Business Card Design

Business cards serve many purposes but their primary purpose is to tell what you do and give the recipient a way to contact you.

At the very least a name and contact method (address or phone number) should go into a business card design. As for where to put this information, there are hundreds of possible arrangements, but there are a few commonly accepted guidelines for where to place the most essential information. When in doubt or when there is little time to experiment, follow these guidelines for creating a basic, serviceable, and effective business card.

Minimum Information for a Business Card

Other information is optional but as a minimum the business card design should usually contain:

• Individual's Name and/or Business Name
• Individual's Title or some other descriptive text to indicate what the person does if it's not obvious from the business
• A way (preferably multiple ways) to contact the person - could be phone, fax, email, web page, mailing address, street address, etc.

It is not necessary to but a complete listing of services or products on the business card.

Business Card Checklist

Many of the items in this list are optional. You must decide which ones are appropriate for your business card.

• Name of Individual.
• Name of Business or Organization
• Address.
• Phone Number.
• Fax Number.
• Email Address.

• Web Page Address.
• Job Title of Individual.
• Tagline or description of Business or Organization.
• Logo.
• Graphic Image(s)
• List of services or products

The items listed below are to aid in designing your business card. Some may not apply.

• Horizontal or Vertical Layout.
• Emphasis on Individual.
• Number of Colors.
• Emphasis on Title of Individual.
• Emphasis on Business or Organization (name and/or logo).

• Emphasis on a particular part of the contact information (phone, address, email, etc.)
• Size of Logo or other graphics - large (dominant) or small, etc.
• White space (blank spaces) toward the middle or toward the outer edges.

Conservative typeface (such as those used in the stories in your textbooks) or Fun, Informal typeface (such as crooked letters, funny shapes, odd sizes, or type that looks like handwriting) or a mix.

Keep it to the essentials. Use brochures and personal interviews to disclose the full range of services or products offered.