Graphic Designer or Commercial Printing For Business Card Creation – Which Is Better?

Designing new business cards may sound like an easy process, but your business card is “the first example of your work that you are showing potential clients”, as Lifewire states. As a result, if your design is unattractive, you’re likely losing a potential customer. For instance, a plain card with just contact information doesn’t inspire interest. In other words, a boring card gives the impression of a boring business. So how do you avoid this? You have to choose a designer that will really capture your business’s personality, and bring it to life. But should you use a graphic designer or a commercial printing company? Well, there are pros and cons to each.

Commercial Printing Companies

First, let’s take a look at one of the largest commercial printing companies, Staples. Quickly looking at their copy and print page, you can see that they offer easy options for ordering a large amount of business cards. Similarly, they offer eight different options for the material your cards will be printed on, from standard matte and deluxe glossy, to premium recycled matte. Staples offers 100 cards at the low price of $18.99.

But is the variety of business card material worth the lack of unique designs? They allow you to, for example, upload your own design or use standard templates. So if you want to have a truly special design that will make your card, and therefore your company, stand out, then you have to create a design yourself and upload it. Which is excellent, for those who have artistic abilities. But for the majority of people, designing is not their forte.

Graphic Designers

On the other hand, graphic designers are literally design experts. In other words, if you need help designing business cards that will make your business truly stand out, there are no better people to help you create the perfect graphic designs, than graphic designers. So, if you want beautiful, creative, stand-out designs, you’re in need of a great graphic designer.

However, the design is just one part. The design, the printing process, and the materials, can all be separate costs, depending on whether your designer has their own printing materials or if they outsource. To clarify, not all graphic designers can actually print your cards, so you may end up paying more than you were expecting. 99designs has a great chart that can help you see the range of costs you can potentially pay, from $20 to over $2,500.

In short, both graphic designers and commercial companies can make great business cards; graphic designer’s are more detailed and guarantee your card and thus your company will stand out, while commercial companies provide quick, easy, and sometimes more affordable options. Which is best for your company, is up to you.