LooseSuits

Staples offers quite a variety of business card printing (including what you stated), and you can usually pick them up the next day.

Do they have cardstocks as heavy as "real" cards? I've also used Kinkos and other similar services and even their heaviest stock still felt lighter than a business card.

Yes, dhollister, they do. Yes, I had the same problem at Kinkos. You can ask for the cardstock weight of your choice, texture of choice, yadda, yadda.

"none of them have that "real" feel like I'm used to with corporate business cards"

Well corporate business is changing the way things are being done, especially with business cards...

I strongly believe the days of rubbing a business card with your thumb to feel for raised ink are gone.

If you really want that sort of thing, check for a local printer in your area... or like mentioned before, check with Staples or Office Depot.

I agree, I don't literally want raised ink or any of the old gimmicks that used to be out there. I'm just looking for a service because of exactly what you have said -- times are changing, and if I want to create a creative business card, I need to know what services offer me the most options.

For example, I used a custom Photoshop-designed card with Vistaprint but they still didn't feel heavy enough, nor did they offer features such as cutouts or custom shapes, so if I wanted to "break the corporate mold" I couldn't really do it with them anyway.

Perhaps I should've rephrased my question to be -- what printing service offers the most features so I can go nuts with creativity and create pretty much any card I want? :)

I would still say Staples.

Check with your local printer. There's a million things you can do with print. You just have to find a vendor that will help you. If you were in Richmond I could tell you. LOL

But seriously, find a local printer. Preferably one that you trust or have worked with before, or comes recommended by a friend/coworker.

Raised ink is called Thermography. Some places do it well. Some don't. But for something like that you'll most likely be looking for a place that specializes in just Thermo. It's a completely different process than traditional printing.

As far as paper stocks go. 80#-100# is pretty standard in terms of heavy weight cards. There's a plethora of glossy and matte both at those weights.

Go into your local print (I used to work for AlphaGraphics, so I'm biased in that direction), and sit down with a sales type person. If they know their stuff, they'll be able to get you what you want.

With print, there's a MILLION different choices and options at every level and you realy need to sit down and determine what you want to spend and what your options are. Because ANYTHING is possible, if the client will pay for it.

I'll warn you that die cutting can get very pricey depending on quantities and who does it. Once you know what you want. Paper weight, color or not, any bindery that will need to be done, start shopping around. Calling for quotes blind is not helpfyl to either you or the printer. But if you have an informed opinion of what you're after, you can match printers against each other for the best deal.

Check out Overnight Prints.

I use them a lot for myself and clients. The quality is really good both with printing and card stock.

If you want something exceedingly cool, dependable letterpress is your friend.

I hate it when sites don't give quotes, and insist you contact them for a quote- its like you have to half-commit w/out the opportunity to "shop around"!

I'd strongly recommend going to your local printer. That's what they're there for! :-)

Most places don't give you quotes up front because they can't. There are far too many variables and prices on paper and inks (if you're rocking a press) change weekly in some cases.

Getting an up front quote on printing is like walking into a store and going "I want a computer, how much will that cost?"

I think I am going to try Moo soon. The cards look wonderful.

I think I am going to try Moo soon. The cards look wonderful.

Only problem there is that they aren't really business cards..!

Not officially, but you can print your details on them. They do not have the official business cards measurements but that gives them something extra. All business cards look alike, I think Moo cards (or any other unconventional format) stand out more.

Moo cards are fun, but you can't get creative with them, as much as dhollister would like to get.

Yes, they are a bit smaller than standard business cards. But, they are still fun to hand out.

Getting a quote in person, as opposed to an online quote, is the only way to go. You can then look through various catalogs, etc., and narrow things down to your exact specifications. You can't always do that, online.

growll.com is also a good resource for designers. A lot of times I would create a corporate id package and then have to explain to the customer that we dont have the capability to print 20k flyers. Growll changed that and actually made it a little profitable. :-)

Since nobody has really helped you out w. any resourceful links (my opinion) here are a few printers that will help get you in the ballpark:

All of these links will do spot color, rounded corners, custom dies, satin coating, foils, etc. etc.

1.) http://www.jakprints.com/business-card-printing/
2.) http://www.metalcards.com/metalcards/index.html
3.) http://www.4by6.com/html/start_movie.asp
4.) http://4colorprint.com/product_main.php?product_id=1

And for inspiration:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dailypoetics/sets/72057594104389710/

Some of the ones on that link above will make you shiver, they're so good. As for who prints them, I wish I knew. But your local offset printer, or specialty letterpress person can probably recommend someone. They're not going to be cheap though. Quality = $$

I love moo cards! I don't need much more custom, I have 20 different photos, if I had a couple out to a group it gets a reaction "oh, mine is different!"