10 TIPS FOR GREAT BUSINESS CARDS

Your business cards are probably one of the first contacts your clients will have with your brand and business, it is worth giving them some attention an care. Here are some tips for business cards that will work for you: 1. Use the correct typefaces. If you have a brand guidelines document (your designer should have produced one as part of your logo design package), follow the instructions and recommendations contained there. 2. Be consistent. It is important that your business cards form an integral part of your brand, and visually connect with the other elements. 3. Drop the labels. Gone are the days when it was necessary to identify phone, mobile, email and web. If the person looking at your card cannot identify the different information, the labels will be of very little help. Icons are ‘cutsie’, but think what kind of image you want to associate your brand with. Labels only create visual clutter. The only exception is when you have a fax number (yes, believe me, some businesses still do!). 4. Print both sides. The price difference between single side and double sided printing is negligible (some printers will have a flat cost), and you can use the reverse for a splash of colour or some additional information. 5. Your business card is NOT a brochure. Don’t try to squeeze too much information on the card. If what you do is not obvious, or if you want to showcase some of the work you do, use the reverse, but be frugal or creative. 6. Respect the silence area. Keep all the information a respectable 5mm off the edge of the card. Give all the elements space to ‘breath’. 7. Your logo must be in high resolution. Use a vector file (your designer should have supplied one for you), or a high resolution image. Nothing detracts from the card more than a poor quality logo or image. 8. Use good quality card. A flimsy business cards will look bad, and give the wrong impression about your business. The extra cost for a heavier card is negligible. Matt or soft-touch laminations are a good way to protect and enhance the printing, and if you really want to stand out, spot UV gloss highlights are a cost effective option. If you really want to splash out, the sky is the limit: embossing, triplex cards, gold/silver/copper foiling, letterpress, etc… Just ask your designer for ideas! 9. Have the cards printed professionally. Good printing will not save bad design, but bad printing will ruin the best of the designs. As for samples, and check the quality not only of the paper/card but also of how the ink is put on. The variations between different printers can be quite dramatic! 10. Look after your cards. If you can, keep them in a card holder to preserve their condition until they are ready to be released in the wild and start working for you! If any of these looks a bit confusing, we are happy to help. Just get in touch!

For more information on 10 TIPS FOR GREAT BUSINESS CARDS talk to Sane Design Ltd