A complimentary card is more or less a graphic representation of your business on a little piece of paper. This is exactly why serious thought should go into its design. Here’s a list of effective business card guidelines of what you should do and what you should never do to help guide you.
The Do’s
- Business Card Rules # Logo and Tag line: The brand logo and tagline is one of the things that must be on a business card. Your logo is a pictorial representation of your brand. It is one of the things that set your brand apart from other brands. The tagline on the other hand is a sort of motto for the brand; it can be one word or five words. Putting the logo and tagline on the card is one of the golden rules of business card design; don’t break it.
- Business Card Rules # Name and Job Title : It does not exactly make much sense if you just put your name and the company name on your business card. Your position or job title is supposed to be there right beside your name. Your job title on the business card explains who you are in the company and why anybody should take you seriously.
- Business Card Rules # Your contact information : In the frenzy of it all, most people forget this. Now what’s the point in getting every other detail on your business card right if at the end of it no one will be able to contact you after taking a look at it? Your business card is a way of reaching out to people, if you don’t put your contact on it, how will they get to you?
- Business Card Rules # Social media profiles : Seeing as the market has moved online, it is also important that you put your social media handles on the card too. This is also another form of your contact. You can as well put the social media profiles on the brand itself if it has any. These days being active on social media or having an online presence is one of the ways to validating the authenticity of a business.
- Business Card Rules # Legibility : People should be able to read whatever is written on it without straining their eyes. Make sure your whatever font you used for the design is legible to everyone. What’s the point in spending so much to design and print a business card is no one will be able to read it?
- Business Card Rules # Space : It is actually a rule to not crowd every space on the card with information. Yes you need to put out as much needed info on it, that is still not a license to cramp it up with too many characters. The space adds to how legible the card turns out to be. Besides a cramped up business cards bring desperation to the mix; and that is one characteristic you don’t want potential clients identifying with your brand.
The Dont’s
- Business Card Rules # Don’t use too many fanciful fonts : You are not showcasing your brand to kids so why use fanciful playful fonts at all? Choose fonts that are legible and not fanciful. The bold fonts show that you are serious and you mean business.
- Business Card Rules # Don’t put out a boring card : Make a card that you would take a second look at if you were someone else. If you put out a boring card, people will not stare at it long enough to even discover what kind of service or product the brand is about.
- Business Card Rules # Don’t forget to say what your brand is about: When people pick up your card, the information on it should tell them what you do first and then how to contact you. Don’t just assume that anyone that sees your card will automatically know what product or service you are offering from your brand name. Say what you do on your card.
