In the course of the world embracing digital communication, the humble business card seemed to lose all relevance. Fewer people used them, with websites and email the more convenient and environmentally friendly alternative. However in recent years they have started to reappear - unsurprising given their simplicity and our desire for more tangible experiences. With the online environment so congested with content and noise, the business card has once again become one of the most accessible and memorable ways for to build your brand and expand your network.
Good design is crucial.
You can whip something up yourself on canva.com, or pull something together in any number of templates available online, however there are a few things to consider when it comes to business cards and good design in cases like this, really should be left to the professionals. The visual experience people have with your card is what makes it – and therefore you – memorable. It delivers your brand to them in a snack sized package, and ideally, continues to have impact as it pops up again and again - in their pocket, on their desk and eventually in their hand as they are dialling your number.
Bad design is pointless
Having a badly designed card is almost as bad as not having a card at all! Image and language choices, colors and fonts all contribute to the overall impression you make. Your taste may not be the best way forward when it comes to branding and an unskilled eye has difficulty discerning the difference between what they like and what speaks to their brand.
Leave it to the professionals
This is the part where I tell you that spending money on professional services is important and should be viewed as an investment rather than an expense - because it is. Finding a professional graphic designer can be extremely useful and not just for your business card.
In the course of designing your card, they will get a sense of you and your business and have the skills to know what elements combined will communicate your message best. These will then form the foundation of your brand and be used not only in your business card design, but can be applied across all of your on and offline marketing. They can also recommend the type and texture of material you should print your cards on – paper is no longer the only option! Plus they know how to do cool stuff like add a QR Code to give your card a digital dimension.
It's all about context
importantly, there are also design decisions they will know about, that you may not have considered. If you're a funeral director for example, you probably want to avoid Comic Sans, or a Chalkduster style font. Using a plain grey card if you're a professional clown is probably the wrong approach too. Sometimes designing your business card also helps you define things you may not have previously - like your title (an important thing that surprisingly many people do not have). An artisanal bread maker would communicate what he does much better if he called himself ‘Bread Craftsman’ rather than simply ‘Baker’. Just as an artist might need to make distinctions about their work by calling themselves a ‘Visual Artist’ rather than ‘Painter’.
With almost all of interactions being done online now, it's getting harder to keep track of actual meaningful connections we make with people. Online networking is important, but it will always come a close second to the networking you do in person. Your facial expressions, body language, and the way you communicate all inform someone’s initial impression of you in a much more powerful way than an online profile can. Capturing something of yourself and your business in your business card design also means you will strengthen their experience of you AND send them home with your contact details.
This is an update of a post that was previously published on twago.com