How to design a business card: the supreme guide
If American Psycho has actually taught us absolutely nothing else, it’s the value of business cards.
These business multi-tools meet many of the professional’s basic needs: advertising, brand name acknowledgment, call-to-action, and naturally contact details. When designed right, these pocket-sized billboards can leave a long lasting impression and produce life-long consumers from passing strangers.
A business card is a small, printed, typically credit-card-sized paper card that holds your business details, such as name, contact information and brand name logo. Your business card style is a crucial part of your branding and need to act as a visual extension of your brand name style.
In this guide, we’ll run through whatever you need to know about business card design so you can tell your designer precisely what you want. Business cards ought to above all be personal, so this guide discusses what your choices are for the card that’s most … you.
But before we get into the 8 actions of business card style, let’s talk a little about what you’ll need prior to you start.
Prior to you begin …
Whether you’re a specific freelancer, founder of a young start-up, or part of a recognized enterprise, there are 2 essential design elements you require completed before you even start thinking of business cards:
- Finished logo
- Brand name color design
Logos and color schemes are the two most important visual options for branding. Not only will these aspects play a huge part in producing your business card, they’ll also assist affect other locations like design and identity.
We don’t have time to do these subjects justice here, however refer to our previous guides:
- How to design a logo design: the supreme guide
- Branding colors: everything you require to choose your brand name’s best pigments
Know thyself
There’s another initial activity that makes the remainder of the business card style process run more smoothly. You need to understand what you wish to communicate. What sort of brand are you, as an individual or organization? What do you desire your business card to say, not simply with words, but with the style?
This is likewise a subject worthy of its own discussion, so if you want to dive deeper, here’s a shortlist of questions to ask yourself for identifying your individual brand identity. Taking a few minutes of reflection about your personal brand name will aid with some business card design concerns down the line, especially when it comes to showing your personality.
How to design a business card in 8 actions
When you have your logo design, brand color pattern, and a good concept of what you want your card to say about you, you’re ready to begin. Simply follow the 8 actions below to figure out which business card style would work best for you.
1. Select your shape.
You can skip ahead to the 2nd step if you’ve already chosen on a traditional rectangular business card. If, however, you wish to discover all your choices, even outside-the-box techniques, keep reading.
As printing techniques grow more innovative and inexpensive, professionals have more room to check out alternative shapes. The printing strategy of die-cutting allows you to eliminate any shape you want and still print wholesale.
On the conservative end of the spectrum, you could just round the corners for a friendlier business card.
If you really want to be noteworthy or playful, you can use practically any shape: animal mascots, lays out of products your sell, or a shape that’s completely initial.
You can even build your whole business card theme around smart cutting. Cireson business card design uses shape to actually highlight the worker picture, providing a more therefore approachable and personalized feel.
Whether to utilize innovative shapes depends on the image you wish to communicate. Unique shapes make you seem more fun and help you make an impression, however can have a negative impact on more formal industries. You’ll also wish to bear in mind logistics, such as how the card suits a wallet.
You might wish to review the choice of die-cutting after finalizing your style in step 6. For instance, some business such as STIR above like to die-cut locations of their logo design.
2. Select your size.
Your next choice is the size of the card. This mostly depends on the requirement of the country, so that’s a good location to start. Even if you prepare to stand out, you need to know what everybody else is doing to go against it.
- North American Requirement: 3.5 × 2 in. (88.9 × 50.8 mm).
- European Requirement: 3.346 × 2.165 in. (85 × 55 mm).
- Oceania Requirement: 3.54 × 2.165 in. (90 × 55 mm).
No matter the size, you always want to think about three aspects when developing:.
- Bleed area: the outer part of the card most likely to be gotten rid of.
- Cut line: the target line for cutting cards.
- Security line: anything outside this line undergoes cutting mistakes. Do not let essential elements like text or logos fall outside this line.
While these areas differ depending upon the size and printer, a safe bet is to set the trim line at 0.125 in. (3 mm) from the edge. From there, set the security line at 0.125 in. (3 mm) from the trim line. That’s 0.250 in (6 mm) overall from the edge of the bleed location to the within the security location.
3. Add your logo design and other graphics.
Now we start plotting the visual aspects of your business card style, primarily the logo. Your logo design should take center stage on your business card, although other flourishes and secondary graphics can sometimes be useful also.
Don’t forget that you have 2 sides available. One method is to devote one side of business card specifically to the logo, while the opposite showcases the contact details of the person. It’s likewise great to have the logo on both sides, so typically you’ll see a smaller sized, remote logo on the side with contact details, as with Omni above.
This is simply one method of lots of, however, so do not hesitate to try out logo positioning till you discover one for your tastes.
While minimalism is a popular choice for business cards, if that empty space doesn’t match you, you can fill it with extra graphics. In a market like children’s clothing, Londees wishes to take its charming style as far as it will go: they expand on their sheep mascot by positioning sheep doodles all over, and utilize a faded background to avoid clutter (also notice using soft blue, a lively and kid-friendly color). Even if your logo design is basic or text just, any associated images serves the exact same ends.
Extra graphics work well for showing off your brand identity. Without explicitly stating it, you can interact your or your brand name’s personality through visuals, consisting of colors. For example, if you want to seem approachable or casual, a charming animation and some brilliant colors would do the trick.
Another increasingly popular pattern is to impart interest and curiosity by leaving a little secret. Typically, brands position a wordless visual with a URL on one side, and after that all the needed explanation (including brand and employee’s name) on the other.
4. Include necessary text.
What your service card really says depends on you. The point is, different individuals benefit from various text on their business cards.
So the next action is for you to decide what to place on your business card. Below is a list of some common options, so you can decide which to omit and consist of.
- Call— A provided. Every card requires a name.
- Business name— Another offered, except for individual brands, in which case your personal name is your business name.
- Task title— For standard cards, include your task title. This also assists remind the holder of who you are, what you do, and even how your fulfilled.
- Phone number— Even if phone is not your favored approach of communication, it is to some individuals.
- Email— A business card staple; email is the brand-new standard for non-urgent service interactions, partly due to the fact that it enables sending documents as accessories.
- Site URL Including your site URL is a non-aggressive invite for visits.
- Social media If social networks relates to your field, or you just want to reveal a little bit of your character, consist of social media links.
- Address— Required for drawing clients into your workplace or store place.
- QR code— While not as popular as years past, a QR code is still a viable shortcut to transferring whatever information you desire.
- Slogan— Completely optional, a slogan assists with brand name identity and adds a little personality.
Bear in mind that business cards aren’t just about giving info however likewise keeping it. Individuals may currently understand your url, number, or address, however keep your card helpful in case they forget it.
5. Select your typography.
As soon as you know what you want to say, you can pick how it looks. While typography is always crucial, it’s especially relevant to business cards since you need to make text totally clear and have only a small space to work with.
Let’s break up typography into 3 main categories:.
Size. To preserve readability, you desire all your text to be at least 8 pts. However, you desire your crucial components (like your name) to stand out, so feel free to differ the text sizes. Think about empty area– you do not want to clutter your card, so leave your text little enough that there’s plenty of breathing space around each aspect.
We have actually currently spoken at length about font styles and how they influence your brand identity, so feel free to inspect out The 5 types of font styles and how to use them for a more thorough treatment. Just remember to select a typeface that represents the character you’re going for.
Color. Here’s where a pre-existing brand name color design is available in useful. Remaining on-brand, select text colors that match the background color of your card, which ought to also be a brand name color. Similar colors may look great together however can be hard to read, so try out contrasts for legibility.
The principle for typography is to focus on legibility over all else. If no one can read what it says, it doesn’t matter how artistic your font is.
6. Consider unique finishes.
Now that you’re reaching the final stretch, it’s time to start thinking about printers– specifically in terms of what they can use. Particular printers provide unique finishes that can go a long way in making a long lasting impression. See if any of these “special impacts” can benefit your business card design strategy.
Embossing. This method creates three-dimensional reliefs, ensuring locations “pop out.” Like spot UV coating, you can use it to accentuate particular elements of your card, even words.
The outcome is something like an engravement, usually with unique ink to draw more attention. Specifically beneficial for letters, providing your words an increased gravitas.
Foil stamping. If you desire something glossy and reflective like tin foil, you can use foil stamping to images or even simply parts of images. This likewise works for accenting text, if you have actually selected a strong sufficient typeface.
A lot of cards have a smooth varnish to develop a sheen and smooth texture. Utilize it when you want to accent specific areas over others, but be conscious of how it affects the general structure when only a part is shiny.
7. Choose a designer.
If you really want a stellar business card, it’s a great concept to find a professional designer who can develop the best card for you. You can try to find a local freelance designer or search on a platform like Alpha Print for a designer with the ideal style and experience. Ensure to check out their portfolio to see if they’re a great fit for your brand.
As soon as you have actually found the ideal person, attempt to interact clearly what your company is all about and what design and ambiance you are trying to find, so your designer can turn your vision into truth.
8. Complete your design.
With all the elements in place and a precise prediction of your last color options and special finishes, you can review your design to make sure everything works.
Examine the visual circulation: how does your eye relocation when looking at the card. A great visual circulation must start with the logo design, then the name, and then the secondary details, finishing on any secondary images if they’re there.
You likewise want to clear out as much mess as you can. Is all the information needed? The less the staying elements, the more impact each makes.
Double-check to make certain you didn’t fall into any typical mistakes. Is the text understandable? Do the colors clash? Are any components too close to the edge?
Don’t forget to have your designer send you the ended up product as a vector file and a vector-based PDF. You want to utilize vector images in case you need to alter the size, and PDFs are understandable by almost every printer.
Advanced methods
These eight actions are all you require to create a totally functional business card, but if you wish to go above and beyond, consider these more advanced ideas:.
Stand out with a clever concept. If your market allows some whimsy, you can use more experimental methods for separating yourself.
This could be something thematic, like Saleular’s iPhone cards, or something more intricate. :.
- aromatic inks.
- duplexing and triplexing (tripling the card or doubling’s width to make it thicker).
- using alternate products (metal, plastic, rubber, etc.).
- folded cards.
- transparent cards.
That last pattern we’re seeing a great deal of lately, and for good reason. There’s a lot you can do with a transparent card, like Remote Pilot’s mock pilot scope.
Prevent borders. Borders may appear like a smart aesthetic choice to frame the content of your card– and they are, in theory– but the prevalence of cutting errors implies borders do more harm than good. Cutting every card perfectly in a bulk order is pretty much a fantasy, which’s why it’s finest to develop with bleed and security locations. With borders, tiny errors in cutting are exaggerated and lower the entire style.
Save money on colors. If you’re working on a budget, don’t stint products or the quantity. You can cut out a portion of the expense just by using only one or two colors. The more colors you add, the more the cost increases, and a clever designer will understand how to make one or more colors look just as great.
Takeaway: a contemporary coat of arms.
Your card is more than just your contact details– it’s a representation of you and your brand. Don’t cut corners with designing your business card.
There’s one other preliminary activity that makes the rest of the service card style process run more smoothly. What do you want your business card to state, not just with words, however with the style?
See if any of these “special results” can benefit your business card design method.
If you actually desire a stellar organization card, it’s a good concept to discover a professional designer who can create the best card for you. Do not cut corners with designing your organization card.
Our videos
Related Links
Our Services
- printing companies dublin
- business cards dublin
- Banner Printing
- T-Shirt Printing
- Promotional Printing
- Graphic Design
- printing services dublin
- Copying Services
Important Links