Business card feedback

Hey all, I'm putting together a business card for my wife's dog grooming business. I could use some honest feedback from people I don't know seeing as how friends and family are all too positive about it... Currently threw this together using a free photo layering app on my phone and ran it through a business card printers website (Vistaprint)

Hit me with your best shots



Do keep in mind this is still a rough draft and things do need to be adjusted. But the overall idea is there
The biggest thing that sticks out to me is the grey shading on the dogs on the front. Working on removing that still but it's tough when you don't own a computer and only have a cell phone to work with

 

Man I wish I knew more about graphic design, but ill give you my honest feedback anyway. On the front, I like that everything kind of goes together i.e. Font matches the flow style of the art. but I don't love it... I can't put my finger on it, it looks too busy maybe... I'm a firm believer in less is more. Also the tribal pawprints reminds me of a tramp stamp lol (you asked for honest). as for the back I love the graphic! Modern edgy classy ect. Font matches well too! But all the text on the left side should be the same size, I understand why it's not, but it just doesn't look right to me. Sorry no solutions for you, take my feedback with a grain of salt as I have no idea the vibe of your business for the demographic of your client base... At the end of the day it's your business card that you have to be proud to hand out. Hope this helps you out! I know there's a lot of really talented people on this site. Good luck with everything

 

Best feedback yet. Like I said, this is the sort of thing needed that family and friends can't provide. Also I can take zero offense since I DID ask for it besides, I have to agree about the tramp stamp. I see that exact look in people's eyes when they see it. I know they're thinking it but don't want to say it!

If anything this will definitely be an eye opener for my wife, and a good push for her to agree to let me change some things on the card. That being said, I almost have faith the tramp stamp could still work... But I'm still open to changing it myself for something that fits better with the back of the card.

I feel the front and the back are like two completely different Business cards almost...

Thanks for the feedback, I'm looking forward to more so I can get a better idea what to change this week. I've got Tuesday off work so I'll be spending the whole day on the card

 

My wife is the designer not me. But I don't like the font, colors, or design. If I was you'd I'd good other dog grooming business cards and see what I like then put my own spin on it. If I were me, I'd go to my wife and get it all done for free.

Honestly the card looks amateurish. I wish I could offer better feedback than that.

 

That's alot to change haha. I can't really disagree with that as the front is basically a culmination of Google image searches for specific pictures/outlines and it definitely doesn't share any design cues with the back.

Personally I like the back far better than the front. We're also trying to focus this on social media marketing since it's only a small local business but her customer base right now is on social media alot. So we're trying to get the #shedhappens hashtag something her clients use when posting photos of their pets. I know many of you will suggest paying for marketing and advertising but I'm a cheap bastard and refuse to do so. Again this is mainly due to this being a small business.

She has many repeat customers and is busy, but still needs to increase her clientele. So I kind of see paying for advertising as pointless when we can utilize what's FREE and has been working for the last three years (social media)

Anyway, back to the card, again I can't disagree with the amateur look, however I'm not sure how to venture out of that. The tramp stamp should go, and the scissors and hair brush look like child's toys. I think they could be updated to something more modern with sharp silhouettes rather than the rounded edges and lines the have.

Aside from that tho... Still lost haha

 

If she wasn't so busy I'd have her help you...but recently she's been free lancing on the side and no time for anything.

 

Alright, front of card reimagined. What do you guys think?

 

Absolute Night and day difference! First I didn't care to much for the big green font.. but it's growing on me fast! I'm sure it was thoughtful decision you made because you understand the vibe of the business and the clientele in which you are catering to. Bravo man well done!

 

For the record, I am not a designer. So take this for what you will.
The front looks really great . I agree with ROK-NJA.
The back is a bit redundant. Instead of the icons and the wording, how about moving the icons to the left and leave off what they are?
Know what I mean?

instead of:
facebook: XXXXXX f

f XXXXXXXX

Just to clean up the look. Just my opinion.
Really do like the new front though.
Bold and clean.

 

I can't like this more! Lol really put a smile on my face. Thank you guys for the feedback.

@DrFunker I was thinking about that also with cleaning up the back contact info, and I'm still torn.

I also can't take all the credit for the mock-up since I called in a favor from a friend who used to do graphic design. I owe him a bottle of scotch cause I pestered him to get it done while he had just had emergency root canal done.

But this definitely makes me feel much better about printing these off. So much better.

Still interested in more feedback, they won't be sent off for print until tonight or tomorrow afternoon.

 

Yeah, second one is dramatically better.

I agree with Funker, the icons and wording are redundant. If people don't know what the icons are for, they probably aren't going to look her up on those sites anyway. (I'll freely admit that I'm a 25-year-old guy who only has a vague idea of what Instagram is, and the text vs icon changes nothing for me.)

 

Second version looks great. Text on the front seems a bit squished together. Maybe play with the leading a little. Thing that stands out the most is the hashtag... You've got 4 different typefaces going on. Less is more and helps improve consistency (aka professionalism). So I'd suggest reducing the size and trying a different type. Either an alternate weight of the type that's used for the contact info, or maybe reuse the typeface from "dog grooming." At the very least, I'd give the hashtag some breathing room and move it down a little.

 

Could even do the instagram and fb icon right next to each other with just one line of text to simplify.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

I don't want to critique your design, because I would redo all of it. Keep in mind this is formulating people's perception of your business. What do you want this card to communicate besides contact info? Do you want people to see the business as a small at-home start up, or do you want them to see an established business where they feel safe bringing their pets and spending their money. Also, why not have the card double as a customer loyalty card? For example: add two rows of 5 circles or paw prints that can be punched or stamped, and the 11th is free or discounted. Incentivizing the customer.

Sorry for ranting.

 

Ok so I'm by no means an established graphic designer but I did go to school for graphic design until I changed my major to Computer Science. But the most important thing I learned while in graphic design is people nowadays like simplicity. Don't make the card overly complicated. First thing is I wouldn't make the card double sided and if you really want to put something on the back, make it stupid simple like just a simple logo with no text, or a street map to your location, or like @MostEpic suggested a loyalty program. The front is where you want to put your business logo. In your illustrations I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what exactly is your logo? I would also say you have too much information. Limit contact information to name, title, email address, and phone number. Facebook and Instagram are not professional ways to contact a business.

On the other side I really like the dog silhouettes that you have. Either one would work well for the front of the card just don't use both. They're interesting but not so detailed that they draw the attention away from what really matters, the contact information. Good Job!

 

This is perfect.

 

Here's one thing I didn't notice at first. Try not to use rasterized text for prints if you can help it (basically you don't want to use text in the form of an image--text should be text).

It makes a difference when printing. Rasterized text will look fuzzy in comparison unless your resolution is very good, which from a phone app it may not be.

Some will argue against me because then there's no question as to if the printer will have the font. If the PDF is packaged properly, though, the fonts are included in the file so it's a non-issue.

 

Definitely made sure everything on these cards is the highest resolution. This was something I was concerned about also. So that's where my friend came in, he knows more about that than I do and has the computer programs to do what needed to be done to that respect

 

I did not read the other responses because I didn't want to be influenced.

Above = bad IMO. Too cold, not personal appears clinical. Doesn't give off the vibe of a friendly place I'd want my four legged family members going where I'm not with them.

Nailed it especially on the front. I'd move off black & white & add in some warm color.

Like the back too tho on both examples I'm not sure I'd have a play on shit happens.