Seven tips for a better business card

Ever notice how sometimes, when introduced to strangers, we don’t quite get a person’s name correct? A well-designed business card can head off that awkward moment which could dampen the enthusiasm of a new relationship. It can also say a lot about the business. So care in its design is imperative.

We designers face an ongoing challenge. For us, creativity is like a permanent set of teenage hormones, causing us to sometimes forget that form follows function. So perhaps this piece will serve as a reminder.

This is written in the context that the reader is designing their own business card. But maybe you’re not a designer and simply must accept the business card your company provides. In that case, let’s weigh it against the following seven criteria.

1. Print both sides of the card, making the “A” side of the card powerful, simple, uncluttered, and featuring you… your name. Isolate it from design that would compete for attention or lessen its readability. You’re introducing yourself. You represent your company. Companies are people. They will first be judged by the impression you make. If you’re perceived as clear and accessible, so will your company be. Keep their identity present but subordinate in the design.
2. Keep your name out of the ‘thumb’ zones. In western societies, we typically accept a business card by grasping one of its lower corners. Having your name covered by a thumb defeats the card’s primary purpose of introducing you.
3. Put contact information on the “B” side of the card. There’s plenty of room to put all the company information, offices, addresses, phones, etc., as well as your contact data. If you put any on the “A” side under your name, try to limit it to the easiest way to reach you most of the time. That can provide a quick reference point for others to reach you.
4. Separate your personal contact information from your company data. Place phone and extension, email, Twitter, mobile, and IM identification under your name, on the “B” side. When people call a company representative they expect the most direct route to that person.
5. Package similar information together. It’s logical to separate phone, email, and other digitally accessed information from physical address information. Remember: all design is about packaging a particular message. If your contact information is disorganized or otherwise hard to find, you may be sending a subliminal message that you don’t want to be reached.
6. Use extra leading and tracking with really small type for contact information. We can read sentences that use small type sizes because, thanks to the use of upper and lowercase type, we see words as familiar shapes which aids our reading. Small phone numbers and addresses can be especially difficult to read unless they’re tracked out a bit so that their character shapes become more legible.
7. Avoid using all caps, especially for contact information at small sizes. Where easy readability is necessary, say tag lines, slogans, or the like, stick with the upper-and-lowercase convention. Software license agreements you should read when installing software on your computer illustrate the point. The inane blocks of legalese are bad enough, but putting them in all caps renders them near impossible to read. Please don’t do this on your cards.

In Seth Godin’s blog article, Business card mistakes, he says, “In an era where no one dresses up anymore, they give you a chance to position yourself, to represent who you are and what you do in a three cent piece of paper.“

So how do your business cards represent you and your company? I’d like to hear your thoughts.