Design Critiques Please =^.^=

[Sofabutt]

Regarding Revision 9:

 

I think it would look better if the rabit was looking more to his right (viewers left) as though he we looking at the type on the card itself.

 

But it is coming along really well.

 

I like it.

[Newbert_Zero]

put a picture or somthing in the backround. make it more alive. It needs to be exciting and catch peoples attention.

[iGeek]

I like 4 and 5, the green ones with the sketches and the final renders, the best. However, I've heard a good rule of thumb regarding business cards: You should be able to fit a quarter in the white space. This is so you can write stuff on the card if you need to. While the whole world supposedly has Palm Pilots, no one actually has them. See if you can't build it on a white or light background with space for writing (or is the back going to be white?). Also, any chance of seeing some fur on the cat/squirrel thingy? Just a thought... I really like the juxtaposition of the concept sketch and the final output. I'm going to be starting on a business card at some point, and this thread has inspired me. Just my thoughts...

 

-Zev

[nyahkitty]

Yes, the back will likely be blank. I find that I write most notes on the back of them. There are business card print companies that offer to print additional graphics on the back, but that seems like overkill.

 

Now I have used colored paper for one or two of my designs in the past. This is fine for me as I can see color. However, not everyone can and likely it is frustrating to them when they can't read a card because it is all the same value on a grayscale (if it were converted) in spite of being different colors. This can happen especially with mid to dark colored cards and black text.

 

Anyone who's visited my website in the last two days will see that some of the latest designs divert from the "boxes and blocks" motif. That occurred after I finally looked at other designs found on the net. None of the cards really used defined graphical elements as objects to contain information. If seperation did happen it was to divide the card into two sections, not as objects. Actual graphical objects served as decorations.

 

A lot of the designs were minimalist (basic geometric-ish divisions and/or a photo for the background.... then just slap the information on there and done!). I will preface that statement by saying that those were not without evident skill, as the size of this thread on the subject can attest to the fact of how much effort can be involved in this seemingly simple procedure.

 

For the record, I stuck with the squarish mentality for as long as I did because ( A ) that's what I started with and ( B ) I wanted to see how much I could work with that, in case I could develope a solution from it, instead of jumping from one style to another at whim. I'm kind of thorough like that. What tipped me off that the current style wasn't working was when it seemed like a lot of the critiques were linked to the existance of those boxes, one way or another. But I still think they work in theory, hang it all!

 

Someone told me recently that there are as many opinions on what works as there are people. However, if one pays attention long enough, they'll notice patterns emerge. So it's the pattern of what works that is key, thus from there the basic elements of design were born (again: line, shape, form, space, texture, value, color and others like proximity, scale, perspective, implied depth, etc.)

 

And finally, it was pointed out that the squirrel character, Dodger, could benefit from more polished rim lighting (highlighting the edges of a character from the side or behind), although he is quite bright right now. I intend to consult the first three chapters of Jeremy Birn's book, [digital] Lighting & Rendering, and then do the excercises provided there.

 

What was it someone said about everybody having about 500,000 bad drawings in them, they just need to draw enough to get those out of their system?

[zandoriastudios]

#7 seemed the most professional to me. The Sketch on the left is very dynamic and creative, and the 3D version on the right is a good example of what you are selling.

 

You might try one other version: invert the colors of design #7. White background, black sketch, rendering . Black text. That would be a nice version to my tastes.

[nyahkitty]

New update:

 

Card Designs

 

Enjoy!

[ChrisThom]

I say 1 or 2 though 2 is a bit stronger and maybe blur and lower the opacity the drop shadows so they're not too distracting. They're just a bit too hard looking right now.

 

3 & 4 look like halloween cards to me because of the color combination.

[starwarsguy]

I'm leaning towards 1 because it looks less dark, although I'd go with number 2 for a business card.