Much of deputation is presentation. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Pastors and individuals will judge you and your ministry based upon the presentation that you give. This may seem unfair, but all of us do the same thing, every day, with products we buy and places we shop. If you have a quality prayer card, you will most definitely stand out, not only initially, but when there are a stack of them on a pastors desk. I will walk through the process I went through breaking them down into steps.
Find Some Inspiration.
When we were deciding on ours, I scoured multiple sources looking for design layouts and color schemes. I used Pinterest, Etsy.com, and Commoncreative.com. There are three basic sizes that seemed nice, with different variations (vertical or horizontal). On #3, though that is our personal gospel tract, and not a prayer card, many have commented (thinking it was our prayer card) how much they liked that size. (it can fit right in the dress shirt pocket of a pastor).
1a. Vertical 4×6 cards
1b.Horizontal 4×6 cards
2. 5×5 cards
3. 4.75 x 2.75 cards
Choose A Printing Company.
Gotprint.com and Uprinting.com are both excellent companies. I’ve listed the prices for the different projects below in the specs of the order. Do not forget to look for coupons and promotions. I almost always get 10%-30% savings!
Choose A Design Program.
I almost always use photoshop for this kind of work. There are many free alternatives though. One online tool is Canva.com
Decide on your paper size/weight/etc.
The paper style and weight you choose, in my opinion, is ALMOST AS IMPORTANT as your design. There is nothing worse than a nice flyer or invite on flimsy or atypical paper. Here is were the specs of ours:
- COLOR: Full Color Both Sides
- SIZE: Flyer- 4″ x 6″ Horizontal
- PAPER: 14 pt. Gloss Cover
- COATING: High Gloss UV Coating Front and back
- QUANTITY: 5,000
- COST: $148.80.
For the gospel tract, the settings were as follows:
- SIZE: 4.75” x 2.75”
- PAPER: 14pt.
- COATING: High Gloss UV- Front, Uncoated back
- QUANTITY: 1,000
- Cost: $75.94
Please note: In my opinion, if you don’t coat BOTH the front and back, the card feels cheap and flimsy and curls easy. So either do that or increase the paper weight.
