Soft touch printing can add an extra high-end tactile note to a well-designed business card. Its resistance to smudges and fingerprints means it can have a longer life than most cards, and almost without fail, handing someone a soft touch business card can help jumpstart a conversation. When combined with other options like extra thick cards or edge color, it can make a business card stand out in a pile of dozens of others.
Want to feel one? Request our free sample kit today!
We spoke to two of our customers to get their take on how soft touch printing is working for them.
Soft Touch to Show “Next Level Snacking”
Zubin and Caroline Mehta’s professional lives are built on “next level snacking.”
They’re behind two companies in the food space: Born Wild Brands, which is a food incubation and advisory firm, and UNION Snacks, which produces “multi-texture, nutrient dense snacks that combine plant and animal proteins.”
“We’re showing that our food is better for you and the environment,” he said. “We source regenerative ingredients, so everything about the brand has to be premium.”
Zubin Mehta of Born Wild Brands
Between Born Wild Brands and UNION Snacks, a lot of Zubin’s business life is spent at trade shows. Previously, he spent much of his career in the private equity, venture capital world, where a quality business card is also considered a must-have.
“I get handed a couple hundred cards at a show,” he says. “You want something that people notice immediately and remember, and when they go back and sort through their cards, they remember it again. The thickness of the stock, and a soft touch feel gives it that much on top of it.
To help convey a higher level of quality, Mehta selected a “thicker-cut, soft touch card.”
“For me, when you hand someone a thick card, they feel it, they remember, it sticks out,” he says. “And there’s something about soft touch that gives it a premium feel, and people never forget it.”
UNION Snacks is also using soft touch materials for its product packaging.
“I hand it out and people are like, “wow,” he says. “It’s really great when you’re trying to generate business.”
Soft Touch for Brand Consistency and Utility
Tyler is owner and creative director of SMPL Studio, a branding studio in San Luis Obispo, California. Before working in the branding and design space, he studied finance and economics and founded a software company.
“We spent most of our early investment money building our product, so to stay lean I started learning graphic design,” he says. “When the other companies in the accelerator program saw my work, they paid me to help them with their branding. Coming from the world of finance, I recognized that you never get a second chance to make a great first impression and that a consistent image is key to brand reconition.”
After moving on from his software startup, Tyler decided to pursue his passion of design further. Two years later, he started SMPL Studio, where gets to help other founders consultants and startups put their best foot forward.
In a business environment where first impressions matter more than ever, Tyler has gravitated toward soft-touch business cards for his clients. One example is with his client, GSVlabs, which aims to grow startups through early stage investments and a connected network of other founders. After meeting Tyler at an event and loving his personal business cards, they hired his company to bring a modern redesign to their business cards.
Tyler added that a side benefit of designing soft touch cards for clients has been the referrals they’ve created.
“It’s pretty interesting,” he says. “A lot of my clients I do branding and business cards for send me referrals from people they’ve met that love their cards and want the same premium look and feel for their cards.”
“Thick cards just gravitate to the top of the stack.”
“Because GSV Labs is a part of the larger parent company, GSV, there were brand guidelines already in place that we worked with. The unique card stock and edge color printing Thikit offered allowed me to add some styling that complimented their existing branding very well.”
When Tyler works with any clients, his focus is to provide both brand consistency and utility, so the tactile elements of the card became keys to making GSVlabs stand out.
“I chose Soft Touch cards from THikit because the colors always come out sharp, vivid, and accurate and they feel incredible to hold,” he said. “The reaction from anyone who gets a card is always the same ‘Wow! Now this is a nice card!’ I’m not a fan of glossy cards so the matte finish on the Soft Touch cards was perfect,” he added.
The thickness of the card also was an important differentiator.
“Durability is crucial,” he said. “For clients who go through a good amount of cards at trade shows and such, I order the 26pt cards because they have enough heft to make an impact and stay together when shoved inside someone’s wallet or purse. At the end of a conference when their potential customers are sorting through the mound of cards they traded, the thick soft touch cards always gravitate to the top of the stack.”
Tyler Beaty, Creative Director at SMPL Studio
Tyler kindly added that he’s always been thrilled with the final product of cards printed by THikit.
“The team at THikit is unbelievably good,” he said. “They have employees who care about your needs and are there to answer any and all questions and make sure you feel like a VIP. Over the years, I’ve worked with plenty of different printing companies, but I now only use THikit as the quality, consistency, and pricing is always to perfection.”
“The cuts are perfect, the colors are super accurate, and they have a variety of card stocks that are perfect for every project. My clients have boasted about my ability to get them cards last minute, thanks to THikit’s expedited shipping and quick turnaround times!”
