To have my two birthday cards printed i decided to find a printers outside of university which could offer me a greater variety of papers and finishes. For both my cards i selected a 190 gsm silk paper as this is thick enough so the card will be sturdy and have a slightly shiny finish.
Overall i am very happy with the outcome of my first card and really like how the hues stand out compared to using the university printers. As i could not find any service which would cut away the top area of the card on a one off basis i decided to do this myself. Overall i feel getting this done professionally would have given it a slightly nicer finish; however, this time when cutting away the top i was a lot more careful and think this has given it a nicer edge compared to my card at the formative assessment.
For my second card i made some minor adjustments before sending it off for printing. When attaching the exterior back and front within an illustrator document i realised i could improve my design further by making the monsters wrap around to the back of the card instead of just cutting them off. Overall i feel this gives a nicer finish to the card and unites the front and back.
I am glad i made the decision to use blue on the interior of the card instead of red as i feel this better unites the interior and exterior now it has been printed. Despite this, the blue hue within the inside of the card may be a bit dark to write on, if given more time on this project this is definitely an area i would look at developing.
Overall i feel my cards are a lot stronger now following the formative assessment and feel Matts idea about including the colouring in pages really help my designs to appeal to my target demographic. I feel making mock ups for the formative assessment really helped myself and Matt to highlight areas which needed improving. It gave myself a clear idea of what elements were and were not working within my designs.
BA Hons Textiles Consultancy Blog 