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Business cards and print: skip the cheap stack
Paper weight, color, and a 10-minute brief so your first print run does not look like a nightclub flyer.
Cheap print fails in the hand, not on screen. If the card bends like a receipt, the brand already lost. Start with stock (350 gsm or better), finish (matte vs spot UV), and one constraint: name, role, one URL. Everything else is decoration.
Write the brief before you open a catalog. Quantity you will actually hand out in 90 days — not 2,000 “because the unit price drops.” A smaller run on better stock beats a box you never finish.
Color: design in CMYK, not the neon that looked good on a phone. If you have a fluorescent brand mark, ask the printer for a coated stock and a proof. Uncoated stock eats saturation.
MOO and similar premium printers exist so small runs stay consistent. Use them when the card is part of a first impression (studio, client, gallery). Use a local printer when you already have a die and a repeat job.
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