Business card design feedback

The back is still to be centered, I didn’t miss that

I’d fix before posting. It’s really not that hard.

Old-school clients usually like to see a name and address on the card, not just to know who’s responsible for a given project, but to be reassured that he/she is dealing with an established concern.

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Not to mention having the address when wanting to send you money.

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I like that one actually.

Just to to all caps the Forma and Simplex.
Then list the words under each other rather than in a sentence.

FORMA
shape
fashion
appearance
outward form
contour
figure

etc.

Thus far the comments have related, largely, to the practicalities of it. I am going to be a bit harsh here – let’s call it tough love. I am afraid it looks exactly like someone who is a developer trying to design a card for themselves. Not to mince words, the design is really quite poor from both a legibility and an aesthetic perspective.

When I need web development doing, I get a web developer to help. I’d suggest doing the same in reverse. In your line of work, you must have come across some designers. Invest a little bit of money in your future. It’ll pay dividends.

Produce a card that makes you look like you know what you are doing, not like a 1930s reproduction lamp shop in Ledbury.

I’d also suggest changing the name. If you have to explain it that much, it isn’t working. It may be worth, in the longer term – beyond the needs of your business card and building a brand – finding a designer, you can work with to collaborate on projects, so you can produce effective sites. You may be the best developer and coder in the world (by the way, I’d probably not mention that you hung out with hackers. It’s not a great look professionally – though a good writer could spin that well), but that does not mean you can design. Play to your strengths and build in the expertise from others where you are weaker.

Let’s say that all the above is wrong and that somewhere in there, you have the potential to be a good designer to, the story you are telling at the moment with this card and your site has led me to the conclusions I have expressed here. This all means that it isn’t doing what you want it to do, which is why I suggest collaborating with / paying for a designer. Alternatively, get an education in design and go down that route. From what I can see, development and coding are your thing. Play to your strengths.

Hope this helps, or at least gives pause for thought.

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The front of this would be fine.
Just needs your website.

Now you have a white dot on an almost white background. Considering you change the dot color on a whim, are they even necessary?

lmao, okay harsh but really good. Of course I shall take your opinion with a grain of salt but I gotta admit, reading your comment has been valuable. :beer: This one is for you.

On the website I intend to have the colors as buttons that can switch the color layout

On your website?

If so, what’s the purpose of enabling visitors to switch the color layout? On sites where people spend lots of time, like this one, that might be a good idea, but on a business site, it would come across to me as a gimmick. Then again, maybe you’re intending to show what you, as a developer, can do with a style sheet switch.

I wouldn’t be inclined to take @sprout’s comment as anything less than an insightful observation. The art deco typeface you’ve chosen seems inappropriate for the subject matter. It might work well on an old Jean Harlow poster, but for something like web development, looking back into the past strikes me as a less-than-ideal way to suggest moving forward using technology.

Just an observation, but from what I’ve seen so far, your design method seems to be a kind of decorative approach that isn’t necessarily grounded to the product. Pretentious quotes, tiny and unreadable type, cool but quirky typefaces from the 1930s, blurry little drop shadows, etc., might have their place, but those places usually wouldn’t be on a business card for a web developer. There’s something to be said for being different and breaking with the norm, but it should be done with purpose in mind that’s both functional and an improvement.

All this considered, I do see a series of huge improvements with your last card when compared to your first.

The most basic mistake designers and artists make, which I have both done myself and have seen so many others do, is to become enamored with design over function. The bottom line of graphic design is communication, communication, communication! If any design or design element (typeface for example) does not communicate, no matter how much the designer/artist loves it, then the work has failed its primary mission.

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Yes.

I’ll add that communication isn’t always overt either. The overall personality of the design that comes about through choices of colors, typefaces, layout, etc., all play a role in communication that augments whatever might be overtly communicated through written words.

IMO you need to think more about the purpose of this business card and less about how to “come up with a cool design”.

The goal should be to inform potential clients about your business and how to contact you, so that info must be easy to find/read and act on. From your latest version you’ve included your business name, email address, that you do web development and your phone number. Good… BUT its all over the place. I have to look all around the card to find that info. Think about how YOU would read a card.
I notice your name is not on there either…? Nor is your website…?

Also what is the importance of defining forma simplex? How does it relate to web development? Will that info make someone call you?

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Thank you everyone who contributed, this has been a really good critical learning experience.
My biggest take aways…

  1. I am a developer, with an interest in design. Got a lot to learn in both fields.
  2. This is a great community with a lot of very knowledgable design experts.
  3. PD is a grumpy owld fella :wink: who likes to get paid! (one of my faults is I make assumptions, apologies in advance)

Thank you everyone, I have put this down to experience and I hope I can contribute to the forum and keep learning more about design.

Just-B — Well said! nice addition to my communication admonition.