Pick a Card. Any Card.

The new logo has been designed. The website is up and running. Next on the to-do list – business cards. A business card can mostly likely be the first impression people make of you and your business. As a graphic designer, I believe it's important to get it right.

When it came to my own cards, I wanted a way to show both my graphic design and illustration capabilities. I decided on a two-sided card with contact info on one side and an illustration on the other. Business in the front, party in the back!

It was time to send the art to print. I had done some research on online DIY printing companies and discovered MOO. I'm glad I did. MOO has the ability to print two-sided cards, full-color in low quantities. And at reasonable prices. What excited me most is that they can print multiple images (up to 50 different) on the back sides of the business cards – at no extra cost. They call it "Printfinity." I call it awesome. Now I am able to use more than one of my illustrations on the backs of the cards. Yes!

Using MOO was a very simple process. And I'm very happy with the results. A quality product.

I designed the fronts of the cards to be covered in black ink with 8-point type reversed to white. I used a "rich black" which means there's a layer of solid black ink printed over tinted layers of cyan, magenta and yellow inks. This makes the black areas darker, more solid and less opaque. BUT, if just one of the underlying colors is not lined up exactly with the black layer of ink, the small white lettering would appear fuzzy and out of focus. Not the case with my project. Perfect registration. Crisp type.

Another problem that could've arisen with the cards would be with the edges of the paper. My cards are designed with "bleeds." This means the ink is printed to the very edge of the paper. The artwork "bleeds" off the edges. After the artwork is printed, the paper is trimmed to business card size. Extra care must be taken when trimming with "bleeds." If cut improperly the edges with ink coverage on it (especially the solid black) can look scuffed or ragged. Again, not the case with my cards. Perfectly clean cut edges.

And bonus points – I chose the 7-day shipping option and was pleasantly surprised to receive the package two days sooner!

Overall, I had a great first time experience with MOO. They passed my nitpicky test. I look forward to handing out all these cards and then HAVING TO order more.