If you want to know how to design a business card, you must first understand what makes a good business card. The best business card design should convey your business’s overall image in one glance. This may sound like a tall order, considering that the average basic business card is generally 85 × 55 mm in size.
Here’s the thing. Your basic business card can’t possibly tell your entire brand story. But it can use every single aspect of the card—its shape, size, card stock, color, texture, and text—to present the image that best sums up your company.
Attractive business card from Envato ElementsSo, if your company is an environmentally friendly travel agency, that should be communicated by the material you use to create your card as well as the logo, colors used, etc. Likewise, if you run a children’s indoor playground, you may want a card with an unusual shape that uses bright colors and playful but legible text. In other words, what makes a good business card? A professional card that people will remember and associate with your business.
Here are a few other crucial business card guidelines to help you better understand what makes a good business card:
A card intended for tech innovators might incorporate QR codes or augmented reality features, differentiating it from one designed for traditional industries.
The digital era has simplified contact details. Sometimes, a social media handle or a website is enough. Avoid cluttering your card with excessive details.
In an age of information overload, simplicity stands out. Allow for ample negative space to make your design elements more effective.
Effective business cards are a powerful tool that tells the story of your brand and creates a lasting impression on prospective clients and customers.
It's important that you understand how to design a business card so that it communicates what your company stands for, helps distinguish your business from the competition, and encourages potential clients and customers to get in touch with you.
That’s why we’ve created this list of tips for designing business cards, to not only help with designing a business card but also to make sure that you get your basic business card design right.
In the age of digital interactivity, incorporating elements like QR codes or NFC (Near Field Communication) chips can significantly enhance the functionality of your business card.
An example of a business card with a QR code from Envato Elements.A QR code can direct recipients to:
NFC chips can instantly transfer contact information to a smartphone. This not only makes your card more engaging but also bridges the gap between physical and digital networking.
With growing environmental awareness, choosing eco-friendly materials for your business cards can make a strong statement about your brand's values.
Recycled paper, bamboo, and even seed paper that can be planted are not only sustainable choices but also conversation starters. This approach not only aligns with modern ecological concerns but also positions your brand as socially responsible and forward-thinking.
The tactile feel of a business card can leave a lasting impression. Techniques like embossing, debossing, or the use of textured card stock add a physical dimension to your card.
Embossed Business Card Mockup from Envato ElementsAdded texture not only enhances the visual appeal, but also engages the sense of touch, making the interaction with your card more memorable. Consider how these tactile elements can reinforce your brand identity or highlight key information like your logo or company name.
One of the best ways to create business cards is to study effective business cards from a variety of industries, including your own. Try to collect as many as you can and lay them out on a flat surface. Make a note of what you like and don’t like about each card, what you find memorable, and what you think just doesn’t work.
Next, focus on the cards of your competitors. Are there qualities that they've got in common? Which cards stand out and why? Which are you drawn to and why?
You may want to emulate some of the qualities you’ve identified, find successful, or that are memorable in the cards you’ve studied.
Before you start designing a business card, you should have decided on your brand logo, typography, and color scheme. These are the foundations of your brand identity. They should play a big part in the style and layout of your card and should be consistent across your website and other promotional materials.
In 2024, apply core design principles to business cards while embracing digital elements. Ensure legibility and margin safety, design in CMYK for color accuracy, and include high-resolution 300 DPI for quality printing.
Incorporate digital features like QR codes or NFC tags for direct links to digital profiles or portfolios. Use a grid layout for a balanced element arrangement, ensuring your card is effective in both physical and digital formats.
Business cards are traditionally horizontal rectangular cards, but that doesn’t mean that yours has to be. Depending on your industry, the brand image you want to project, and the audience you’re communicating with, your card can take on a number of other shapes, from organic to geometrical.
Consider what shape and size card best represents your brand. Even if you don’t want to step too far out of the box, consider a vertical rectangular card. They're less common than horizontals and can differentiate you from the competition.
There's some basic text that every business card should have to allow potential clients and customers to whom you hand your card to contact you. This will vary from company to company and individual to individual, but the most standard information on effective business cards is generally:
For some businesses, just the name, title, and telephone number might be relevant. While for others, all the above information will be included.
A positioning statement is a short statement that most clearly defines your brand and its values and differentiates you from your competitors. For example, Nike:
Just do it.
Creating and including a compelling positioning statement on your card is a powerful way to stand out, be memorable, and establish a connection with your potential clients.
There's nothing more off-putting or more likely to damage a prospective business relationship than a business card with spelling mistakes or incorrect contact information, so proofread your card carefully and get others to proofread it for you. Double and triple-check your contact details and make sure everything is legible.
A well-designed and professionally printed card inspires trust and sets a relationship off to a good start. So, don’t let down your good business card design with shoddy printing on poor card stock. Once your design is complete, be sure that you've got your card printed professionally on good card stock. This will not only make a good impression but will help with card durability.
In 2024, the landscape of business card design has evolved to embrace a wide array of tools beyond traditional templates. While professional templates found on platforms like Envato Elements remain a solid starting point, consider exploring AI-powered design tools and custom design software that offer more personalized and innovative design solutions.
These advanced tools can provide unique layouts, color schemes, and typography suited to your brand's identity, offering a higher level of customization.
Learn how to take your business card designs to the next level with these awesome tutorials and articles:
A well-designed business card template is indispensable, as it saves you valuable time and effort in designing business cards from scratch. Here are some great business card designs from Envato Elements:
This is an excellent example of a well-designed business card template that's suitable for any kind of health and wellness businesses like spas, massage therapists and yoga studios.
Modern Business Card Template is a multipurpose modern design that's clean and simple. Easy and quick to edit. Just drop in your text and background image. Impress your potential clients with this professional card.
This is a fully layered and editable professional template that's suitable for any business. This template is supported in Adobe Illustrator and is in print-ready format.
The Business Card - Business Template is designed for professional use, offering AI & EPS file formats. It measures 3.58 x 2.17 inches, with an additional 0.12-inch bleed for printing convenience. This template is fully editable and easy to customize to suit specific business needs.
The Business Card template is a versatile and customizable design suitable for any business or company. This template comes in PSD file format, with a standard size of 2 x 3.5 inches. It is fully editable and easy to customize to meet specific branding needs. The template is designed in CMYK color mode for high-quality printing.
The Beauty Club Cards template is designed for spas, salons, beauty clinics, cosmetics, and similar businesses. This template includes front and back designs in a 3.75x2.25 inches size with additional bleed area. It features CMYK color mode, 300 dpi resolution, and customizable text and color options.
Once you’ve decided on the best business card design for your company, you’ll need to customize it to make it your own. Here's how you can personalize your business card templates using the Placeit business card maker.
Starting with the controls on the left, add your business details and select a font style to match your brand.
2.
Upload Your LogoMoving to the controls on the right, upload your logo, or if you won’t be using a logo on your card, select a graphic from those offered that best represents your brand.
With this particular template, you'll also need to select a watermark graphic.
Using the controls on both the left and the right, change the color of the business card background, as well as the color of the fonts and other aspects of the business card design, to match your brand.
If you’re not happy with the changes you’ve made, you can hit the Reset Layout button to return the design to its original layout.
Click the Download button to download your brand-new logo for a small fee.
And that's how to design a business card quickly and easily.
Let's look at an offer that anyone needing a business card can take advantage of.
You've just learned how to design a business card using templates and mockups. We've shared business card layouts and explored good business card designs. We've also shared over a dozen business card tips.
Professional business card templates are built by professional graphic designers. They feature incredible visuals that look amazing and will help your business stand out. The First source for these business card template files is Envato Elements.
Elements is an all-you-can-download subscription service with millions of digital available. For a flat monthly fee, you can try as many as you want!
Explore Business Cards
Find unlimited business card templates from Envato Elements.Want to find the exact creative asset for your next project? Now Envato Elements has an AI-powered search feature! This new tool allows you to input a description of your project to effortlessly locate the finest human-crafted resources.
Start experimenting with this enhanced search tool! Discover the ideal business card templates for your business in 2024.
Now you know how to design good business cards and where you can find excellent templates at Envato Elements and Placeit. You have all the information and tools to get started on creating an excellent business card. Show off your business in style today with a new business card!
Editorial Note: Our staff updates this post regularly—adding useful business card guidelines and tips for designing business cards. This card has recently been updated for accuracy and relevancy with help from Daniel Strongin.