Business Card Tips

[nighthawk]

I am about to order some business cards, but have a few queries before I do regarding design best practices.

Whenever I have met someone through work and obtained their business card, it is always very plain - white with the company logo and their name / contact details.

However when checking printing firms they all offer fancy colourful designs. Why do few companies opt for fancy looking cards? Are they perceived as trying too hard, and being too over the top?

Is a plain white one less likely to be rejected and filed in the recycler? What does your business card look like?

Also does anyone else have any tips or suggestions for business card designs and content?

[vangogh]

I could be wrong, but I think the reason you don't see as many fancy cards with colors is cost. Cost to have someone do the design and the cost to print the extra colors. It's kind of silly since that cost is marginal, but still...

Business cards aren't my specialty, but I think you want to keep them somewhat simple. Some people try to cram in more info than is necessary. Think about the info you really need on the card (logo, contact info, web address) and leave out the unnecessary. As for the design aesthetics if you can match the look of the card to what you do I think that can work well.

[cocoy]

I have both.

I have a basic white with name and company name. I give this out to architects, engineers, contractors, etc... These people don't care what you card looks like. It's all about price and turnaround time. I think a simpler more "mature" card works better. I'm drawing construction plans. They're made to be functional, not pretty.

I have a more colorful one I give out to Realtors. Just figured I'm providing marketing material for them to stand out more, so I should show a more colorful card to associate. More lively and not so boring.

Example: An attorney with a very colorful business card? Would he lose some credibility with it? What kind of image does he give with that type of card?

I'd think a graphic designer would have a nicely colored card instead of your standard Patrick Bateman type.

At least that's how I go about it.

[cbscreative]

I favor simple, yet attractive and attention getting. As a designer, I could get away with going over the top more, but that wouldn't work for every business. Like vangogh, I suspect cost (even though the costs are not that much) are the reason most business cards are so bland. But I have yet to find a business owner who uses good design on their cards and does not say it works very well for them.

A business card will not likely make a sale, but it does make an impression. When you make a great impression, it can open the door to a sale. Anything you can do to stand out is an advantage.

Cocoy, I like your example of a lawyer. No, his card should not look like mine, but I think he would do well to convey "strength" by doing something other than the scales of justice.

[cocoy]

I'm looking at my wall of cards right now. There are about 20 on here.

All except one are white with just the company logo. These are all contractors, engineers, sales reps, etc... None stand out from the rest. The one that does stands out is all black with white lettering. Still simple, but stands out. It's for a high end furniture design showroom.

[Patrysha]

Mine are colorful :-) Well sort of.

The front is black and teal and the back is black&white with all the contact information.

They've done well for me so far...and they've led to more color sales for my printer (who also happens to be a client :-))

I had fancier cards before for my former company (off white linen with the raised waxy feeling print...very plain design, but far from bland) I was going for an elegant, classy look that conveyed professionalism. This time around I went with color because I'm more confident in my quasi-rebel attitude and while I'm professional I wanted to be a little more bold and unique.

[Evan]

People seem to forget that business cards are double sided -- that seems like another opportunity to be selling your business. And this is something that could be useful for even "serious" businesses such as attorneys, architects, or accountants.

Perhaps an estate attorney could have a random fact about estates on the back of his card. It could certainly be something that is a consideration by your client at a later time.

At a minimum, the back could be a discount towards a future service. It's quite a different "coupon", but people would be more likely to keep it around.

[vangogh]

Absolutely. Why waste one side of the card. The coupon idea is interesting. Might not work for all businesses, but I can see it working for many.

I do like simple cards, though I also like to see a little design. If it's just black text on a white background, it blends in with every other card. Give it a little something, whether it's some color, or a different paper. Something to make it stand out a bit.

[huggytree]

i dont like the plain white cards...when i look at your board of 20 cards you should be able to pick mine out in less than 1 second...i have a water droplet light blue background...perfect for a plumber...my fridge magnet & stickers have a light blue background too.....my logo is bright yellow....i want to be seen!!!!

[Spider]

I had a lot of fun for a while with a plain black on white business card that had my name and phone number only. Invariablty people would say, "Er.. what do you do?" To which I would reply, "Depends! What do you want?"

That made me and my card a little more memorable. However, while my card and I were memorable, I feel people couldn't remember why they remembered me!