While it’s not necessarily true that a check is just a check, it’s a plain fact that it costs about the same to print any check, whether it’s got blue wavy lines on it or a reproduction of the Mona Lisa. That’s because printing techniques have come amazingly far in this enlightened computer age, so that nowadays, you can get checks inexpensively printed with everything from Looney Tunes to your own grinning mug. Grandkids, your bass boat, football stars, college logos — they’re all fair game for the background
design of your checks. If you think you can’t get cheap personal checks with artistic designs printed thereon, think again.
They gotta take ‘em
To the banks that handle your checks, the background design is no big deal: the stuff they’re interested in is printed over the top of the design. (We would recommend, however, that you not try to pass checks showing you mooning the world. Some banks may frown on that). It doesn’t even matter if you buy the checks from someone other than your bank — the bank has to accept any check you make out, provided that all your banking information is printed on it and you have money in your account. In fact, if you need
cheap checks, it’s better to seek a printer other than your bank; most independent check printers will charge you about half of what the bank does for a box of 150 or 200 checks. That may not seem like such a big deal, but hey, these things add up.
Given that edge, why not opt for artistic checks instead of that plain business-like pattern you’ve been using for years? Yes, we know that this adds yet another layer of decision to the check-buying process. On top of deciding whether you want top-stub, duplicate, or side tear checks, you’ve now got to decide which artistic design you prefer. The range of choices can be staggering, too: by way of minor example, you could select
checks with inspiring Biblical images, pictures of colorful sunsets, puppies and kittens, flowers, ’60s psychedelia, nature paintings, and more.
More than a check
Most artistic check designs will consist of four or five alternating images, often related by a specific theme — and again, those themes can seem infinitely variable. While artistic check designs tend toward mundane motifs such as cowboys, Thomas Kinkade, and Teddy bears, that doesn’t mean you can’t pick a design consisting of the great works of the Old Masters or of Jackson Pollock (or both). All it means is that you may have to look a little harder to find them. If worse comes to worse and no one seems to
have what you’re looking for (a possibility that is, frankly, unlikely), then you can always provide images of your desired designs to the manufacturer, so they can print up exactly what they want. If they can print checks showing pictures of you uncle’s favorite trophy bass, it stands to reason they can also print you up a refreshing array of portable Monets, Renoirs, and Rembrandts — right?