New Business Card

My guess is he is doing it on one of the several do it yourself sites, but they still prevent you from printing your design...they want you to buy them.
 
I am sorry Greg but I was re-reading my posts and I think I could have expressed my views a little clearer (or maybe with a little more tact). They say a picture is worth a 1000 word, so before I start my work day treatment my patients I decided to fire up Photoshop and create something specifically for you that represent what I have in mind in combination with what was shared in this thread and others. Here is a break down and the reasoning.

1) The background was set on the fender extractor on a 2014 Corvette. Die hards would definitely know (those club members) but the rest of the population would think it is just another of those high priced supercar (no American three rivalry)
2) The color choices of red, white, black and gold was used to reflect the colors of the corvette emblem (with the checkered flag and the bow tie flag)
3) I made your statement of purpose a personal quote and stylizing it, since you like it.
4) I did remove the physical address (since I am assuming it is your personal residence... hence the reason you blocked it when posting on the internet) and only included your phone number. I did put the City and State for obvious reason
5) I made sure your name and the phone numbers were nice and big

Before I forget, this is not one of my personal picture, so I encourage you to fire up your own camera and take some very nice glamor shots of either your car or one of the detailed cars you have. I also did not set the right image size to represent the proportion of a business card. I was hurried by my staff to go check on a couple of patients :)

On a personal note, I used photoshop to create my business card and used Vistaprint to print them (had a coupon etc..) It was cheap, cheap! They do look a lot better in person, I promise. I just wish I had a better digitized picture to show you but.....

ANYWAYS, so what am I seeing in my head?

 
Claude
This is an excellent design!!! I like it. Nice fonts too.
Yes, I am designing this myself and using vistaprint.
I'll find someone with photoshop and see what happens.
I do want to thank you all for your help. It is greatly appreciated.
 
A lot of good feedback here. Certainly keep your card simple, clear and to the point. My card is pictured in my sig. I see a lot of people with over done cards that just look very cluttered.
 
That's a nice card for sure, not too busy, classy lookin'. Just hope a "regular" person doesn't think you only work on show cars and passes you by.

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online
 
I like it not just for the background, but because it's clear and concise with no clutter.
 
Ok, How does this one work? This is the right rear qtr panel on my vette, taken in front of my garage. Yeah, I know you can see the garage.

Staying with the less is more theme, I followed the advice of DR Pain. My contact info is prominently displayed. I dropped the slogan so there is less clutter on the card. And as someone pointed out that could be a problem. I kept the club membership, not because I am targeting the Corvette crowd, but, because I want to imply, (a: I dont have a clunker and (b: I am picky about my cars).

I used red lettering because of the red lights in the rim and marker light. I will put my complete address on the backside.

Do you think the photo should be photo-shopped?

qtr_rear.png
 
There are a few things that make Dr. Pain's look more professional.

1. Font Border
2. Font Shadow
3. Top and bottom gradient
4. Consistency
5. Color Combination

If you want to get crazier, you can work different tones in the font itself. Try to align all your words to either all be centered or aligned to the left. The words at the top of your card seem to aligned to the right. The middle section with your name is center alignment. Then the bottom row of words is aligned to the left. There should be consistency throughout the card. If you notice on Dr. Pain's, everything is aligned to the right. The biggest thing I like about Dr. Pain's is that he chose red and he chose a panel that is extremely dynamic. In all honesty, the rear quarter panel is quite bland. It is plain jane. You will notice that there are 3 main colors in his business card. Black, Red and Yellow with white as an accent. The black gradient you see on the top and bottom serves two purposes. To me it adds an exclusive feel to the business. But really what it is there for is so the words on the top and bottom can be easily read. Anyway, just thought I would chime in and give you a few pointers, and hopefully a formula to create a solid business card.
 
not bad. I kinda like the reflection of the garage, really shows the shine, but maybe you could take a different pic with a landmark in your town that people will recognize.
 
Hopefully I got it right this time. You all have given me excellent advice and I very much appreciate your time and effort on this topic.

Keep in mind I am limited to the options available on the Vistaprint site in terms of colors and font. BTW - there is a special now, 250 cards for $10. not too bad.

Lettering is aligned to the left. I did move
"Premier Automotive Detailing Service" to the right . I thought it stood out better.

I also aligned my name with the marker light because doing so
(a: seemed to add more balance to the card and
(b: hopefully draws the eye to my name.

I chose red lettering for my contact info to tie it in with the marker light and the red light in the rim.

Dr Pain suggested using a nondescript portion of the car as he showed in his example. I tried to follow his lead on this. In my choosing of the rear qtr panel, it offered the largest area with even coloring and refection.

What other recommendations do you have ?
Should I change fonts and color?
Should I find a totally different background, a different car perhaps?

Thank you again for your help.

qtr_rear1.png
 
I like this. I might try a thin white outline on the Black and the red fonts, but not on the Corvette Club line.
 
Actually you are not staying with a less is more theme. It is because of the Central Kansas Corvette Club Member on the card. And here is my reasoning behind it.

I am not sure if you are looking to add members to your club or if you are a detailer. It makes you appear biased towards corvettes and alienates you from other car owners. Just because you are a member of a car club it does not define you as being picky about how your cars are detailed. Being a member of a car club is information you would have on your about page on your website not on your business card.

The things that you want to come across on your business card is your company's name, what your company does, the operators name, location, info to get a hold of you (phone number, website, etc..), and your company's logo not a picture of a car (unless that pick of the car is your logo).
 
All good stuff here. I have all my contact info on the backside of the card.

Originally I tried to cram it all on the front, but I noticed Dr. Pain only had name and phone number on the front.

My car club does a lot of car shows. I intend to advertise my services at these events and hoping the car club on the card helps ppl remember and associate where they got the card in the first place.

This is a picture of my car on the card. I feel it represents the type of results I can deliver. I want people to see the shine and want the same for themselves and call me. A plain card with a logo doesnt show people an example of my work. No offense to anyone out there.

Unfortunately Vistaprint doesnt do the fancy fonts. I wish it did, cuz I like your idea.
 
Make sure if your on social media to include a few of those icons on the back to let folks know where else they can find you. Include your @handle. If not no worries.
 
I think the card layout is settled.
I dont have this business off the ground yet, so nothing is set in stone.

Someone on this thread mentioned "Show Shine" made them think of "Shoe Shine". I dont want people to have that confusion. So I am in search of a new name.

I have kicked around several. Some good, some not so good. I am trying to stay with the "shine" theme. One name I found I like is
"Extreme Radiance". Shine = Radiance.

What do you think?
 
LOL! I am the one that mentioned the "Shoe Shine", and let me assure that it was not to make fun of your name selection. If you re-read my post, you will see that I made mention that it was the type font you used which made the "quick glance" problematic. Your business card suffers from the "first impression" to such a degree that it is crucial that you get it right, especially if you are just launching this venture.

I actually like the name "Show Shine Detailing". Anything more fancy may just be a mouthful, or just plain self indulgent. The way I have assisted a few people in a name selection for their business is to put yourself in a scenario that you are the satisfied customer talking to a friend of yours

Other guy: "Hey dude, your car looks great! Where did you get it done"
Customer: "Thanks man, I brought my car to Greg at .... (insert name)

Which one would you favor most??

1) Show Shine
2) Pure Radiance
3) Extreme Radiance
4) .... any other name you can come up with.

Again, I think Show Shine is good, and also very representative of the quality you want to bring to the table.

My business card will most likely see a revamping at some point in the future because of the "high end" verbage, which makes me sound elitist and does detract the "soccer mom" and other types of daily driver.

In looking at your latest attempt, I would say that you are definitely on the right track but as it was expressed (by Willy Wang) there are a few things that could embellish it.

ALSO, I don't know how much experience you have with Vistaprint, but your statement that Vistaprint does not do fancy font is not exactly right. You can manipulate your artwork in any program you want and upload a pic (in the format and size they require) and you are golden.

Hope it helps!
 
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