Evolving Island (EI – www.evolvingisland.com) asked us to print letterpress business cards for several of their divisions in the Cayman Islands. These cards are double sided with two colors (black/gray) on the back and three colors on the front on thick 600gsm cotton paper. In order to make each division stand out while keeping consistent with the EI brand, the logo for each card was printed in a unique color.

Since each color is printed as a separate pass through the press, adding multiple colors to your business cards can quickly add up. Thankfully there are some ways you can make this more economical. The first and most obvious is to order more cards – either more per person or more of the same design for a group of people. A lot of time and cost is associated with file preparation and press set up, so printing more cards naturally costs less.

Second, if you’re printing multiple sets for different people or divisions, the more overlap between the designs the lower the cost. For these cards, the back and part of the front of the cards were repeated regardless of the division. Even though the EI logo on the front was printed in a different color for each division, the same plate was used and therefor only the ink color had to be changed, meaning less setup time.

If you’re in the process of putting together a letterpress project, the best way to get started is to send us an email … hopefully we can make it easier for you.

Classic doesn’t mean boring as these business cards demonstrate. Sometimes, a simple design can go much further than any number of colors or wacky designs, especially if your job is all about creating sophisticated spaces. Caroline Myers used a repeating geometric pattern as the main element of her cards. Based on a quatrefoil design, the background was printed using transparent white ink to add accent to the details.

While the cotton paper we use is already textured, adding a background pattern to these cards gives them a unique visual and tactile appeal. The use of black for the text contrasts the quatrefoil pattern nicely which is broken up by two bands that run across the width of the card. The last element of these cards are the rounded corners which ties in the round shapes that inspired the background design. What better business card for an interior designer than one that is both elegant and timeless.