Monday 26 November 2007

Business Card - decisions, decisions...

I need some help. I haven't updated my business card since starting this blog and taking my artwork online last March. I am openly fishing for comments about the two designs I have cobbled together with the help of my trilobite army.

Criticisms, derisive laughter, suggestions to tweak or change, all comments are welcome. But whatever you say, at least make it funny. Scratch that - too much pressure. I am not really a designer, more of an illustrator. I am happy with both of these cards, indeed I am even leaning toward one more than the other. Can you guess?

Real printable sizes are 3.5"x2". I will likely print them on Fredrix canvas paper or Fabriano Pittura paper. The former has a canvas texture, the latter is used with oil and acrylic, but has a soft press watercolour texture, not quite as rough as a cold press. Here they are:

The Flying Trilobite Business Card concept #1 (links go to my DeviantArt gallery.)

This one has the wing, has a design of the elrathia kingii trilobite tattoo I drew that I plan on getting this spring. I usually draw the wing either with a damselfly/dragonfly concept if the trilobite is alive, or with bat wings if fossilized because mammals are so much cooler than wussy modern dragonflies. In both designs I have not included my phone number, since the email would be easy enough to use to get a contract started.

The Flying Trilobite Business Card concept #2

This one doesn't have the Mythical Flying Trilobite wings, and instead has a trilobite fossil being chucked along Galileo's concept of equations for falling bodies. As the hapless 550 million year old arthropod reaches its apex, it will continue moving forward at the same rate while accelerating downward until it reaches terminal velocity and we've lost a precious artifact. Don't worry, the bottom of the business card is padded, and it's a stunt fossil. I referenced some nice diagrams by Yuta Aoki and drew my own and tweaked from there.

So, if you've read this, may I call upon you to lend an opinion below? Whether you are an artist or designer yourself, or someone who has seen business cards before, I'd appreciate the comments.

Next week I'll put a comment and reveal which one so far I think I like better, and which one I ultimately choose. Thanks!

21 comments:

CHADMAC said...

As far as the general concepts go, I think I prefer the first one. A trilobite flying under its own power seems way cooler than someone throwing one along a parabolic trajectory.

If you do go with the second one, I would suggest making sure that the centre of mass for your trilobite is lined up with the parabola. Or am I being too pedantic? It wouldn't be the first time.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I have always been enamored with the fossilized bat wing image.
I think the Galileo concept does not best define your art, but might lead people away from the fact that you are promoting art.
Or a combination of both cards, but with the bat wing fossil on the parabola.
So, that was helpfully ambivalent, yes?

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with the previous two comments.

I like the first one better, the fossilized bat wing looks much cooler to me.

The second one emphasizes science more than the trilobite and hence the artistic aspect. From what I know of you, I would place more emphasis on the art and then follow it up with science coming in a close but definite second.

This is my analysis from an outside perspective only.

You may also consider making them both. I make mine at work, printing only 10 at a time.

traumador said...

I like the first one as well the most... I do like the second one conceptually (though till I read the explaination I thought it was graph of trilobite success through time LOL)...

As for a trilobite army where do you get one of those?!? I WANT one!!!

Are they winged? Would that than make you the wicked witch of palaeontology? "Send forth my flying trilobites to get that girl and her little dog too!" Do they march around chatting "All we owe we molt"?

That's my attempt at the funny comment... I had such short notice it's all I could come up with...

Dale McGowan said...

Gotta have the wings. #1.

Glendon Mellow said...

Hi Chadmac, thanks for the comments. That's a good point about the centre of mass being in the wrong position...since ultimately I try to get my art in front of the eyes of scientist-types more than the post-modren art crowd, I think it would be good to fix that. Nice to hear from an ex-pat and prolific blogger such as yourself!

Glendon Mellow said...

Thanks Leslie, nice to know my core concept is well received!

I'm not sure about the bat-wing on the parabola. I thought about it, but then the little critter would fly away and Galileo would have to fume and stomp on his enormous floppy hat.

Very helpful. Only kind of ambivalent. :-) You're right, the art is the thing. My trilobite army and I don't make trilobite-launching catapults for a living.

(Anymore.)

Glendon Mellow said...

Hi Rudi! (From what you know of me?? Outside perspective?? Okay, now you're just being weird)

Thanks for the comments! I thought about making them both. But I think "Brand-Image 101" frowns upon that.

Thanks for saying the first one is cooler. It almost sounds like it is cool.

Can I get a 'dat's da bomb!' or a 'ka-POW!' ?

Glendon Mellow said...

Another vote for the wings, from Dale! Thanks for checking it out!

Glendon Mellow said...

Traumador...if your fingers were just a bit longer, I'd say we would need to program video games together.

If I knew anything about video games. PaleoWizard of Oz. Alice in Gondawanaland. We could re-program Aliens Vs Predator with trilobites Vs Tyrannosaurs and then not play it 'cuz the game mechanics are still only so-so.

Trilobite armies are easy to come across. Just find a live trilobite and put some drops of freshwater on it. Spawn like the dickens.

Thanks for your comments, I'll have to think about that. Wouldn't want to cause graph confusion with paleontologists versus engineers & physicists. Another vote for #1!

Anonymous said...

I like #1, but I think it should be a little smaller in relation to the size of a card.

Anonymous said...

I love the bat winged beast as an iconographic image but I like the overall design of the second one, EXCEPT for the fact that the trilobite is falling. It's supposed to be flying, so I wonder if the parabola couldn't be tweaked to show the brave little fella's trajectory as he rockets up up and away. But I do fancy that bat wing . . . and I also agree with commenter leslie that the second card is less suggestive of art than the first. My suggestions cancel eachother out, I'll leave now . . .

Glendon Mellow said...

Thanks for the comment Lauren! I almost thought bigger. Y'know, only show half the trilobite, make it more abstracted. Hmm...

Hi, Gastrolith! I suppose it is falling, I kind of like it as a visual joke, almost like there should be ait-quotes around the word flying when you read it. You might be on to something there. I thought about actually adding rockets, but a business card might be too small to do it. Leslie suggested having it fly off the arc, I could use dotted lines.

Thanks so much everybody, the comments are great. More are of course welcome, I'll defer the decision until the end of the week.

Anonymous said...

A larger, more abstracted pattern, of the batwing trilobite, like a faintly colored 'wallpaper'...
Then put all the ideas on a dartboard, blindfold yourself, throw a dart and pick one! Very scientific method.

The Key Question said...

Hi Glendon,

The first design better suits your theme and has a clearer layout. Though I feel that the wing seems disjointed from the trilobite body and can be a little closer.

Personally I like the second design more, because of its extreme quirkiness (projectile motion? cartesian coordinates?!??) and ability to make people to do a second take, but I agree with most people here that the first design works better as a business card.

Glendon Mellow said...

G'day, Lim!

I like the quirkiness of the second one a lot too. Once I thought of it, I had to execute right away.

Good point about the wing. Maybe I'll take the suggestions and fix each of them sometimes over the next couple of days.

Thank you for the help. Much appreciated. :-)
I like your new profile pic.

Anonymous said...

The one with the wing, of course.

It's not actually clear that the trilobite is *flying* in the second one. To me it just looks kind of like the graph of a sine function. And besides, the first one just looks cooler.

--Luna_the_cat

Glendon Mellow said...

Thanks Luna!

And coming from an expert on flying trilobites such as yourself, I'll take that under heavy consideration.

)By the way, have you seen Lord Stench on DeviantArt.com? He has a trilobite coat of arms with wings.)
http://lordstench.deviantart.com/journal/

Anonymous said...

I prefer the second business card.
And I will explain when you call me tomorrow at work. haha

Shelley said...

Hi Glendon-
I have to say I like the first one better. When you get your cards printed, I suggest you try out Moo cards which is what ScienceBlogs used to print up our cards. They are kinda like laminated paper/plastic and much more eye-catching and memorable than the usual boring card. They are in the UK too, so better for the shipping for you. http://www.moo.com/

Glendon Mellow said...

Thanks for commenting Shelley, it really seems like the first one is the way to go. I'm going to try and have a slightly adjusted version of it up later today.

As for the printer, that sounds pretty neat. But why the UK? I'm only two Great Lakes away from your University, and across the lake from New York State.

For the moment, I may print them on some art paper at home, but I'll look into Moo for the future.

Awesome, thanks!

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Posts over 14 days old have their comments held in moderation - I've been getting an unusual amount of spam for a guy who paints trilobites. I'll release it lickety-split though.

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