Business cards: who's best to use

[Marvin]

Just that really. The band needs some business cards printed up. Is there anywhere that's recommended? I'd just go to Vista Print I suppose 

 

Ta

 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I get mine from printed.com

 

 

[Cliff Edge]

I’ve always been happy with VistaPrint. 

[JapanAxe]

I’ve used Vistaprint but carefully avoided all the upsells!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[SimonK]

 

[Norris]

Vistaprint here. It's handy that you can just order a reprint when you run low.

[jezzaboy]

I use a mob called Banana Print. You can design your own and save it. They look great, very good prices and super fast delivery. Ordered Sunday and delivered Wednesday.

[Acebassmusic]

Recently I ordered some cards from Printed.com I needed quickly. Pricing looked good so I went throught the process of artwork / create account / upload / payment details etc etc. Got to the very end and the price for 250 had gone up from £21 to £30 🤔 I hadn't realised the initial price was ex-VAT (which was also added to the shipping cost) No idea on the quality of them as they havent arrived yet. 

[HeadlessBassist]

A Trombonist friend of mine had some great comedy business cards in the 90s. They said something like;

 

"Rich Thomas, Test Rockets Flown, Battles Fought, Races Won, Virgins Enlightened, Bars Quaffed Dry, & All Round Good Guy!"

[BigRedX]

Whoever you pick make sure that their standard rate business cards are the normal size of 85 x 55 mm. IIRC one of the major budget printers of business cards has/had a different standard size which doesn't fit in the typical business card pocket in a wallet rendering them less useful.

 

These days unless you want something fancy in terms of material or finishing, all the budget suppliers will be much of a muchness since all the cards will be digitally printed on similar digital presses and it's very difficult to get this wrong. I'd pick someone local and arrange a discount for collecting them in person. Otherwise if you don't want the hassle of picking them up yourself have a look at Flexpress who are usually very competitive for printing.

[dave_bass5]

I print mine at work, doesnt cost me anything then 😇

 

Agree with BigRedX, the standards size is 85mm x 55mm as it's pretty much the same size as a credit card, so fits in a wallet better.

We are finding more and more that people are using 88.9 x 50.8 instead. Not on purpose, but that a the default that some programs use and they dont bother to change it. 

 

Also if you are going to have a background printed or anything that goes right to the edge, it's better to set up a 3mm bleed on each side. 

[ricksterphil]

Solopress and Helloprint are both excellent 

 

I'd advise single sided on 400gsm silk art board so you can write stuff like your mobile number on the back.

 

Don't be tempted by gloss or matt lamination as you won't be able to write on 'em proper 😊

 

 

[dave_bass5]

16 minutes ago, ricksterphil said:

Solopress and Helloprint are both excellent 

 

I'd advise single sided on 400gsm silk art board so you can write stuff like your mobile number on the back.

 

Don't be tempted by gloss or matt lamination as you won't be able to write on 'em proper 😊

 

 

Wouldn't the phone number already be on the card?

We print 1000's of laminated cards every week. In fact ive never printed one without contact details on it. Still, if it's unlamented you could, as you say, still write on it. 

Agree about the stock though. 400gsm is perfect. Hate gloss lam with a passion. Looks cheap. 

[ricksterphil]

It's just if that number changes cos someone leaves you're knackered.

 

Band email, website and socials are all definitely, obvs

 

Agree on gloss lam. The soft touch Matt lam is a no-no too imo

[BigRedX]

Looking at the prices of my usual supplier 250 cards matt laminated is under £20 so if your contact details change it's not a big deal to get new ones printed.

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, ricksterphil said:

It's just if that number changes cos someone leaves you're knackered.

 

Band email, website and socials are all definitely, obvs

 

Agree on gloss lam. The soft touch Matt lam is a no-no too imo

Haha. Whenever im asked by customers what soft touch feels like, i tell them it’s like a nipple (obviously i chose who i say that too).