Laser Cut Business Cards

These are our current business cards.  What can I say, we’re pretty proud of them – on a lot of levels.  It’s proven to be very, very popular, but it is would be rather expensive to produce for a client because it requires two engraving passes ( front and back ), and a cutting pass.  However, we have finally found a reliable digital print shop that can lay down white ink, which lowers the cost back into the reasonable range, and also opens up a lot of opportunities for more complex pieces.

From a technical standpoint, the construction paper is fairly rare find.  When you laser away the top surface, you are left crisp, readable, nearly white text without the need to find a printer who can lay down white ink.  The laser seems to alter or destroy the pigment used to color the paper, since the white does not rub off or darken with handling.

It took a little practice to get the cut quality clean, but ultimately, we arrived at a sharp, and surprisingly durable card.  Early versions were over powered and had a ghosting effect around the cut letters that left them looking a little ‘fuzzy’.  We were finally able to resolve the issue by stepping back a little further on the power and lowering the frequency.

We altered the text, and our logo to provide anchor points for the centers of closed letters, and we were extremely pleased with the result.  Even with the highly detailed, and relatively delicate looking cuts, the cards have proven impressively durable.  When we started to do leave behind cards with local businesses and events, we quickly realized that the card wasn’t very clear about what we do.  To solve the problem, we hit upon the solution of doing a word cloud on the back.  It’s not a perfect solution, but it does provide some needed context for people.