Over recent years we’ve heard more and more that business cards are a thing of the past, no one wants paper, everything is digital, and the list goes on. We don’t believe this. Just like a handwritten thank you note is better than an email.
Have you stopped to consider that maybe you’re just trying to hand off something to someone that no one wants in the first place? At Brand Engine, we believe that every point of contact with your client should be an experience that strengthens the recipients’ relationship with you and your brand.
Business cards are a great first-step into reshaping your customers’ impression, and, quite often, the most inexpensive way to improve your brand.
Where do you start?
Shape
Square or rectangle, rounded edges or squared. Most of the time, this is your personal preference and rarely has any major impact.
Orientation
Horizontal (landscape) or vertical (portrait). At Brand Engine, we prefer vertical cards and it always catches people off guard. We design with a reason. Pass someone a piece of paper, or even pick up a business card and pretend to hand it to someone. You’re going to pass it holding the shorter side. Design the card so it’s immediately legible.
What information needs to be on the card?
Logo
The piece de resistance, said in our best French accent. Now that you’ve got them, wow them. The logo should be the most eye-catching, memorable part of your card. Your brand identity is anchored by the logo, so make sure it’s the most important. Our preference is isolate the logo on one side of the card. But as a reminder, think about this as a piece of collateral, something with value. Is your logo alone strong enough to create interest? Seeking out a graphic designer or creative agency, we can design your cards to enhance your impression.
For instance, on the logo side of our BE business cards, we have our logo centered, and a graphic representation of an engine wrapping the card from edge to edge. Our logo is great, but with the addition of the engine design, it’s remarkable.
Contact
You can get carried away here. Name, Address, Phone, Cell Phone, Email, Website, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, the list goes on. You’re basically telling the recipient to desperately contact you in any form or fashion, with exclusion of messenger pigeon.
If you don’t like phone calls, don’t share it. If you aren’t ready to answer DMs, don’t add Instagram.
Short, sweet, and to the point. This is me and contact me this way.
Print Enhancements
Now that you’ve got all the meat and potatoes figured out, now, let’s take their breath away. Here’s a few of the most common print enhancements in the business card world. Before we get into this, use these enhancements sparingly, you don’t want your card looking like the Lampoon’s house at Christmas.
Spot UV aka Spot Gloss
Spot UV adds a transparent gloss to specific parts of your business card. As mentioned before, our business cards have an engine design on one side, and we chose to have that printed Spot UV so that it’s enhanced without being to bold or in-your-face. This is great for an all-over line design, or to accentuate your name on the card.
Foiling Details
Foiling has become more popular over the year, thus bringing the cost way down. Most common are gold and silver, with a few copper or rose gold options, depending on the printer. This is flashy, fancy, and immediately gets attention. However, before slather everything in gold, make sure it makes sense with your brand image and personality. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Don’t get us wrong, we love these details when executed properly, just be sure this matches your image.
Letter Press
The oo-la-la of printing, and possibly, the most expensive. Letterpress is old-school, using an actual press to indent and add color. Because this is a manual, hand-made detail, expect to pay a premium. For our clients whose brands match with this style of printing, we recommend letterpress for the business’s business card. This is a wow factor, and if you’re going to invest in this, you need to get the bang for your buck, so the more universal this card and it’s information can be the better!
With a full understanding of information, design, and enhancements, you should be ready to start slinging cards with excitement and pride! Or maybe you read this and are even more overwhelmed, and that’s where we come in.
Make something that matters, and if we can help, contact us!
