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black business cards possible?

janey

janey

macrumors 603
Original poster
Dec 20, 2002
5,316
0
sunny los angeles
Heyas all!

I needed a new business card design, and well..the one I did and am liking is light gray on black (as in, it's light gray text on black background, and i can live with white or silverish stuff instead of gray if need be) with nothing fancy...no images, just text. Is it possible to get them printed on black stock with white text for a reasonable amount of money? I'm a total newb to doing anything beyond the simple black-on-white traditional stuff..

I want the entire card to be black, not just one side or something. And it needs to look decent and shouldn't be glossy, if at all possible. I just have no idea where to get cards like that. They also need to be appropriate for braille embossing (for a few of the cards, which is also the reason why printing the card can't be prohibitively expensive)

Also, where can I go to get them printed? I'd like to check out printers in the general area of Los Angeles or something so I could actually go over and have a chat with someone about it (i'm not one to go order a thousand of em online just to find out that it didn't come ot the way i wanted it to or something). :eek:

So confused, help, please? Thanks! :D
 
I would've thought any printer worth using could print to black stock or print black to white stock to leave white/gray text visible.

Are you using the rear of the card for anything? I ask cause I throw away most business cards I'm given once they're in Outlook but the only ones I've ever kept have had stuff on the back that's useful, like calenders conversion tables. I guess it depends on what your line is and what kind of person you're going to be handing them to but it's worth a thought.

The best I ever had was a card with a mm rule on the back edge that I kept in my wallet for years and found useful.
 
White/silver/grey ink over black stock: probably costly, limited range of finishes and weights, but no white edges. Light ink can have variable opacity.

Black or spot colour (pantone grey or one of the blacks) over white stock: cheaper, wider range of finishes and weights, but white edges visible when looking at the card edge-on. Even a 2-colour job (black & 40% cyan might be OK too)

A matt laminate over a matt stock is probably the finish you are looking for. Blind embossing (yes, that's what it's called) for braille can be costly as well.
 
Can we see an image of your design, or what you had in mind? I'm really just curious.

I think printing white text on black stock is going to be very costly, and like BV said, black on white stock is going to result in a card that looks white when looked at edge-on (ie: it'll look like poo).
 
You'll need a very good printer if you're going with a flood of black ink over white. You'll want an even coverage, yet not too heavy to fill in the letters. Also, if you're looking at light gray, make sure it's a pms color, not a percentage of black.

Who is doing the braille embossing? The printer or do you have a special machine? You'll need to take into account the paper weight, regardless.
 
Another thought would be silkscreening. If an enamel based ink is used, the cards would have a unique tactile feel.

Can a blind person identify a letter or word by touch if it's not braille?
 
Abstract said:
I think printing white text on black stock is going to be very costly, and like BV said, black on white stock is going to result in a card that looks white when looked at edge-on (ie: it'll look like poo).
Click to expand...

It won't cost much more than going to any respectable printer. Any printer worth his socks is going to use a printing press. Putting white ink on the press isn't really any more costly or time consuming than putting any other color on it. The card stock may be a little more expensive, but it shouldn't be too bad.
 
Janey, try http://www.globalprintrunner.com/. I got my cards done there a few years ago and they're great. Something like $60 for 1000 cards, 4 color front, black text on the back. I did the front in black with white text, and the back in white on black text, the exact opposite of the front.
 

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oh sweet replies, thanks :D

I don't know about the braille embossing yet. I'm trying to keep that in consideration, I suppose what i end up doing depends on that too.

For anyone to figure out what letters are on the card from touch without using braille requires the letter to be in slightly bigger font, if people can even do that, and I'm not sure it's feasible as it's going to be in korean and english... so most likely korean+traditional braille for name and number on the card.

i'll go look up a few printers and check out the ones linked here, and maybe get in touch with someone to do the braille embossing...I think the national braille press had special services for that, and some others...if not i'll just go use a braille printer and try it.
 
Another option is --- dagnabbit, I can't remember now, maybe BV can help --- a process called something like thermography? At any rate, it results in your type being raised above the surface, with a plasticky feel -- definitely tactile enough for braille*, and the plastic "ink" is (or should be) opaque enough to print on black stock. It's kind of a poor-man's embossing.


* but you can't 'layer" the braille over top the type, because both will be raised.


Ooh, how about a silver foil on black? Then with a translucent thermograpic print over top of that to make it look like opals... right, I'm just getting silly. Send me back to my room...
 
CanadaRAM said:
...Ooh, how about a silver foil on black?...
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At first I read that as "how about a silver foil on back?" and thought Ooh, careful, black cards with a silver foil back, I'd be worried I'd hand out my Nano to someone by mistake!
 
My real complaint with thermography is the quality of printing. Most just look muddy, with no clarity to the letter forms. Maybe a high end printer could do a better job, but your cheap printer, not so much.

In regards to PrintRunner, be very patient with your print job. It may take a while. And watch the invoices carefully, they nickle and dime you. Even a proof of your job costs money. The quality was fairly decent, but their customer service was horrific. In the end, to get anything accomplished, I needed to deal directly with the manager. And he was helpful, but almost impossible to reach. This was my experience, your mileage may vary.
 
I just picked up my first stack of black business cards, printed at Kinko's. I printed them on gloss front/matte back, full color. They came out great, and the white edge doesn't detract from the card at all. It's not even perceptible when you're holding one card.
 

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janey -

I got my black biz cards from here.

It's a crappy looking website, but they do good work. Fast turnaround, relatively cheap.

Here's a snap of my latest cards from these guys:

card.jpg
 
Mike Teezie said:
janey -

I got my black biz cards from here.

It's a crappy looking website, but they do good work. Fast turnaround, relatively cheap.

Here's a snap of my latest cards from these guys:

card.jpg
Click to expand...

Mike,

That's an awesome looking card. Was it printed with black ink or is it on black cardstock?

I know this thread is old, but I went to the website you recommended and don't see any options for black cardstock, so I'm curious, because I'd really like to go in that direction. Hopefully you read this - thanks!
 
HTrayne said:
Mike,

That's an awesome looking card. Was it printed with black ink or is it on black cardstock?

I know this thread is old, but I went to the website you recommended and don't see any options for black cardstock, so I'm curious, because I'd really like to go in that direction. Hopefully you read this - thanks!
Click to expand...

It's not black card stock, it's just a illustrator file with a black background with white text. There are templates you can download at the site - use those so you get the right dimensions and cut off margins.
 
Black Business Card

Just wondering if this is the digital or offset print. Looks great.
Thanks!
 
Blue Velvet said:
Black or spot colour (pantone grey or one of the blacks) over white stock: cheaper, wider range of finishes and weights, but white edges visible when looking at the card edge-on. Even a 2-colour job (black & 40% cyan might be OK too)
Click to expand...

I would go for this. It's the least pricey and will still look nice.
 
Mike Teezie said:
janey -

I got my black biz cards from here.

It's a crappy looking website, but they do good work. Fast turnaround, relatively cheap.

Here's a snap of my latest cards from these guys:

card.jpg
Click to expand...

please someone tell me what exact font was used in this card.......
 
holy resurrected thread y'all.

i got my black business cards printed long long ago (like 2007 ago), here's a (sucky) pic, it was exactly what blue velvet suggested on matte white stock, and a little spot gloss:


got them printed by print100.com, decent pricing and fast delivery.

since then i've gotten two more - one is just standard white, and my newest personal one is a silvery gray. i hate white, but it turns out you can't write anything on black and have it show up easily. i totally forgot about that when i did the black business cards, but on the other side was a stripe of non-black that people would scribble on if they needed to...not sure I'd go that route again. Maybe all black on one side, but a different color on the other.
 
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