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Paper Advice by Thickness

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Benefits Our #1 Favorite Business Cards If you are unsure of what paper type to go with, our staff by a majority loves our soft touch 19pt suede business cards. How to Pick The Right Paper Thickness Our lead business card paper specialist of 18 years, Cory Roland, speaks on picking the right paper type. Hint: Soft touch 19pt suede is #1 CORY RENOLDS: Hi friends! I am often asked, "What is the best paper to print business cards on?" In short, there is not one paper better than another but simply your personal preference. The equivalent would be like asking what the best ice cream flavor is. It is whatever you want it to be and i am here to help you figure out what the best business cards are for you. First, you want to nail down the main categories - paper thickness, paper feel, and paper features. In this tab, i will discuss business card thickness. PAPER THICKNESS: • SUPER THIN BUSINESS CARDS (to be subtle): We offer super thin linen business cards that are as thin as the old school cards that were once the standard business cards thickness back in the '70s. These thin business cards have a 100# textured linen material that is great if you wish to be subtle and fly under the radar in meetings. At times, a client does not wish to enter a meeting having their business card scream, "I'm rich and powerful", because you may be perceived differently. A 100# thin business card keeps them wondering of your dominance. It is just 30# thicker than professional letterheads and has a 15% thickness of a credit card. The next step up in thickness is the 14pt cheap business cards. Great for those that do not wish to have their business image judged and simply wish to use a color business card as a form of contact information transfer and nothing fancy. • MEDIUM THICKNESS (to just get by): The standard business card thickness in today's world is most definitely the Premium 16pt business cards. They possess a 50% thickness of a credit card, have a smooth surface and offer an excellent ink absorption capability. The pricing of 16pt business cards is on the cheap side. They are 2nd in line for our cheap business cards category after the 14pt card stock. These are wonderful for customers looking for something standard quality but not in the impressive category (unless you add foil or spot uv to it) but in terms of thickness - it is an average business card thickness used by the entire industry to print premium business cards. A more impressive card that is slightly thicker is the 17pt silk laminated business cards. A top 5 favorite for many of our clients that offers slightly above average thickness with a very cool surface finish. • ULTRA THICK BUSINESS CARDS (to impress): The other extreme is the ultra-thick 32pt business cards which have a 100% thickness of a credit card. These are excellent if you are looking for a wow effect. These heavy super thick business cards are purposely made to help you stand out. They come in an uncoated surface finish which keeps them elegant and without much flash (until you add the option gold foil stamping to it). They also have a painted edge finish if you're feeling wild! This thickness is perfect if you are wanting to get a big wow effect for an impressive business card in terms of weight, not features. Perfect for hotels, boutiques, fancy department stores or creative types such as designers. • THE PERFECT BUSINESS CARD THICKNESS (for all above average occasions) : In all my years of business card printing - if i was forced to move onto a deserted island and i could only bring one business card material with me, i would without hesitation choose the 19pt soft touch business cards which are our suede business cards. They offer above-average thickness and a super impressive touch that you will rarely ever feel in other business cards. The soft touch business card printing offers an optional raised gold foil stamping feature or a raised spot uv gloss effect - both very cool business card options for the soft touch suede business cards. Types of clients that choose our soft touch business cards with suede laminate are, plastic surgeons, real estate agents, graphic designers, fancy steakhouses, interior designers, and anyone looking to be elegant but without much flash to cheapen your look or feel. It is truly the perfect business card that everyone loves. In a group test of 153 staff members, 97% chose the soft touch business cards of all our business card paper stocks. Yeah, they are super cool! And there you have it, folks! Business card thickness 101. Pick the soft touch suede 19pt business cards - thank me later but have a great day first! Best Wishes, Cory Renolds How to Pick The Right Paper Feature Our lead setup technician of 14 years, Angela Moskal, speaks on picking the right paper features. Hint: Raised spot uv gloss on suede material. ANGELA MOSKAL: Hey guys! I am so delighted to help you with picking the best paper finish. As a designer myself, i often go back and forth on paper features such as gold foil, spot uv or rounded corners. My go-to always is the raised spot uv on the soft touch suede 19pt business cards. It is simply perfect for anyone looking to impress. PAPER FEATURES: • GOLD FOIL STAMPED BUSINESS CARDS (the ultimate wow card): I absolutely LOVE the look of our gold foil stamped business cards - offered on our 17pt silk laminated business cards, 19pt soft touch business cards and our 32pt business cards. Nothing impresses more than gold. May it be on jewelry, watches, business cards or any luxurious trimmings. Like all things in life, the time and place has to call for it. Gold has inspired civilizations for thousands of years, stemming back to Ancient Greece and Egypt. For business cards, the industry you are in has to call for it. It has to represent you and must be done tastefully. An all-black or all-white business cards with minimal gold foil in areas such as your name or web address whispers elegance. If you are looking to dominate an image, gold foil stamped business cards will get compliments 10 out of 10 times. You cannot ever go wrong with it but your company theme and your personality must support it. Flat foil stamping is available for our 17pt silk laminated business cards and our 32pt business cards. We also have a raised gold foil business cards on our 19pt soft touch business cards which is my personal favorite. The perfect feature that applies to all industries is the raised spot uv gloss which i discuss next. Our foil stamping also comes in many other colors such as red foil, blue foil, copper foil, or silver foil. • SPOT UV GLOSS BUSINESS CARDS (the perfect all-around feature for all industries): There is the flat spot uv gloss and the raised spot gloss effect that we offer. The raised spot gloss is a feature that allows you to add gloss only to desired areas in a heightened feel, such as a logo outline while leaving the rest of the card a natural matte finish. The flat spot uv gloss is the same effect but without the added height to the gloss. The names self describe them. Many clients do not want much flash on their card and the absolute best business card feature to always go with is the spot uv gloss. It adds a major wow effect without going overboard. It makes your logos pop much nicer. The flat spot uv is very neat but the raised spot gloss business cards are in a class of their own. You will always get the best compliments on raised gloss no matter your industry. Raised spot gloss is available on our soft touch business cards, also known as suede business cards. • ROUNDED CORNER BUSINESS CARDS: Rounded business cards have been around forever and are very popular among clients that want to show a more playful side without getting into complex features such as gold, silver, spot uv or metallic inks. You can say it is the easiest and simplest feature to a business card. The rounded edge business cards are available for most of our paper finishes such as our 14pt, 16pt, 17pt, and 19pt card stocks. • THE PERFECT BUSINESS CARD FEATURE (for all above average occasions): If I was going with just one feature it would no doubt be the raised spot uv on the soft touch business cards that have the 19pt thickness. I have yet to hear a client say they do not like them. Many call them the best business cards they have ever printed or felt. Pairing both soft touch suede and raised gloss makes it subtle but ultra-unique to the fingertips. You have to try it to appreciate it. Even clients who had no interested in anything impressive end up sticking with it on all their reprints. It does not disappoint! I hope i have helped share some of my insight and experience on my personal favorite, our staff's favorites and our client favorites which universally seems to be our soft touch suede with option raised spot uv gloss. Dream big, Angela Moskal How to Design The Perfect Business Card Our lead graphic designer of 11 years, Michael Parker, speaks on picking the perfect design. Hint: Perfection is what represents you! MICHAEL PARKER: My dear friends! A pleasure to share my lifes work with you. I have designed for clients such as NASA, Lego Toys, Whole Foods, Arm & Hammer and Warner Brothers Studios to share a few of my projects. GRAPHIC DESIGN TIPS AND ADVICE: • BEST COLORS TO USE: Colors undoubtedly play a big role in human psychology. Red says urgency, blue says safe and calm, black purs luxury, shades of green speak peacefully, orange and yellows are friendly and optimistic while gray says balance and neutrality. The colors to choose depend on the emotion to wish to evoke. Restaurant owners should always stick to black, reds, and yellows as those are warm colors that tie into food. A banker or real estate agent tends to do well with blues or greens. If you are in a creative or fun line of work, you can incorporate any color that you personally desire. There is no right or wrong, purely preference but if you are looking to add color to business cards that you wish to be safe with, it is best to follow the color emotion rules that are proven in psychology that i share above. Muted colors show a calmer tone to your business. Neon colors show excitement. If you are in any professional business the colors you choose also fall into the personality of your business. What i like to do when designing the perfect business cards is i create 2-3 very different versions and i ask the opinion of 10 people. I ask them how they feel or percieve the business based on the look. I like to stay nuetral to my work and not fall in love with it so asking others for their option in the end will be the ultimate guide to knowing if you have chosen the perfect colors. • HOW BIG TEXT SIZE SHOULD BE: TThere is no right or wrong text size but there is certainly the rule of never going below the 11pt size. Big text can always be seen as fun or creative but very small text can be frustrating and be seen as poor design work. Small text is certainly creative and modern. Small text is subtle but too small of text is a failed attempt at a modern look. The perfect font size for people of all ages, young or mature is around 12pt. If you wish to get creative you can always pair a large font at around 22pt but you should always stick to no more than 2 font suizes in one design. If you have 7 lines of text and all 7 have different sizes your business cards can look very cluttered. • WHAT CRUCIAL INFO SHOULD BE PRESENT: All contact method of your choice shall be added on there. If you do not wish to have clients call you at random hours of the day, its best to leave operation hours or an email only. Some of our clients leave just a web address as they want to drive traffic to their site and not to a phone rep. One thing for certain is you should always add your logo, the rest is purly up to you and how you wish to operate your business contacts. • WHEN TO ADD PHOTOS: Real estate agents and sales agents tend to always add photos of themselves to their color business cards as the service provided is branded to them personally. Photographers also add a landscape photo to their business card printing. Rarely ever does a photograph belong on a professional business card but if you choose to add a photograph it is always best to add it to only one side. • OVERALL PERFECTION: The perfect business card feedback i receive from clients is always one with neatly organized text that is minimal in colors (2 colors max). The best business cards tend to be simple, minimalistic but with add on features such as spot uv gloss or enhanced paper such as silk laminated business cards or soft touch business cards with suede laminate. A simple business card design can become many times more impressive just by boosting the paper thickness and feel. In all my years of designing business cards, i have found one thing that works best - when in doubt, keep it simple and go with a nicer paper. To be creative is to be truly alive, Michael Parker The Benefits of Quality Business Cards A Comprehensive Guide to Using Business Cards for Brand Promotion

Measuring 3.5” x 2”, business cards have long been used as a tool to promote one’s business. Size-wise, they are pretty standard except for some business card printing companies that offer smaller variations. In terms of material used, you can take your pick from paper or plastic custom business cards. The information indicated on the surface of the card is also very common – it should include your business name, your position or the nature of your business, and the complete contact information. If you’re a business owner or if you’re a professional who wants to print business cards, how can you make yours stand out if these promotional tools look pretty much the same? Read on to find out. Business Card Printing: The Basics Before scrambling to order business cards, it’s good to understand why printing them is necessary in the first place. Here’s a quick list: High-quality business cards project the same image for your brand. Perhaps the number one reason why you should invest in the best business cards is that they are a reflection of the quality of products or services that you are offering. Imagine giving out flimsy, haphazardly put-together business cards to clients. People are mostly visual so if your cards leave a bad impression, they would think that your products or services are of poor quality as well. The more impressive your custom business cards are, the better. When you print business cards, it supports your online presence. Whether you have a physical office or an online store, having a strong online presence is a must if you want your business to survive these days. If you’re offering a product, for example, the first thing that a new customer would ask is – what’s your website? If prospective clients are checking for the legitimacy of your business, they would look for your business name online. If you don’t have a website, an official Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account, you might as well be invisible. So how does ordering business cards online supplement your actual online presence? The tangible presence of a business card is an advantage by itself. When you hand over custom business cards to a group of millennials, for instance, they would marvel over it and perhaps scan the information. But once they have already looked you up – followed your social media accounts and bookmarked your website – then the business card could be forgotten about or even discarded. That’s totally okay, since you have already turned them into a follower of all your social media accounts. In such cases, a traditional business card has become a supplement to your digital marketing campaign. This is especially effective if you would indicate your website, email address, Instagram handle, Twitter account, or perhaps even a QR code directly linked to your site on the business card itself. Old school clients prefer that you have a business card handy at all times. If your product is marketed towards an audience of different ages, custom business cards would definitely appeal to old school clients. Businesses offering legal assistance, for example, would most likely have clients who have no social media accounts at all. For this, it’s better to stick with business card printing as a way to promote your services. The ceremony of handing over business cards leave a lasting impression. There is an almost ceremonial, traditional touch to handing over a crisp business card to someone. It may be a bit formal, but it does leave a lasting impression and makes your business name leave a mark in the minds of your clients, partners, and prospective customers. Business card printing also supplements your print promotional campaign. Although businesses rely on mostly digital files, there seems to be no getting away with paper. The same thing holds true for using printed materials for your promotional campaign. Aside from business card printing, you should also consider having brochures, letterheads, notepads, flyers, and posters printed out. How to Effectively Print Business Cards



Now that you already have an idea about how important it is to print business cards, how can you have a batch made for your business? Fortunately, there are many business cards online companies specializing in printing out these promotional materials. Here are a few steps to follow when you print business cards: Decide what to put in your business card. The best business cards are designed in such a way that the text and images do not look crowded against the small space. To maximize the surface area, decide what to put in your business card first. It’s a given that you should include the contact information, but would the logo fit in? What about your email address, website, Instagram handle, or Twitter account names? If you’re an online business, how about printing a scannable QR code at the back? If you’re a real estate agent, should you include your photo or images of the houses you recently sold? If yes, make sure to include non-stock photos which are professionally shot. Again, you have very limited space so make sure that whatever element you decide to include when you order business cards, it’s something that your customers will find useful. Make sure that your contact information is correct and up-to-date. The contact information is the core of your business card’s design – so make sure that it is accurate and updated. If you think that you will change your mobile number of office address soon, do not order too many business cards online. Look for a company to order business cards from. Next, look for a company that can make the best business cards for you. There are business cards online that have a purely online ordering process – which means that you don’t have to visit their office. All transactions are done online and you just need to wait for the custom business cards to be delivered straight to your home. Other printing companies may require that you visit their office so that you will be present during the designing process. The advantage of the latter option is that you can look at and feel what the actual business cards are like. Still, it’s entirely up to you to decide which one to go for. Here are a few more questions to ask when looking for a company to order business cards from: How much does the service cost?

What is the minimum number of business cards that you print out?

Aside from business cards, what other printed materials do you produce?

What is the turnaround time?

What kind of printing services do you offer? There are two kinds of printing services available today: digital and offset printing. Digital printing services typically use desktop printers when creating business cards, postcards, flyers, notepads, and similar products. Offset printers, on the other hand, use state-of-the-art printing presses. These are huge machines which can complete complex printing jobs, even with sheer volumes. It may be a bit pricier than digital printing but if you want to have the best business cards produced, offset printing is the better option.

Decide on the material, paper type, and finish. Basic, premium, silk, or plastic? When it comes to printing business cards online, these are just some of the things that you need to decide on. It’s good to match the material and finish of the business card with the design – so that you can have a truly impressive card.



Types of Business Cards to Choose From How about a quick list of the different types of business cards available? Take a look: Traditional business cards If you’re looking for something reliable, classic, or traditional, go with textured linen business cards. These have 10% the thickness of credit cards, but they’re still sturdy because of the dry, textured surface. Shiny business cards If you want something that literally shines and glitters, go for either a pearl metallic finish or a foil-stamped card. Pearl metallic business cards usually have a white to creamy shade that shimmers against the light. The paper is smooth and thick, while the finish is dry and uncoated. Foil stamped cards are also shimmery, but you can take your pick from different varieties. Gold foil stamped business cards, for example, would work well against an almost all-black design. Copper and colored foils can also be used – and letters can be highlighted in such a way that the design pops out and glitters from afar.

Kraft business cards If you want something organic and natural, go for brown kraft business cars. These are usually made from recycled paper so the natural fibers are visible. This kind of material works perfectly with straightforward, mostly black-and-white card designs. Plastic business cards If you’re going for something cool, what if you order business cards which are made from plastic? These have the same thickness as a credit card and come in crystal clear, frosted clear, or solid white varieties. If your business is in the creative field, your colorful logo set against a crystal clear plastic background would make your business cards look very cool.

Specialty business cards Those who have a more conservative or fashion-forward clientele can go with specialty business cards like ones made with a soft velvet laminate. After the printing process, these suede business cards would have an almost fabric-like look and feel to them. These thick business cards will definitely leave a lasting impression to clients. For something very substantial, go with three-layer business cards which have the same thickness as a standard business card so it feels really solid on the hand. These can further be specialized by going for painted edges or rounded corners. Rounded corner business cards is one way to make your brand stand out from the sea of rectangular 3.5” x 2” business cards. There are also spot gloss business cards which allow you to highlight the letters on the logo of your business, or an outlined shape in a specific area of the card. This is one way to make the design of your business card pop out. Final Tips to Remember when You Order Business Cards When ordering business cards, make sure that the company has a good reputation and specializes in printing not just business cards but other promotional materials as well. Check on client testimonials or customer reviews so that you can determine if they delivered good quality products to other clients. If possible, look at an actual card made by the company so that you can feel the material and scrutinize the print quality. More importantly, know how to effectively distribute business cards. You may have the most expensive, high-quality business cards printed out but if they will simply gather dust on your desk, they will still be useless. Remember that these are printed “promotional” materials, so they need to be distributed to as many people as possible, they need to be out there. When going out, always keep a business card handy because you’ll never know when you can meet a prospective client, business partner, or customer. Bring a stack of business cards with you when attending trade shows and similar business-related events. Post business cards on bulletin boards or leave a stack of them in your storefront, if you have one. Business cards are best used as part of a complete print promotional campaign. This means that the design of the card should have the same look and feel as your flyers, banners, posters, postcards, letterheads, brochures, etc. Consistency is also key in making customers remember your business name. If you are sending out postcards to clients who are in the same neighborhood as your place of business, for example, don’t stop at sending them just one postcard. Use the postcard as a way to remind them of upcoming promos, greet them during the holidays, or give them codes that they can use as discounts for your products or services. Combined with all your other printed promotional materials, having the best business cards made by a reputable printing company is a sure fire way to promote your brand and make your business reach its full growth potential.