BUSINESS CARDS- SAMPLE PACKS

A brief overview of the sample packs I sent off for:


123 PRINT

PRESENTATION OF PACK

All the items arrived as above in a white envelope. No pack or 'slip' holding it together, a very straightforward and basic presentation, however the items were stacked nicely and not all muddled together.

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

Not a huge range of products but each were a good quality. I think this company caters towards those who want a standard service, as each item was fairly 'ordinary'. Only four choices of business card and no extras such as stickers etc.

QUALITY 

The quality of each of the items is good, but looking at the pack as a whole there is no cohesive design as there is with other packs- also personally I do not find the images used on each of the products particularly appealing, so it's hard for me to imagine my style on them.

MY FAVOURITE ITEM

Something this pack did have that others did not was the magnetic business card- which I think is really clever as it can either fit in a wallet/pocket/purse or get stuck straight to the fridge instead of getting lost somewhere!

COST 

OVERALL

Went I went onto the website to check prices- I noticed loads of better card options that weren't in the pack!

The cards I received (except the magnetic one- which I couldn't even find on the website!) were really standard, only a gloss/matt/mini option- I would have preferred to see some recycled/textured options too, especially the sandwich colours (which can be seen in the Moo pack) Overall- I don't think they're sample pack reflects what they offer or the quality that can be seen on the website, which makes it difficult to know whether to print with them or not!

INSTANTPRINT

PRESENTATION OF PACK

Very impressed with this pack. Neat and clean white outer which folds out into a colourful pack that is chocked full of items.

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

LOADS. For this I only looked into promotional items that I would use, so stickers and business cards. There is a wide sticker size variety and lots of cards to choose from, and each have a very unique feel/look to them, so it doesn't feel like you're getting lots of the same thing.

QUALITY 
Very high quality print on each card and the finishes are lovely. The velvet finish was a bit too soft for me but very fancy. Also like the design that goes across all the items so you can tell it's from the same company- wide range of colours used to show off quality of print.

MY FAVOURITE ITEM

I though this 'Ice Gold' card was really unique, and although it could come off as a little bit gross I think used with the right design and illustration it could be eye-catching and interesting. Also I like singing 'ice gold!' like I was Andre 3000.

First example of a square card- usually I prefer the standard size business card (call me old fashioned, but I think they fit in wallets better?) but I also think that they could lend themselves nicely to a good illustration and that could be featured into the design easier than a rectangle. I'm not a huge fan of the mini cards, too small and look like a perfume sample strip.

I liked the size of this big sticker, as it's got enough room for a decent size illustration.

COST 

x100-  £19 for the Ice Gold stock
x100- £15 for the Square cards
x100- £12 for 76mm circle stickers

OVERALL

High quality across all boards, the pack holds everything together and there were plenty of items to choose from, all designed very nicely too.

VISTAPRINT

PRESENTATION OF PACK

Again, a lovely and neat folded envelope which holds a wide variety of items. The business cards have their own little section as well to keep them separate which was useful as they can easily get lost when piled up with postcards/flyers etc.

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

Although all of the standard size, there was a good variety of card stock and also spot gloss/metallic- which I was yet to see with the other packs. Also a big stack of other printed items that I did not look at.

QUALITY 
As with the Instantprint pack, there was a theme that tied all the cards together, so I wasn't look at a completely different design on each card. I liked the clean designs of the cards, and each had a high print quality and good card.

MY FAVOURITE ITEM

I attempted to capture the spot gloss on the logo in this picture- I think this adds a lovely touch to a card and could be especially useful picking out and emphasising an illustration on the card.

This was also a good example of a textured, recycled card. I think this would work well with a woodcut/printmaker-y (it's a word!) type design, and also could look good with some of my more 'rustic' and folk arty type illustrations. I also think super matte card is just really nice.

COST 


x100 - £23.99  + extra cost for spot gloss and recycled card

OVERALL

Vistaprint is a company I have used several times for different products (phone cases, mug, caps) so I would feel happy enough using their site and have confidence in their quality. However they seem pricier than other companies, but they do have a lot of appealing extras (spot gloss, raised text, metallic finish etc.)

MOO

PRESENTATION OF PACK

So. Beautiful.

Lovely colour and different card textures for the sleeve and the pack, almost preempting the variety and quality of what's inside. Cool and clean design, I love the cutout on the sleeve where the text peeps through.

Inside the pack is a clean and bright white- with different segments for each item so you don't have to delve through a pile of papery products before you find a mini business card.

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

A wide variety of stickers and cards, and also a good size section of everything else. Not as a big a range as the ones at instant print but there are more sticker shapes to choose from.

QUALITY

High quality print and the cards feel very robust. Would have liked to see a card that had a similar texture to the sleeve the pack came in, but could maybe be too bumpy for a good print, especially an illustration or detailed image.

MY FAVOURITE ITEM

I think the rounded edges are a nice touch to a standard size business card- and child friendly!

I really like the sandwich colour- I think it adds a unique touch to a card, especially if it ties in with illustration on the front. I also like it because it looks like a biscuit

COST
x100- £26.38 for standard cards
x100- £32.38 for rounded corners
X100- 49.90 for the colour sandwich (known as 'Luxe' on the website)


OVERALL
The presentation and quality of each product reflects the pricing, a really high standard for each item and I love their products. Another added bonus is that you can print several different designs instead of just the one across 100 cards- and the website is very easy to use.


AWESOME MERCHANDISE

PRESENTATION OF PACK

Bold and simple presentation, I like the plain cardboard box. Everything inside is just stacked up.

VARIETY OF PRODUCTS

This was the only pack I had to pay for, and I was honestly a bit disappointed. A few stickers, a business card (no information on it as to what paper/ finish... I actually now realise it's just one of their business cards) The interesting part of the pack is the selection of badges and the guitar pick- but that's it.

QUALITY

With so little to choose from paper wise it's hard to comment on the quality- the actual printing looks good on the stickers and what I can see of the flyers. I also like the bold colour combination of the black and bright pink which is used throughout the pack.

MY FAVOURITE ITEM

I did like the cut out of the sticker above and how it fits to the shape of the writing, could be good for an illustration rather than fitting it to a square or a circle.

Nice selection of items- the guitar pick would be a good idea for someone who specialised in music themed illustration, but I don't so meh.

COST 

UM.

LOOK. AT. THIS. RANGE. OF. BUSINESS. CARDS. THAT. I. DID. NOT. GET. IN. THE. PACK.

OVERALL

I literally checked to see if I paid for the simplest, lowest range sample pack and there was only one choice. For £2 you get some leaflets, 3 stickers, 1 business card, 2 badges and a plectrum- not impressed.