Do-it-yourself design - designing business cards using desktop publishing products

Home Office Computing, Oct, 1995 by Leigh Schindler Powell

Hiring a professional artist may not be in your budget, but that doesn't mean you have to forgo great business cards and brochures. Whether you're starting from scratch or want a new look for your existing pieces, slap some predesigned paper on your palette, then brush up on special-purpose software. You'll be making marketing masterpieces in no time.

Pick a Pack of Predesigned Paper You needn't let your laser printer limit you to monochrome. Many paper companies offer stock that's preprinted with designs ranging from sedate to splashy. One of the downsides of this wonder paper is that because of its popularity, you risk looking like everyone else if you use it. "But if you are just getting started in business and aren't sure what you want, predesigned paper is ideal," says Cherokee Alexander of Cherokee Camera Ready Typesetting, who used such paper herself and now recommends it to her clients.

It's easy to see the allure: Predesigned paper is affordable and fast. "Like other entrepreneurs, I started my business on a shoestring budget," says Alexander. "I didn't have hundreds of dollars to spend on marketing materials." For less than $100 and just a few hours, she had matching business cards, three-fold brochures, and envelopes.

"The ability to change my material was also important to me," Alexander emphasizes. With predesigned paper, customization is easy.

And if you don't like what you've done, change it. You can afford to: A box of 500 designer paper business cards can be delivered right to your door for about $28, shipping included. At about six cents per card, a goof or two won't break the bank. In contrast, a typical print shop's least expensive cards--white with black lettering--cost about $20 per 1,000, and customized cards can run as much as $60 per 500.

Finally, you can place an order for predesigned paper today and have it tomorrow. Most print shops require at least three to five business days.

When you need good-looking paper in a pinch, here are some places to call.

* BeaverPrints, 814-742-6070, 800-923-2837. Next-day delivery for orders placed before 5 p.m. ET. All shipping options are available; 346 designs.

* Company Colors (NEBS), 508-448-6111, 800-225-6380. Free shipping for orders prepaid by check; more than 500 designs.

* Idea Art, 800-433-2278. Minimum order $30; more than 1,500 designs.

* Image Street (Moore Business Products), 708-913-3200,800-462-4378. Same-day shipping ($20 for up to two pounds) for orders placed by 3 p.m. ET; $3.95 handling charge; 40 unique designs.

* PaperDirect, 201-271-9200, 800-272-7377. Same-day shipping for orders placed by 3 p.m. ET; overnight delivery $1 extra; about 80 designs.

* Premier Papers, 800-843-0414. Free shipping for orders over $70; $7 for orders under $70; 24 designs.

Start Out With Software If lack of confidence in your creative skills makes you hesitant to try predesigned paper--or if you just don't feel like fighting with your word processor's formatting features--these two programs (shown with list prices) will make the whole operation painless.

* Easy Business Cards for Windows (Claris, 408-727-8227, 800-544-8554; $39) lets you choose any of 290 predesigned business card styles, add text and graphics, and then print. You can create your own designs, too. The software works with 29 varieties of PaperDirect color paper stock, which you can view onscreen, and comes with paper samples and 45 clip art images.

* My AdvancedBrochures, Mailers & More--CD for Windows (MySoftware Company, 415-473-3600, 800-325-3508; $80) combines My AdvancedBrochures ($79 separately) and MyProfessionalBusinessCards ($50 separately) with 1,000 clip art images and 25 Bitstream fonts. You can produce two-, three-, and four-fold brochures and choose from dozens of predesigned business card layouts or create your own. The software lets you view and print on more than 350 paper designs from Avery, BeaverPrints, PaperDirect, ImagePlus, and Image Street. Some paper samples are included.

Go by the Book For even more design help, check out the book 1,000+ Stationery Designs by Val Cooper (Point Pacific Press, 818-762-1181, 800-896-2341; softcover, $19.95; CD-ROM, $79.95; book and CD-ROM, $89.95; plus shipping and handling). This 200-page guide steps you through the basics of stationery design and production, and it includes more than 1,000 royalty-free symbols, logos, and s for business cards, letterhead, and envelopes. You can scan the black-and-white art straight out of the book or use the CD-ROM, which contains each piece of art in black and white, spot two-color, and process four-color, for Windows and Mac.