3 Maiedae Mixer, Blog Event Preparation- Business Cards

Preparing for a conference or event of your own? Don't miss:
Part 1- Roommate Gift + Freebie
Part 2- Business Cards, you are here.
Part 3- DIYing the Outfit, completed
Part 4- Lessons Learned

Business Cards, they can make you or break you. Talk about intimidation!

My business cards were designed about a month ago, after learning from the past that these sorta things take time. That and unexpected events happen more often than not.

One would think since their first set of business cards (for my other business, Photography) didn’t turn out as expected, that one would have learned from that mistake? Well sort of.

To my defense, back when that first set failed, in preparation I bought a used printer from my local Craigslist, a printer I thought was up to par. For a while the printer was really holding up. That is until it was put to the test a week and a half before the blogging event. Towards the end, I guess the printer threw in the white towel:

Remember the Iphone covers roomie gift?

Thankfully, that was about the worst of it and it was well after I printed the bulk of the business cards.

Either way here’s how they turned out digitally:

These babies were packed with as much information as they could, aesthetically.

My business cards were presented with the newly redesigned Black and White Obsession logo, a funky shape and size, a hole punch, and a little something special specific to the event. The special page was an exclusive sneak-peak at the blogger re-design, which y’all can sneak a peek here.

Go ahead check it out, you know you want to.

Yeah that was one of those, dry-eyed “hey it’s midnight Sunday night, why not add a little more crazy into an already jam packed week prepping for the social event of June!” kind of ideas. Coding, designing, and deadlines called for 4 hour sleepless nights (not that I’m complaining because I’m ecstatic with how everything turned out).

There was even space on the bottom for people to write notes to remember me:

Geeky fact: 250 BC wasn’t just pulled from thin air, it’s actually when scrolls (arguably the first ‘written’ document) were invented.

In my opinion, they were a perfect mixture of sass and function. I was especially grateful as, well I don't know about you, but being thrown into a room full of people you don't know can be a bit intimidating to say the least. Needless to say, it was a great conversation starter.

After some research prior to designing the cards, I found that many bloggers recommended bringing a hole punch and binder rings. So my design incorporated that feature.

Source | Source

There were actually two business card designs for the Maiedae Mixer blogging event, the second with my face, and some minor changes:

These got nixed after about 15-20 since it was sucking ink (bad for future cards) and eventually starting a ‘printer’ streak right across my face. Since they were already printed, they served as backups if I was running low.

If you’re ever in the position to order business cards I highly recommend a QR code, if it is appropriate for your field. Your customer will appreciate the convenience.

Here’s the finished printed look:

As far as the DIY method/process, I started the design in Photoshop, then prepared this doc for some friends critique them:

You know, in case I spelled my blog name wrong or some other obvious I’ve-stared-at-these-waaay-too-long kinda moments.

Then some minor adjustments and a final proof, save as PDF and transferring them to Silhouette studio, couple test prints, then the final print and cut.

If you design your own business cards, here are a few tips:

Over all, it wasn’t a total fail. I didn’t entirely hang my head in shame when handing those babies out. If anything it was yet another learning experience and lessons learned- simply visit your trusty local printer and have them professionally printed on their heavy weight paper! Then come home and throw them through the Silhouette Cameo for the last bit of pizzazz.

Would you like a tutorial on how I made my business cards? How about a tutorial on double sided printing using Silhouette Studio? What do you think about the design, too much, creative, to home-made-ish? Come-on I know you want to give some feedback!

P.S. I hope y’all aren’t sick of the Maiedae Mixer just yet, I have a few more posts up my sleeve, so stay tuned!