibly CV to all have a similar style. For example, I would like the horizontal line to be the same purple as on the business cards. Some functionality such as the contact form also still needs work.
I currently have a functioning php gallery set up of my work on one of the tabs, so it is coming along nicely.
NOTE: Upon publishing this post and viewing my card images in full size, they look very...blue. I am hoping this is due to the image being set the CMYK but being displayed via an RGB screen. However, this is what the test prints are for. The two RGB images on this post (original cube render and website) display with the correct colours.
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteYour personal branding looks good to me. I'm almost certain that the problem you're having with the colour is not only because of working with RGB colours and printing in CMYK but maybe because of not using a PANTONE guide. This will give you the exact colour you're aiming for. Now, the problem is to find a PANTONE guide somewhere (this guides are really expensive and generally design studios have buy them). Maybe you can ask in the Digital Copying Service of Uni, find the exact grey you're looking for, write the code down and then apply it to your design (Illustrator and Photoshop include these guides so you can just select the code you found in the printed PANTONE guide).
Apart from that, your whole design looks coherent and reflects your main interests.
I will also recommend you to justify your personal information (back of your card) to the centre. See how it looks and if it works. It seems a little bit un-balanced to me but you decide. This is just a suggestion. Experiment with the disposition of your elements and see what you can come up with.