Business Cards 101

Business Cards 101

When was the last time you refreshed your business cards?

Used from professional workplace settings all the way to more casual events like festivals and conventions, you’ll find that your business cards come in handy in a multitude of occasions. If you haven’t already been carrying them, you’ll soon wonder how you got by without them. It’s infinitely easier to hand someone a card with your phone number on it than to exchange numbers or spell out an address.

A business card is the perfect opportunity to show off how creative and innovative your company is. Having a tangible item with your company’s information on it is a powerful asset to your marketing materials, especially an item that’s compact and portable in size. You should never underestimate the power of a great design. Yes. They are business cards. But they’re also loyalty cards, coupons, invoices, recipe cards, hang tags, appointment cards… Because those paper rectangles can be almost anything you like. Even (weird but true) Business Cards.

Keep reading to find out how to create knockout business cards that will wow potential customers and make you look great.

Designing Your Business Card

Use Your Logos!

This is the IDEAL place to make most of the amazing logos you’ve designed for your company.

In many ways, your logo is the face of your company, so it just makes sense to put it on your business cards. Play around with the placement and size to come up with a design that looks great and fits the information you need to include.

Keep in mind that you should try to include a version of your logo that incorporates your company name or allows you to still put your company name somewhere on the card, so that people who’ve never seen your branding before know who you are.

Colour

If you’ve already developed your brand guide, this part will be easy. If not, its likely you already have some signature colours that your brand uses to be recognizable.

Colours will make your business cards pop, drawing customers eyes to the stack on your desk, or catching their attention later when its on their kitchen table or in their car glove compartment. Through colour, you can influence the way people feel about your brand. Conjure up a positive and cheerful vibe with yellow, or take a professional tone with shades of blue, it’s up to you! Just make sure to use high contrast colours (light vs dark) for text, as you want to make sure it’s easily readable.

Size

You can use a hierarchy of size to show people what’s most important on your business card. The name and logo of your company should command the biggest presence, followed by your contact information and any other details you want to include. A good practice to maintain is not to go smaller than 8pt font to maintain readability – after all, you want to make it as easy as possible for people to find you!

As for the size of the card itself, the standard size is 3.5 in by 2 in. However, there’s no law saying you have to stick to this. Feel free to change the orientation or size of your business cards as you please, just keep in mind that they may not fit in traditional card holders or wallets.

Font

Another great way to add personality to your business cards is by using fonts to complete the look of your brand.  Make sure you choose something that is eye-catching, but beware using more than 2 or 3 fonts at once since it can make it hard for people to read.

There are 2 main types of fonts that are most commonly used: Serif, and sans-serif. Serif refers to the small stylistic lines attached to the ends of block letters which makes them a bit easier to read. The text you’re reading right now is sans-serif, which is better for when you are using small text as it appears less crowded. Choose which font style makes the most sense for your design or use both if appropriate.

Materials

Your choice of materials matters! Heavyweight cardstock is a must for a business card that will stand up to wear and tear. Keep in mind that the more unique/premium your materials are, the more it will cost to produce. You can mitigate this by downsizing the card and only choosing 1 or 2 fancy extras. Being able to customize the details of your business cards down to the weight of the paper is all part of the fun!

Don’t Forget the Info!

After all, the primary objective of your business cards is to promote your business. Make sure people will be able to find you by including your name and contact information. You can also take this opportunity to promote your social media handles, address, and website if you want to. Consider thinking outside the box by including a QR code that links straight to your site, there’s endless opportunities to make a statement with what you put on your business cards.

Be Thoughtful About Your Canvas

Don’t forget that you can make the most of BOTH sides of your business card. Consider featuring a graphic image or logo on one side, and the informational details on the other. Make sure to use the space to the best of your ability without cluttering it up, after all, you want your business cards to look clean, professional, and high quality. Crowding your cards with too many elements will achieve the opposite.

Post Press

Now that you have the tools you need to design effective and eye-catching business cards, we can’t wait to see what you come up with! Let us help you bring your vision to life with our premium prints and contact us today to place an order!