OUGD502 - Networking: Own Business Cards

As I am going to two web design events this week with speakers from the industry, I wanted to have my own business cards ready.

Although I wanted the business cards to look good, I have limited time and money so I can't add any nice printing finishes such as letterpress. 
I was thinking about screenprinting and embossing as these are two things I can do myself, but 1. I can't find any nice thick stock apart from mountboard, and 2. I need the cards to be registered in line and for them to be trimmed completely straight. Two things that might not happen if I do them myself.

I ordered some stock from Ebay, which is 350gsm and pre-cut into business card size so I don't have to worry about cutting them myself which was my main concern. For printing, I can screenprint no problem.
However, when it came it was coated and didn't have the right texture. It's too smooth and I want a more textured finish. Also, 350gsm isn't as thick as I had hoped.

I then came across moo.com which does superthick (700gsm) business cards on high quality paper, which is exactly what I want. Plus they had a 25% sale on, and when I quoted what I wanted it wasn't expensive at all!

However, the catch was the delivery time. Even the rush pricing was 6 business days, and the shipping price shot up a lot too. I needed them in 3 days so this wasn't an option. However, now I know about it I could use them in the future.

I then came across printed.com. They do business cards, and let you choose a lot of different options for printing digitally. They have the choice of recycled card at 350gsm which I think would be better than the stock I ordered from Ebay because it is uncoated.

These are some of the options you can choose.

And the quote I got - so cheap!! 

To make things even better, the turn around you can get is very fast, so this is the perfect option for me.

I ordered my cards of here in the end, and if they look as cheap as they are, I will still have time to screenprint before the event.

Here is the design for the front of my card. I wasn't sure what to title myself as, but I have produced a live website, done a web design placement and designed a lot of websites so I thought it was appropriate to use web design. I was just worried about using this as the people going to the events are obviously professionals. I also put graphic because that's what I study and I'm not limited to web. I also included my Twitter name because everyone uses it and it is a more informal way to get to know me.

I created a custom typeface for my name to act as a logo, and it is fine just for this week. I will do a better job when we self branding later on in the year.

OUGD502 - Networking: Work In The Web

Work In The Web

I was on Twitter and saw a tweet to a web designer I follow about something called Work In The Web. I went on their Twitter, and realised it's a 3 day workshop based in Harrogate which teaches you all about web design - right up my street! But I then realised the deadline for submission had already past. I am absolutely gutted, as it would have been a great opportunity, so I tweeted them asking if they are going to have anymore throughout the year.

I then read further on the website, and saw that the day before the workshop, there is a free event in Leeds with talks from local web professionals and a chance for networking! So I am definitely going to go to this, and will hopefully be able to get some contacts. I will make some business cards and get them professionally printed in preparation for this. 

Hey!Stac who are running the event favourited one of my tweets to workintheweb, and started following me on Twitter.

ForeFront
I then came across another event the next day while on the workintheweb's Twitter! This is based at Brewery Tap in Leeds, and is at the end of January. There is going to be three talks with chance for a talk and coffee. I am definitely going to go to this.

I then registered for my tickets, and I'm going with my classmate Sarah.

It then listed the attendee's and I started to look at the people who were going on Twitter and seeing where they worked - this way I could do a bit of a background check on agencies and see if I would possibly want to do a placement anywhere, and just get a general look at what's here in Leeds.

I looked at Daniel Manton on Twitter, and looked at his website and saw he wrote some links to some blogs:

 I then saw he posted some local events. Most of them had already gone, but one caught my eye - code and coffee. This is because it is a regular occurrence and seems quite informal.

I clicked on the link and found a bit of info about it. It is held every wednesday morning at a cafe in Leeds where people code and get a coffee before they go to work. This seems like something I could at some point when I have a website to code to join in.

I went on their website and saw that it is at a place called Mrs Athas, and that there is actually meetings like this all over in the world in America, Sweden and France, not just this one in Leeds.

I then went back to look at the attendee's list, and looked for Alastair Hodgson. He works at a place called twentysix digital, so I had a look at them. 

 I looked on their websites, and saw that they had a big list of clients which was impressive, and that they have offices not only in Leeds, but New York and Singapore too!!!! It is a big dream of mine to work in Singapore so this has made me very excited to talk to Alastair at the event.