You can make your own business cards. There. I said it. It CAN be done. They can be made using most programs already on your computer and they can be printed out using perforated card paper right from your printer for a very small amount of money.
In years past, the older perforated card stock looked perforated. You could see the little bumps along the side. The new micro-perf stuff is better, but the stock is too lightweight and results in a flimsy card, but worse than that, you can actually damage your printer using the heavier card stocks. You want an eye-catching card that has a professional weight to it. The type of printing matters also. A home printed card on an inkjet printer will bleed if it comes in contact with moisture, a dead giveaway. Digital printing, on the other hand, offers good color options which allow a professional to really give it pizzazz!
Brand new baby businesses may print off a handful of cards in a pinch while they wait for the printer, it’s not the end of the world. People usually take this route to save money, but a small run of cards printed digitally at a print shop can be quite affordable. Most print shops let you download right from your computer and then they run them and cut them for you. All you do is pick them up!
Most people who design their own cards want to use clip art, but clip art straight out of the box shouts, “amateur!” While these methods are inexpensive, you never want to appear cheap.
What DOES It Mean To Design Business Cards?
Many things factor into a great business card, and design is definitely one of them. Your content is important, of course, but what does that card say about your ability to do what it is you do? Your card may be the first anyone’s heard of you.
7 Characteristics of Great Business Card Design
- Color selection
- Logo placement
- Contact placement
- Tag line
- What gets placed on the front of the card, and
- What gets placed on the back, if anything
- Overall message, overall appearance
Your logo placement is important to the design elements of your business cards. Our Graphic Designer, Scott Alberts, includes the price of business card design in his logo design rate because when he doesn’t, customers attempt to place his professionally designed logo onto a business card and the transfer is a very poor rendition of his ability. He would rather include business card design and preserve his excellent reputation! His cards are set up with the printer in mind, so many times “prep” or “plate charges” can be avoided.
Concerning contact placement and tag line, what you do has a lot to do with where you decide to place your information. Does your contact need to be the first thing seen? Or your message? Where exactly is that? If you don’t want to have that all thought out for you, try this little exercise:
Take a card out and role play, handing the card to a neighbor and mimic a real life situation. Where do their eyes go first? Where do they linger? What information do they ask for that already exists on your card?
A professional design takes into consideration what goes on to the front of your business card, and what goes on the back. Your overall message and presentation should be short, sweet, and sticky. The right business card design is your handshake, and a reference to your business possibly for years to come. Check out our Small Business Accelerator Packages for package pricing that is affordable, and still very professional. Our logo and business card design packages begin with our Kick Starter Package and grow from there. Our a la carte options are listed on our services page, and you can learn more about Scott Alberts Illustration And Design on our Meet The Team page. Call us today for your personal, professional design!
It would depend on the way you look at it and where you are coming from on the subject really. In the long run attractiveness is in the eye of the beholder, but Now i am with you on this one.
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