You are not a graphic designer, are you?
There’s so much wrong with this that I don’t know where to start and it would take ages to explain. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to be rude. I suggest you hire a designer.

Jan - spot on. I'm a newbie. If I were a graphic designer, i would have to close up shop and get a job at the local mcdonalds! judging from your response, you're not a fan of the differing fonts in the logo? I thought it might be a stretch, not to mention a bit incosistent. any other critques?

ps. i agree with your suggestion to hire a designer - can't afford one right now! every penny counts until something comes in the door...

It’s not only the font combination. It’s the font choice in general, the font sizes in relation, the kerning/spacing, the ugly false small caps, how the type is placed in the format ............

I'm afraid I must agree with Jan. I also don't want to be rude, of course.
But I would start with resetting the spaces and letterspacing on the 'gentle breeze' and 'capital group'. Now it looks a bit like something has gone wrong with the prepress or something. ;)
The false small caps in the name also need to go in my opinion. Either just use lowercase characters with init caps, or choose a typeface with proper small caps (you should probably use something else then Arial anyway).
The contact information part also looks a bit cluttered. It's mostly because of the (false?) superscript, and the smaller pointsize of 'tel' and 'fax'. I'm not a fan of the digits in brackets either, but maybe that's a standard way of writing phone numbers in de USA, if so, ignore me.

As for the placing and composition itself, maybe try to just align the text either left of right, instead of centered. And for example try to align items to each other, so that it becomes more a whole, instead of several individual groups placed seemingly random on the card.

If you're in a bind, I might suggest this website called logoworks.com. They do some decent work for the price. I recently gave them a try only because I am working on a project that is "too close to home" for myself and wanted a different perspective. They do more than just logos, but that is their specialty. I am not trying to give them a plug, but after reading the comments posted (thinking, ouch, that's a bit harsh) and then viewing the layout, eh, I think this website might be worth checking out for this. Good luck.

I don't want to be harsh, I hope my comments will be seen as constructive criticism. But honest critique, I guess, is always somewhat harsh for the person it's directed at.

I think you failed to embed the fonts in your pdf and got substitution fonts which doesn’t help.

To work with what you have think of it as 4 related pieces of information
1 Company name/logo
2 Name and position
3 Postal address
4 Telephone numbers and e-mail address

If you treat 3 and 4 as equal importance try setting them as two blocks all the same weight and point size, no superscript, ranged left, use a tab after tel and fax and before e-mail so that each element starts from the same point on separate lines so it is easier to pick out the various elements – that should give you two blocks each with three lines; position the postal address to the bottom left and the numbers and e-mail so that the type starts at the centre. Name is more important than addresses so you could make it a larger point size than addresses although title could be the same size. Avoiding small caps will mean you don’t get the mixed weights – Title Case will be better, there are many ways to position it but you could start with centred as you have it. The logo is a different problem a simple ‘holding’ text logo could be to set gentle breeze in Palatino Italic with Capital Group in Palatino Roman underneath.

gentle
breeze
Capital Group

The italic at a larger size, positioning again has many options.
Just some suggestions for DIY – no substitute for the real thing (I took a look at logoworks.com which made me wince).

Tim

I hate to pile on, but my first impression was exactly the same as Jan's first comment.

Looking at the property of your PDF file reveals:

Title: Microsoft Word - business card 3.doc

Using Word -- or any other text processing software -- for layout design is an absolute no-go in the first place.

I do think Tim is right with his guess that you've probably failed to embed some fonts. But that really doesn't matter as long as Word is used for layout design.

"If you’re in a bind, I might suggest this website called logoworks.com."

Ewww.

Instead of that, offer $10 to anyone on this site to spend 5 minutes typesetting a plain jane card for you. Cheaper for you, more profitable for the designer, and better looking.

Sorry, but I need at least half an hour, probably more like a whole hour even for a "plain jane card". And I don't think I'd find acceptable any result done by anyone in five minutes.

Sounds like it's already been covered, but it really is totally worth it to have somebody do the logo for you. There are people who are professionals who charge reasonable freelance rates - and it will make a huge difference in the quality of the logo you get and how happy you'll be with it in the end.

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"If someone's 'been around the block a few times,' it might mean he didn't have the good sense to give up and park in the lot." ~ Mike Nelson 'Mind Over Matters'

Fear. Thats what I saw when I opened the PDF. Find a professional Graphic Designer to do your card. In todays Business world a business card is your main contact and first impression tool. If it sucks, then it can reflec on the services you provide. Not that the Services are of lower quality. But think about it, when you give this card, which is a 1/10 for the look, then the recipient uses the card or refers your services to someone else, and passes the card along to other people, that perception is also passed along with it. Not good. I would strongly suggest using your network and ask around to find a Graphic Designer can be help you out.

David Daigle, Canada

" And I don’t think I’d find acceptable any result done by anyone in five minutes."

But it'd be infinitely better than anything at logoworks. ;o)

@David:

By "fear", I think you mean "horror". ;)

Hmmm...I think you should invest money in having a professional logo and stationery set done. It will boom business and it will be the best money you have ever spent. Believe me Sir.

Hi John,
My suggestion if you are on a tight budget is to head for your local small print shops and see if they offer design services. I once worked for a print shop where we would do the logo and business card design as part of a package deal if the client ordered enough business cards. Ask to see samples of their work first. You might bring in samples of colors you like or tear out magazine pages that to you express the feeling your want your logo and card to have.

You also could look around to find a business card you like from a totally different line of work and geographic location than your own. Show it to people you know and see if they too think it looks nice and professional. Once you locate a good card, choose similar fonts, alignment and spacing to what is on that card. (I said SIMILAR...it's best never to copy exactly...vary the colors or font or something.)

For your own growth in things graphic, I highly recommend the book The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams (a different person than Robin Williams the comedian). This is a straightforward book about how to make newsletters, posters and yes, business cards, look better. I think it will really open up your eyes.