A business card serves as a visual symbol for your business, and conveys not only your vital information, but also serves as a touchstone for the memory of the past interaction you have had with the person you handed the card to.
It is recommended to choose a unique design that stands out from the crowd, yet still conveys the general idea of the product or service you offer. A travel agent may not want to use a card with an all black background to encourage people to go on vacation, whereas a bar might find a black background conveys the notion of nightlife.
Here are some design choices to consider:
-Don’t use text on top of pictures, it can be difficult to read.
-Don’t go cheap. A flimsy, poor quality card stock says you don’t care enough to invest in quality for your business.
-If your company logo uses highly stylized fonts, thats fine. You don’t, however, want to use a hard to read font for your contact information. Stick with Helvetica or Times New Roman if in doubt.
Card Colors
Colors can be used to enhance the emotional impact and visual appeal of your card. Below are some ideas you can use to get your message across with creative use of color.
White: White is standard, and safe. It’s a good choice for a traditional business or anyone who wants to be conservative and not rock the boat.
White is also a blank canvas, you can get wildly creative if you like, too.
Black: Black is striking and stands out, and can convey not only elegance and sophistication, but power and mystery as well. Depending on the color you use for the lettering, you can drive a range of sentiment. Black and gold can say “high end couture”, while black and red might be used for an exciting profession such as a stuntman.
Gray: Gray is an excellent background color as it doesn’t stand out, yet conveys stability. Ash Gray, combined with brighter colors such as blue, red, or green can be used to impart a “high tech feel” to your design.
Blue: Blue shouts reliability, safety, and authority.
Red: Red is attention getting and exciting, and demands you take notice of it’s presence in any composition.
Green: Suggests eco friendly, nature, compassion, and currency.
Yellow: Yellow is refreshing to look at, both bright and mood enhancing. It implies a light, carefree, and playful spirit.
Pictures
Photographs, illustrations, and other images can be used in your design to powerful effect. And by all means, if you have a logo for your business, use it on your card! It serves as a visual cue for your business and functions as an instantly recognizable hieroglyph for your business name without having to spell it out.
Ideas to consider:
- If you're going to use a photograph for a background, make sure there is some blank space in the image to add any text, if necessary.
-If including a picture of yourself on your card, make sure your image isn't fuzzy, and you have a blank or muted background behind your face. No bathroom selfies folks! Highly unprofessional.
-If you're using an illustration, leave room for any necessary text without being too cramped. Illustrations and text will blend together to become unreadable without some breathing room.
If this is your first time designing a business card, have a look at some of the awesome templates available at http://youink.com/Creative/Start , you can start with something basic, or elaborate, add your own images, and customize your design with a variety of fonts all online, no Photoshop necessary.
Post your card design in the comments if you like, and be featured on this post and on our social platforms.
Happy designing!
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