I love it!

I love the drawings! Maybe a different color combination, though

>something away from black-red-white?

I have thought for a long time about the
colour combos. It seems that the "holy
trinity" (pardon the blasphemy) of colour,
black red white trumps anything else
I come up with! I am quite fond of the
three as well. But, having said that I will
strive to look harder at colour.
Thanks for the comments!

kris.

Elegant and beautiful. Begging for varnish treatments, die-cuts, embossing, etc.

Keep us posted.

Congratulations. Loverly, loverly. The red and black are great -- just the right amount of tension. IMO.

The holy trinity of black-red-and white jst seems like too easy of a solution to me. I think that there is too much associated with that combination, especially amoung designers (who would be your target audience as a seller of type, no?).

The colors, with the beautiful intricate forms of your drawings/letters, just cry out "goth" to me. Not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you. It just seems that you will be more likely to speaking to a different audience.

Its always hard for me to settle on the right color combinations, so I really can't offer any great advice. A professor of mine once told me that all the color combinations that we need can be found in nature. Another told me once to work with three colors, two of which should be close to each other in hue and value, and then the third could be a compliment or a split-compliment.

Loving it!!!!

i think it's absolutely gorgeous! I'm kinda in the same boat you're in and am trying to come up with something similar for myself and I've been thinking black, white & red. I love that color combo, but for you i think black,green & yellow might be great or black, white and green. i suggest green cuz i think the vines would look great in green against the black.

It's beautiful. I favor this color scheme (Although, I think this design would work successfully with many other colors)...My initial reaction was that this is a European designer with Asian influence. If that perception is shared by many others, then it offers a lot of breadth.

Really nice look - very classy. Just the dragon (wyvern?) makes it too close to Storm's stuff. As for the colors, try this: make the red a burgundy (add a touch of blue), and give the white a sepia tint. Hey, wait a second, those are my foundry's colors! :-/

hhp

I love the design, but tend to agree that the colour scheme needs resolving. The current colour scheme does cause tension, but just experiment some more and possibly post us some more results. I tend to react badly to red on black. But that is just me.

The identity of the card communicates very effectively. Love it!

mwah

Lovely..

( Hmm, I think Ive seen a rather similar 'Dragon' symbol before.. Is it from a stock illustration book.? )

GRAITH i like the flow of tree...

Is it a dragon or bird???

I love the split-stroke typeface, which I presume is one of your own. Design looks great, it's a very indulgent and lush look, which is certainly complemented by the dramatic colour choice.

Have you considered replacing the white with a metallic foil for business cards? A gold or silver foil would further heighten the impact of the design and visually offset the complex tracery of either design.

PS

Drool... absolutely in touch what is going on right now!

They are both just fantastic. I love the colour scheme. I have two comments though.
The truncated paws and hand holding a torch
looks a bit like cut out tapestry. It feels
like something's missing to me. I would get
rid of it and replace it with the floral pattern.
On the second logo, the dragon is beautifully merged with the K. Just superb work. My only complain on this one is the flower at the tail. It distracts from the name. I would just leave it out.

IMO the red is a perfect choice. The design looks velvety and that's a brilliant touch. If it were brighter there would be conflict instead of tension.

Keep in mind, if you use Panatone Inks you can skew the black towards red or blue or yellow even. You might look at Panatone Black 5 with your Red.

I really like the intricate way you have woven everything together. Detail seems to be a lost art.

I think another solution to your color issue might be limiting where you use the red. Use the red as the extra punch and not the main show. Looks good though!

*drool*

Nothing more to say. They're perfect, don't change a thing.

The design is gorgeous, but will all of those little filigrees survive at actual business card size?

This would make an incredible poster for sure.

When I looked at the reds, they looked like a gradation from a dark blood red, to a more vibrant red. I assume this is an optical illusion, but I like the effect, regardless.

I'd also recommend trying some variations, such as a striking sky blue, or a rich, mossy green with the same value as the red. The red/black/white combination is one of my favorites too, but I could see a 'goth' interpretation of what you currently have (even though I didn't take it that way). Perhaps a nice, rich rust color would give a wrought-iron feel to the scroll-work. Could be nice.

I also saw tonal variation as a result of line weight, an effect which might be magnified at small sizes.

Another idea which would look very elegant (but perhaps a bit too subdued) is to emboss/deboss the graphic area and apply glossy spot varnish to those areas. Especially if you use a nicely textured stock, it could turn out very nice.

Very sophisticated and elegant- my favourite thing about it is the way the ornament weaves through the typography with such grace- it is poetic. I haven't seen that degree of finesse and craft in a typographic solution in a long time. Deboss, emboss only if you can find a printer that can match the finesse and intricacy of your design.

Wow-wee! Thanks for all the super+ feedback! I'll answer
a few questions first:

The images are indeed stock, from the Pepin Press book
called "Signs & Symbols." I didn't reply for so long because
I was awaitng confirmation on whether I could legally use
the images. As it turns out, I can. However, it was always
my intention to modify them.

I agree about the paw holding
the torch, it looked off from the beginning. I love all the
suggestions about ebossing, foil stamping etc. When I get
the squids together I shall investigate this seriously. At the
moment, I will have to gang up on another print job, which
is one colour, a black purple. See the attached image for
colour and new filigree. The rest of the type is Jenson Pro,
which I found tucked away inside Indy CS. Is it too much?

As for the dragonbirdthing, I have been playing with the
idea of paying a subtle homage to our native bird, the
Kiwi. It is a flightless endangered beauty and the de
facto icon for New Zealand, pretty much why we get
called kiwi's. So here it is on my logotype. Does it work
any better? I am in the middle of vectorising the thing.
Quite tricky. The split-stroke type is my own. Hopefully
released one day as well. Thanks for all the feedback.

Regards, kris.

kris your work is very elegant. As for the colours i would recommend to make the combination it suits you best and don't get confused with afterthoughts like "will it communicate with everybody?", since your work and taste already is not concerning "everybody".

Personaly i prefer the black-red-white variation mainly for the reason that the "KLIM" is not messing with the pattern (as i think it happens in the last two variations).

Also i think you sould "liberate" the "Type & Graphic Design" and "Mobile..." lines from the block. The compination with the leaves doesn't work as it does with the "KLIM". Further i believe you should avoid the "stop" of the block that puts a "wall" in front of the leaves. I would advise you to put the lines in an order that follows the rythm of the leaves as the typography is not foreign to the nature but it is inspired from it.

thanx for the nice design and hope that the dotted line around the card it is not the croping line and it will be print.

christos

Great cards. Can't decide which one I like best between the dark and light versions.

I agree with Christos and would take your title and mobile numbers out of the block, maybe on border somewhere and using the lighter shade of the dark so as not to distract attention from the center. It will be dithered though.

The bird on the other hand has morphed into some kind of weird gryphon. It doesn't remind me a kiwi for sure with those huge wings. I think you should either stick with the dragon theme or go with the softer more lyre bird look. In that case the wings seem too predatory. I'm nit picking of course. Great stuff.

I prefer the darker version. But agree that the mobile number and also the top text is compramising the design.

The text is optically squaring off the design, detracting from the elegance. Because the vines force the eye straight into your name. A memorable name.

Title and mobile # should not compete with your name. In this example anyway.

Love it!

I second every word of Christos, and also agree with Bernard that the Kiwi is not identifiable as such.

Aloha!
Scott

I think that long beak is making it enough of a Kiwi for me now.

hhp

I'll second, third, or fourth Christos' suggestions. But I'll take the fif.

I think the Kiwi is a humble bird and doesn't really fit the baroque flavour of the design. Which is not to say I don't like the current bird, but it doesn't remind me of a kiwi.

Will do. I think my cable modem arsed itself.

It's all very elegant and cool, but...

Are people supposed to ask for 'Klim' on the phone?
I think you should put your name in the card.

Those are really beautiful.

Can't comment! It's beautiful!

Looks very good, but if you are promoting yourself as a graphic designer, you should really design your own shapes, imho.
Those, taken from "Signs & Symbols - Pepin van Roojen" are just too "cliparty" i think.

In a way Christian is right, but I don't see every designer make it's own font.

It doesn't look like clip art to me. One of the things that make graphic designers great, especially in our day, is their ability to apply and arrange "existing" elements in ways that convey specific messages. I used to be radically opposed to using stock imagery, but I have changed my position after seeing such imagery masterfully manipulated in successful designs. I say, as long as you do something to make it your own, it's OK.

Aloha!
Scott

>"but I don't see every designer make it's own font."

Actually i was talking about the organic/dragon figures :P
I agree its OK to use images, fonts, etc in your work, what i think about this particular case is that if you are creating a "corporate image" for yourself, you should maybe design your own "logotype" rather than take something that is distributed as clipart.
But maybe I'm just being silly, because this looks so good i wish it was MY image :P

Kia Ora folks. I have had a scratch around and
found the files that I got printed

This is really classy stuff, man.

The only thing that bugs me are the "sharpnesses" when viewed large: I think the ends of the "V" of the "M", the "<" of the "K" etc. needs just a touch of shear. It's Doyald Young I think who recommends avoiding angles less than 30 degrees.

hhp

Based upon the previous posts and your good eye I would go with your emotions and vision it's pretty obvious it is classy work. I actually like the first design and color. Very Nice work.

Reminds me a bit of my friend Dan Pitchford's work for Soulsavers. Uses varnish on the slip cover. Different sensibilities I'm sure, but we can see the "romantik" red and black zeitgeist rise and fade...

Stunning and gorgeous from the very beginning. I wish I could tell you something useful to change, but really... this is the best thing I've seen in the typophile design forum, ever.

The red/black/white combo is not a problem, in my mind. It becomes what the designer makes of it, if the design is strong enough, which yours definitely is.

And it's not "goth" until you either add some blackletter or a picture of a pale woman with tuberculosis looking like she's about to faint.

The gryphon is a traditional heraldic beast associated with printers.

This is marvelous design.You should be proud of this achievement. Doing your own promo is the most difficult of all challenges.
--Paul
http://giam.typepad.com/the_branding_of_polaroid_/

Thanks for the compliments! I have just received the
cards back from the printer and

I had the same issue with my Custom Art Co. cards. Granted, everyone digs 'em when I hand 'em out, but I ganged the cards onto a client job, and was unavailable for the press check. I, too, would like to do a reprint.

I would suggest (for an eventual future reprint) to try using a black stock with aopaque white and the red overprinted (or maybe both colors foil stamped would be even better). I did a business card once that relayed on a large mass of black similar to yours, and I found that the black printed on white stock was never rich enough. Also, the type dosen't feel the same when it is simply a hole in an ink-covered page.

This is a beautiful project and I hope that you will have the chance to print it with an outstanding printer!

Yeah? Thanks Robert! I have considered foil
and varnish. I would be a bit hesitant about
printing white then red, wouldn't the registration
be a rather large issue? Does foil on black stock
work quite well?

Foil on black works well, but best to do a test first. I think foil would be best for this situation as it is extremly opaque.

I was wondering about the trapping issue related to the white and red inks as well when I wrote the post. If the red were spread out things would probably work. The black should cover up a slight overflow of the red. If someone knows a lot about trapping (certainly not me) I hope that they could sound in on this.

A really excellent printer could probably do it kiss-fit, but those printers are few and far between. (I know a printer here in Montr

Instead of foil blocking check out the possibilities of Metallure inks