Mat
06-09-09, 06:41 PM
G'day. I wrote this as a guest post for www.reencoded.com (http://www.reencoded.com), so to view it in the original destination, simply click on the following link or view the article below: http://www.reencoded.com/2009/09/04/the-four-laws-of-business-card-design/ If you would like to post comments/questions here or at the original source I will be happy to answer, and if you find the article helpful, it would be great if you could retweet the article using the "retweet" button at the articles location or "Digg" the article at the same place :)
For many customers and clients, your business card is their first point of reference when looking at your services. With this huge importance to your business, it's essential that your business card projects three things, not just about yourself but about your business: value, innovation, and information. By using modern design elements and selective information to build and maintain your brand image, your business card can create not just new business relationships, but powerful word of mouth buzz.
These four design elements are essential for ensuring that your business card achieves what it should:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/126896210_66ecbd2643.jpg
1. Information
It should come as no surprise that your business card needs to display the relevant information for your business. Whether you're a freelance contractor or a company representative, you need to make sure that your business card balances both your contact details and your company information carefully.
To decide what information you need on your business card, take note of the most simple and popular channels that clients, customers and business partners use to get in touch with you. For simplicity's sake, you'll want to limit your communications to just a few channels, and by sticking with the most popular ones you can save yourself time, worry and missed business opportunities.
Got 5 different phone numbers? Pick whichever one you use the most often, or exclude your phone number all together. If you do 99% of your communication by email, put your email address as the primary contact address, and leave your phone number or office address as a secondary address.
2. Balance
Great business cards aren't just about getting your information out there. To make a truly great business card design, you need to combine aesthetics and information, balancing the two to guide the eyes around the card.
Take stock of your contact and personal information. What needs to go where? Some of your information will need to be grouped with complimentary information. Keep your name and address close together, your landline and cell phone number next to one another, and your business email and website URL close to one another. Grouping information not only balances your card effectively, but it guides the reader through the card and down towards your contact information.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/210/495139144_060656d86d.jpg
3. White Space
White space is an important design element that too often goes forgotten when designing a business card. You need to balance information with itself, and also with the blank spaces of your business card. By balancing the amount of informational space on your business card with minimalist design elements, you can guide the reader through the card and create a design that is clean and professional.
Think about your business card design as two separate planes of design: the information and the aesthetic. In order to master both domains, make sure your card balances information and emptiness, but still leaves all of the appropriate information in view for your customers, business relations, and clients.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/495139114_86c9b11f64.jpg
4. Simplicity
There's a simple rule of design, lifestyle, and thousands of other domains: less is more. Nowhere is this philosophy more true than in business card design. By selectively eliminating parts of your design, you can build a business card that not only displays all of your contact information, but gives the viewer a look into the DNA of your business.
There are ultimately two primary purposes of a business card. The first is to make contact easy for clients and customers, and the second is to give your business the exposure that it deserves. By balancing information with simplicity and minimalist design elements, you can make your card stand out from the pack and present your information clearly, concisely, and in a form that is easy for potential customers to see.
For many customers and clients, your business card is their first point of reference when looking at your services. With this huge importance to your business, it's essential that your business card projects three things, not just about yourself but about your business: value, innovation, and information. By using modern design elements and selective information to build and maintain your brand image, your business card can create not just new business relationships, but powerful word of mouth buzz.
These four design elements are essential for ensuring that your business card achieves what it should:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/126896210_66ecbd2643.jpg
1. Information
It should come as no surprise that your business card needs to display the relevant information for your business. Whether you're a freelance contractor or a company representative, you need to make sure that your business card balances both your contact details and your company information carefully.
To decide what information you need on your business card, take note of the most simple and popular channels that clients, customers and business partners use to get in touch with you. For simplicity's sake, you'll want to limit your communications to just a few channels, and by sticking with the most popular ones you can save yourself time, worry and missed business opportunities.
Got 5 different phone numbers? Pick whichever one you use the most often, or exclude your phone number all together. If you do 99% of your communication by email, put your email address as the primary contact address, and leave your phone number or office address as a secondary address.
2. Balance
Great business cards aren't just about getting your information out there. To make a truly great business card design, you need to combine aesthetics and information, balancing the two to guide the eyes around the card.
Take stock of your contact and personal information. What needs to go where? Some of your information will need to be grouped with complimentary information. Keep your name and address close together, your landline and cell phone number next to one another, and your business email and website URL close to one another. Grouping information not only balances your card effectively, but it guides the reader through the card and down towards your contact information.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/210/495139144_060656d86d.jpg
3. White Space
White space is an important design element that too often goes forgotten when designing a business card. You need to balance information with itself, and also with the blank spaces of your business card. By balancing the amount of informational space on your business card with minimalist design elements, you can guide the reader through the card and create a design that is clean and professional.
Think about your business card design as two separate planes of design: the information and the aesthetic. In order to master both domains, make sure your card balances information and emptiness, but still leaves all of the appropriate information in view for your customers, business relations, and clients.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/204/495139114_86c9b11f64.jpg
4. Simplicity
There's a simple rule of design, lifestyle, and thousands of other domains: less is more. Nowhere is this philosophy more true than in business card design. By selectively eliminating parts of your design, you can build a business card that not only displays all of your contact information, but gives the viewer a look into the DNA of your business.
There are ultimately two primary purposes of a business card. The first is to make contact easy for clients and customers, and the second is to give your business the exposure that it deserves. By balancing information with simplicity and minimalist design elements, you can make your card stand out from the pack and present your information clearly, concisely, and in a form that is easy for potential customers to see.