Business Card Design Tips

Tips on designing your business card:

• Come up with a logo, identity, and a slogan or phrase that best represents your brand 
• Choose legible fonts 
• Keep the design simple and sweet 
• Include a perk they can receive if visiting your website (a free download, coupon, etc.)  
• Use high-quality paper 
• Never use free cards - pay the extra $5 to remove the line, "printed free at," so no one is visiting a website other than yours  
• Consider including some extra swag (a sticker or tattoo) to make it memorable  
• Create a series of different cards to create excitement about collecting all of them  
• Print in CMYK and if possible, design in vector - a pixelated low-resolution card is never a good idea 

When considering contact details, here are the essentials: name, website, and email address. It is not often that telephone numbers, fax numbers, and physical addresses are still necessary. Determine what information is most important for your brand, and add the details you feel are essential.

Here is some inspiration for more DIY business cards:

Confetti business cards - via funky time 

Fabric business cards - via Craftaholics Anonymous

Stamped business cards - via HeyLook

Gold acrylic ink cards - via Mint 

Post by Danni Hong. Top Photo Sequin & confetti calling cards - via pugly pixel

Comments

[Sarah]

Thanks for the inspiration. I just received some of the scratch off dots you mentioned in another post.

[Marie]

It was so fun to collect business cards at Alt 2012! Everyone did such a great job at personalizing their own. If you're seeking inspiration, you can view my collection here: 166 absolutely fabulous and creative cards! I'm really excited to see next year's Alt biz cards!

[Tamera Beardsley]

Having been lucky enough to secure passage into ALT 2013...my cards are ready. Or are they? I am now intrigued with the concept of a series of collectible cards.....hmm.... Thanks for the generous sharing of innovative ideas..

[anne]

I took Laurie's class on business cards on Alt Channel and loved it! It was so inspiring. Here's the cards I made for my blogging/writing business after taking her class.

[creede]

Just ordered some new letterpress cards on super heavy paper. Picking them up just in time for Alt NYC!

[katrina]

hey danni, thanks for the mention! all these cards look great. :)

by the way, i didn't know alt tickets would sell out so quickly. in fact, i didn't even know they were on sale until it was too late!

[Caroline]

Marie, thanks so much for posting your pin board of cards. This will be my first year at Alt, and the inspiration is a huge help!