Creative professionals probably face the biggest challenges when it comes to business cards. Lawyers, doctors, and insurance agents can get by with an utterly unimaginative business card without battling an eyelash, but creatives face higher expectations from prospects as well as peers. Anyone involved in photography, graphic design, fine arts, or marketing needs to raise the design bar so to speak or risk ridicule. Obviously, designers are probably going to create their own artwork, but there are other ways to turn heads without opening up Illustrator.
Business Card Design Tips for Creatives
Since it’s extremely difficult to stand out in a sea of talent, we suggest that creatives concentrate on design details the conventional crowd typically overlooks. Here are the easiest things you can do to jazz up your networking tools
- Material Matters: Let’s face it, regular cardstock won’t get you very far in the cut throat creative world. For this reason, we get lots of orders for plastic business cards, clear plastic cards, etc. These have obvious appeal over traditional cardboard; still, there are other alternatives for the truly daring, including metal, mesh, and rubber. Funk comes at a premium price, so be sure to select something that’s within your budget.
- Shapes Galore: Nothing screams “Square” louder than a run of the mill rectangular business card. Simply switching from a rectangle to a circle adds instant pizazz. Even rectangles can be styled with rounded corners or folds, so there’s really no excuse for sticking with the status quo.*Shamless Plug* Remember, you can always win 250 custom shape cards in our giveaway! *End Shameless Plug*
- Tantalize Through Texture: Along the same lines as materials, a hint of texture will give your card tons of character. Choose a texture that enhances the rest of your design or symbolizes an aspect of your industry. The texture doesn’t have to envelope the entire card; simply engraving your contact details and logo gives your card a distinct feel to the touch.
- Size: Less is More: The minimalist design trend translates well in this medium. Mini business cards are about half as big as the standard, so you need to make the most of the available space. Let the mini concept guide the artistic process; consider printing an actual photo or portfolio item on one side with plain contact info on the reverse to eliminate clutter.
- Interactive Elements: The interwebs are abuzz about the possibilities of augmented reality. Play around with this idea by finding a way to incorporate action into an otherwise static piece. We found a few awesome examples online, such as a paper airplane card, lottery scratcher, and roll up foam matt for a yoga studio. Another option would be to add a small sticker version of your logo for people to peel off. Again, cost dictates the limitations of imagination. There’s no harm in fantasizing about your dream card in case you win the lottery!
Creative Sound Off
For the creative among us, did you make an effort to implement an original design or did you decide to fit in with the rest of the white collar crowd? Tell us in the comments below!