Atkins & Jordan Landscaping Business Card Project

A recent project I completed was a busness card design and I thought it would be cool to share the steps I went through to complete the design.

The project was for Atkins & Jordan Landscaping, a local landscaping company, a family owned business formerly owned by the father and uncles, now owned and run by the sons and nephews. I knew the brothers from church service but they didn’t know I did design. Luckily, my wife told them and we started working right away. They wanted to re-brand the company with a cool new look but that had visual ‘POP’! They gave me a few parameters as far a the look went but let me do my thing. I designed their whole re-brand but here, we will take a look at the process for creating the business card.

Initailly, I created the logo so business cards were the next logical step.

A new Illustrator file was opened and sized at standard businees card size of 2 inches high by 3.5 inches wide with an .125 inch bleed all around. The color mode was set to CMYK @ 300dpi.

Next, I usually like to create separate layers to keep the elements of my artwork manageable. Here, I created 3 layers, a Background layer, Logo layer and a Type layer.

Before placing anything on the artboard, I made guides on all sides at .125 inches. This will help make sure nothing gets too close to the edge that could possibly get cut off when the cards are trimmed.

The background image, an texture used in most of the branding for Atkins & Jordan, was placed first. It is a PSD image at 300 dpi.

Then, the logo vector was placed in the top brownish area as it is on most of the branding materials for Atkins & Jordan. I use vectors for 99% of my logos to ensure crisp resolution from small sizes to giant billboard sized applications.

Using the font Adobe Caslon, using CMYK mix of C0 M60 Y100 K79 for the brown and C63 M0 Y100 K42 for the green, I added the information. Placing the name and website address in the center as a focal pint. Then, adding the e-mail and phone numbers, justified, on either side of the design.

When all the images and text are placed, checked and re-checked. I save a version of the file as an .AI file with the fonts as they are. Then, I convert all the fonts into outlines, so that there will be no font problems when it comes time to send them off to a vendor for printing. The .AI file is kept just in case I need to edit and make changes to the type.

Now for the second side. I strip the file down to just guides and begin the design. Similar to the front, I place a background image onto the Background layer.

Then, I drew a bar, the same CMYK mix as the brown type, to divide the design in half. Add the heading type that describes the offerings from Atkins & Jordan Landscaping. After that, I added the type for the bullet points in the same green CMYK mix as the logo.

Turn the type into outlines as we did on the front side. The design was approved by the client, (Yay) Now that we have both sides designed and fonts converted into outlines, we are ready to get the files ready for production.

In Illustrator, I opened both front and back files. Then. individually, saved them as PDF files. I used the Press Quality setting but sometimes, depending on your print provider, they may send you their own PDF settings options specifically optimized for their production workflow.

Of the seven items on the options panel on the left, I only modified Marks and Bleeds. I chose trim marks and registration marks. Then, since I designated .125 inch as the bleed option in the beginning when I made the business card file, I just checked Use Document Bleed Setting and you see the .125 inch populate the top bottom left and right boxes.

I did this to both files and then saved the Print Ready PDF’s in their appropriate folders. The order was for 2 orders of 250 two sided cards  printed on 16 point Silk Laminate.

I used an online print provider to print these business cards so I then uploaded both front and back files, filled in the correct information in their production form, Then, about 7 days later, the cards arrived. The colors were perfect, the text was nice and crisp and the cards were packed safely! The client was happy so to say the least I was happy. Job well done C|A|E…lol.

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The Lost “ART” of Sketching

As I network and talk with other designers about how they go about the process of designing something, I found that many, graphic designers in particular, go straight to the computer to conceptualize. Firing up their favorite application, grab their mouse or tablet and go to town! If you CAN do that then more power to you! When I mention that I doodle or sketch my ideas first, some designers say “Well, I can’t draw well” or if they see a sketch I’ve done, they may say “WOW, you draw really well!”

Unfortunately, they are missing the point!

It’s not about making a pretty drawing, it’s about letting your creative mind flow. A lot of my sketches ARE NOT works of art but they allow me to jump start the creative process, get it out of my head and let my eyes give me feedback. Since my background was drawing comic books (back in the day), I naturally transitioned that pencilling skill into how I formulate my designing. The pencil and paper allow me to “be foolish” with my ideas and most times, that foolishness will help me come upon a great idea! I can relax and not force it. Let the ideas and concepts come to me. I can highlight or cross out elements and let my pencil scribble away and eventually I will come up with something that I can take further and translate to the computer.

Unfortunately, some designers forgo this step and jump right to the computer. I say, make sketching a part of your brainstorming routine. Keep some writing utensils at hand and some paper. Some swear by Moleskin notebooks which are very good. But it can be anything you have to just get the idea down onto something….I sometimes sketch on  napkins ( Just don’t get it wet…lol). I also use sticky notes as you can see in the bottom right pic. I can then attach them to my job log notebook and keep them in some type of order. Then, later on, you can flip through the sketches and maybe use some of the unused ideas for another project.

So for your next project, sit down and put on your favorite brainstorming playlist off your iPod (mine being Marvin Gaye or Marcus Miller) and put pencil to pad and see what you come up with. Come back to the sketches after giving them time to marinated and see what good ideas you’ve cooked up!

 

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C|A|E…Making It Happen In The Blogging World!

Me and my wife who is my Backbone And Support System

HELLO ALL!

Glad you could join me on another venture with C|A|E Graphic Design. Pronounced Cee-Ay-Ee. The initials of my name Christopher Allen Etheredge! I’d like to thank my wife of 14 years for putting up with me and being my inspiration to do good things. Thanks Babe!!

The year was 1978 and I met a  young man named Reggie Byers who forever changed my life. He introduced me to the art of writing, drawing and producing comic books. I already had an artistic side to myself but Reggie was the catalyst to choosing art as a life’s path! THANKS REG!

From that point, I went to the Art Institute of Philadelphia, where I met a lot of great artists and great people. Reggie, Art Institute Alum, Robert Durham and myself, started out own comic book company called Victory Productions and produced comics of our own creation. That was one of the greatest experiences in my life as I learned a lot about art, production, business and about myself. After that, I went to work for a screen printing company and gathered even more practical skills and with the advent of the Macintosh, helped the company grow from screen printing to offset printing all the way to digital printing! Thanks Screen Gems! I also freelanced for a plastic bag manufacturer called Alef Custom Packaging and became their art director. Over the years designed and recreated hundreds of logos and bag brands, all the while cognizant of the boundaries of plastic bag printing at that time. Thanks Alef Packaging! Even more hardcore experience working for an advertising agency and a high-end printer gave me more incentive to do my own thing.

So, in 2009, needing a wider creative platform, C|A|E Graphic Design was born. So follow me and my ‘Make It Happen” mantra as I try to effectively communicate for small and micro-businesses everywhere!