Blog post by: Sarah Schrader, Baer Performance Marketing’s Social Media & Creative Specialist
You have a stack of business cards you received from people you worked with or met at a networking event, but you most likely won’t keep them all (especially if a card doesn’t stand out or you didn’t make a connection with the person from which it was received). A well-designed business card has a greater chance of standing out, being kept, remembered, and used.
Here are a few things to consider when designing your next business card:
Content: Keep to the Necessities
Do not feel like you need to cover every inch of the business card with content. I’ve seen people write little notes on the spaces of business cards they receive to help them remember the person they have met. Leaving a bit of blank space allows them to do so and make a better connection with you if they reach out in the future.
Another reason to keep it to the necessities is to clearly communicate what your company does and how someone can reach you. If your company name does not make what you do clear, you will want to have a few words that do so. However, long lists of similar services and too many options for contacting you can be overwhelming.
What content should be included?
- Your logo
- Name
- Address (if you have a physical business location only)
- Phone number
- Email address
If you have an office phone and a cell phone, it is okay to include both, but be cautious of adding anything more, like a general office or toll-free number. Make it simple to contact you, and only provide the best option to do so.
Design: Match Your Style Guide
Your business card, though small in size, is still a representation of your company. Keep the colors and fonts you use in line with your brand style guide. The style guide should also give you guidelines on how to treat the logo (i.e., color and space surrounding it) on the business card. The biggest thing you want to be sure of is that the information on the card is readable. You can guarantee, if your fonts are too small or there is not enough contrast between the background color and the font color or logo to be legible, the card will not be kept for long.
You also want to make sure the most important information stands out. You can do this with size, color, or boldness of the font. What you’ll most likely want to stand out is going to be your name as well as your preferred method of contact. This method of contact should also be listed first (think hierarchy–keep the most important elements larger and first).
Aside from that, feel free to have a bit of fun with your business card design. A unique element like size, shape, a creative layout, or special finishes like letterpress, a spot gloss or foils can help your business card stand out. If you go for a unique size or shape, just be sure that it will still fit well in a business card holder or wallet.
Finish: Quality Matters
When you receive a business card, one of the first things you notice is the quality. Is the paper thick and sturdy or thin and floppy? Is it glossy or matte? How a business card feels in your hand makes a big impression, so you want a good quality paper that is thicker, like cardstock. Whether it has a glossy or matte finish is really a matter of preference. But know that cards with a gloss finish are going to have a shiny surface that will be more reflective of light and can be a bit slippery when handling a large stack of them.
You can do a spot gloss also, having only a certain part or parts with a gloss coating while the rest remains matte. Details like a carefully selected spot gloss, letterpress or foil will give the impression that your company pays attention to detail.
