Is it the fact that the pen is blue that people don't like?
I have seen (and own) some really nice signature cards with blue pens. The difference is they are signed with a much finer and neater marker. The marker they have used comes across looking like an overused whiteboard pen. I also think that this year's players exacerbate the issue with some really unimpressive signatures (bar a couple). The signature box also seems too big for the player's signatures, which as well as creating a lot of white space, impacts on the nicer aspects of the card's design.