Visualnary

When thinking of print design, I always find it very important to take the medium where your “art” will be printed on into consideration. This holds especially true for business cards. They are sort of the second impression you give – and the more useful they are, the higher the chances that they will be a) kept and b) remembered when a job comes up.

One way to achive this is by giving your cards an added benefit, such as putting a calender on the reverse side. I doubt the usefulness of this. Not only does it waste valuable space, that you could use for unique information about your business. But I wonder if anyone actually uses them. And if they do – they might just put them up on the wall next to their desk. Thus hiding your business information. Point lost.

Another way is using an unusual shape. I have received cool cards that were round, other shaped in a product the company was making. They are funky, and cool to have. But because they are non-standard size, they won’t fit into any folders / Rolodexes that your client might use. Bugger.

In the end. one should stick to the standard format, but use it in a creative way. The design itself can be creative, you can use special printing techniques (raised ink, gold/silver, shiny covering on parts), cut-outs. Use both sides. Either give more information that way, or make the card more useable: a different language, portrait format, general info about your business, or just a graphic to give a message.

You can also use a different material. On the most expensive side, you can use metal, aluminum. Plastic, leather, even thin wood. Use a material that fits your business – and your budget. But do keep your clients in mind – a conservative type would probably not enjoy a fancy holographic 3-dimensional moving business card.

In case you are not a seasond designer, remember that usually business-cards are printed in 4c, which means that colours can change quite significantly. If there are important colours, e.g. logos, businessnames, use Pantone colours; that way you know that they’ll be correct. Sometimes, one colour can give a lovely result.

For general advice on business card designs, the Before and After magazine is a good source of inspiration.

Tags: advice, business_card, business_cards, General-rambling, graphics, inspiration