Be Excellent To Each Other

Mrs T and I have had an idea for a business, and Mrs T is basically going to be running it. She hates her job, wants to work for herself, and now is the perfect time to try and get something going, so she is going to give it a shot.
It's basically a middleman/broker for a part of the food and drink industry, and I have been tasked with getting a load of business cards created, website setup, etc... Unfortunately my creative skills leave a lot to be desired, and i'm struggling with making a good looking business card or coming up with a logo that doesn't look shit.

The name of the business is "Quality Connected".
I've bought the domain already, and i've knocked up the attached as a template for a business card, which looks ok, but nothing special.
Can anyone give me any tips on why it looks shit and what I can do to fix it, or if anyone has any ideas for a better logo that would rock. My initial idea was to link the Q and the C of the two words, make Quality a quality old school font and Connected a bit more modern and funkier, but i'm not happy with it at all. (Ignore the brown band around the card, that is just the Word background)
I've tried the card plain white, with the transparent picture in the background and with a darker colour plain background (purple) but none of them really jump out.

I know this isn't the be all and end all of setting up a business, but this is one thing I can get done today and Mrs T can start talking to people and have something she can give them so they can contact her...

That big space on the bottom left should have a line saying what it is she actually does.

"Quality Connected - Food industry broking and mddlemanning" because otherwise that shit going nowhere.

Incidentally, my first thought for that big horizontal line was that you were supposed to write something in there in biro perhaps.

I am not an artist.

Also... Are people putting those QR codes on their business cards these days? Or have they not caught on?

They are a passing fad.

My main criticisms would be:

1. It doesn't say what she does. There's little indication at all.
2. The two logo typefaces don't really work together. They give conflicting messages, and are a little too similar to sit next to each other.
3. The background doesn't work being washed out. It looks faded and cheap. I'd either find a layout to make it 100% opaque or ditch it entirely.

I'll have a further look later, as I have 2 mins left of lunch now.

When you're done, design me a card for my site as well please. Kthxbye.

If it's any use, I had an email from http://www.goodprint.co.uk yesterday - they've got 60% off their business cards until tomorrow I think. Use the code - JULY37. I use them quite a bit and have been happy with them so far.

/praisebot

not the internationally reknowed and highly useful website http://www.finditcheapest.com?

I'd change your business name to something a bit more obvious, something food or drink related to instantly tell people what the business is about.

Also plainer, clearer background, and alot brighter as it just looks washed out, and other than the mug I can't really tell what I'm looking at at first glance.

Ta, it is for these exact reasons I need help, I have no idea what i'm doing when it comes to this sort of thing

1. We'll add in something along those lines. You're right, but it is worth mentioning that this isn't a scattergun approach, this is a leave behind after a conversation, so it doesn't have to stand on it's own as such.
2. Any ideas about fonts that could work well together for the idea?
3. I hear ya, the original plan was to have the front plain, and a foody pic on the back, but then I thought that shouldn't you leave the back of the card blank so people can write on it?

It's a fairly generic name. My first guess would a telecom company. If the name's set, definitely put what you do on the card.

As for the design, I'm no expert, so don't consider this too much, but I'd personally say simple is better. Bold and simple is a personal preference of mine, but for something like business cards it also seems to make sense to me.

Ta, I was going to use them anyway. At £3-ish a go I can try a load of different card types and see what they look like done properly!

It is fairly generic, but it does make sense for what we are trying to do. The name may not stand out on it's own, but it doesn't have to. As mentioned, this is not a business where people will come to us, this is a business where Mrs T will go to them, so every interaction will be qualified and in context.

I agree with everything Malabelm said.

I would either: design a proper logo incorporating the Q and C, or just pick a nice (single) font and type it out, use that as your logo. That's what I did for my one. I also used a bold colour graphic strip down one edge, with the rest of the space dedicated to details.
I'd agree that that image, the colours of it, doesn't lend itself well to being faint and in the background. You want food stuff to look vibrant and fresh, for a start.

It's good that you're putting some thought into it though and not just using a plain old template.

I know it's not really what you're asking, but I really dislike the name. It sounds like a management training company.

True dat. Or, something to do with Quality. Which is a field in itself, apparently.

How about Quisine Connected?

You can be assured that it is.

The name as it currently stands matches entirely what the business is about Quisine Connected doesn't...

Trust me, it's fine, and works for what we need.

Look up QC Sherry for a logo idea connecting those two letters maybe.

Oh, and I used vistaprint.co.uk last time I did this a long time ago. They give something like 500 free samples for postage only (and a lifetime of junk mail probably).

Something like this feels much better. (Thanks Kalmar)

Or maybe with QualityConnected as all one word, and with a better strapline.

See, now you have that nice strip there, you should really put some foody stuffs in it.

I think you should change the name to "Fish & Chips".

Everyone likes fish and chips.

And it is also food related.

1. You say that, but anything to tie the business card to the company after they've received it is never a bad thing. Always be memorable.

2. Not sure. You'd need to decide exactly what sort of feelings you want to convey and express in your business and then choose a typeface from there.

3. Leave the back blank by all means. I'm sure there'd be a way to have the text over the image without it looking tacky, even if it's effectively in a film-style picturebox with the text in the borders.

Thats was the next step, just didn't have anything to hand

To the beteo cookbook thread!

In other related news, I need to create a pretty basic website. I'm talking 3-4 pages max.

What's my best tool these days? I used dreamweaver ages and ages ago, but would prefer something good, cheap and easy.

Notepad

textpad - if it is still free.

Also, the linking of the Q and the C makes it look like it is "QC" whcih stands for quality control in many businesses.

Honestly, I'd hire someone else to do it. This is the face of the company, and it should reflect the quality of the service — don't skimp on it.

I thought that as soon as I clicked send, I've mailed a guy I know and offered him some cash to knock up a few pages

Heh, good. I was about to bust into my ‘you wouldn't try to cut your wife's hair…’ speech.

haha, what sort of idiot wife would let their husband do that?

Fuck that malabar, I've started cutting my own hair!
(Someone bring me a wife and I'll consider that as well).

Also, I've just ordered business cards of my own now thanks to Trooper and I get a free pen-woo!

Yeah, but you're awesome.

Notepad..