4 Tips to Design a Better Business Card

1. Copy Professional Techniques

Look through all the business cards you have collected from every imaginable source. Group them by industry and profession. Evaluate each pile of cards and notice the distinct fonts used by the professional printers. Most popular software packages offer those same fonts. Find a card from your collection that has unique placement of all the information. What appeals to you about that card? Why do you like to look at the card? Combine two or more cards and make your own design.

2. Find a Simple, Striking Image

Some clipart images on the internet are available for use by anyone without concern about copyright violations, and there are hundreds of thousands of professional images available under the Creative Commons license. Whatever your business is about, make a list of possible images that will stay with a potential customer. When you watch television, watch for the logos of the nationally-known companies that have displayed the same signs and logos for decades. Those images stay with people because they convey quality and value. Choose a simple picture with clean lines that would be appealing if printed in one color.

3. Choose a High Quality Paper

Many specialty papers are available for business cards. Laminated paper will print crisper images and wear longer. The color within the paper can convey a full-color card when only one ink color has been used to print the information. Weight of the paper will convey quality so choose stiff 14 PT or 16 PT card stocks that are not flimsy and don't look cheap.

4. Be Professional

Visit some businesses and collect some business cards. Stop to consider your immediate impression of each business and the owner based solely on the business card you acquired. Make notes on the back of each card and think through the reasons you assume certain truths about the business without any other input. Note what you would do differently on the card, and incorporate each improvement in the card you design and print. Remember that someone else’s first impression of your business card could cost you business if you rush through the design and production of the only image of yourself you will leave with each prospective customer.


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