Business cards are seemingly innocuous. Everyone has one and they all want to give them to you. They don’t have to fade into the woodwork, you just have to be creative about how they are done in order to get noticed and to be effective.

Here are a couple of tips that i think should be standard in this day and age of printing business cards:

1. All business cards should be double-sided. The back could simply be a solid color with your website listed but the point is that this is a mini billboard that could be utilized and should not be left blank.

2. Full color, full bleed. Larger businesses may not need to run at full color since their large quantities can justify printing at 2-color on the press. For most companies though, each card is going to be a shorter run since the contact information will change and thus printing these process (4 color) is definitely more affordable. Plus, having full color gives you some options for potential unique design work. Full bleed in printing is where you print off the edge of the paper. I personally like using this on cards so that design elements can be incorporated within the design that do not take away from the branding and contact info.

3. Simple is okay. An example that i like is actually within the movie Ocean’s Eleven where Daniel Ocean gave a card to Linus that was blank except for his name, “Daniel Ocean” in the center of the card. It is amazing that, with simplicity comes complexity and sophistication within design. 

4. They must fit the branding. Because business cards are an extension of your business, they must be consistent with the branding of your business. Just like every other marketing initiative, business cards have to drive the consistency of your brand which includes your logo and current design elements.

Here is an example that we have recently completed for the Fantis Group. As Realtors, they needed certain items on the card, i.e. photo, RE/MAX logo, but this doesn’t mean that their cards had to be standard or uninteresting. In fact, we are printing these cards with a silk laminate with a spot gloss coating on the logo which is quite unique within their industry.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 5:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, brand, example, logo, print, tip. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.