Share your best business card design tip?

[WillWashesCars]

I see a lot of good designs here. A lot of work went into some people's business cards.

My best tip I can ever give. Pictures. People like pictures. Show off your work and make it clear and easy to read/find you name, address, and phone number.

[DaVinciAutoSpa]

I use thick cards I design on vista print. Leave the back blank to write appointment reminders and give to clients. I also write "20% OFF" on the back and leave that on center console when done. (Put an expiration date 45-60 days out).

Right now they're matte black w/ red and silver metallic letters. Will post pic later.

[A.P.A.D.]

Now for business card design:
1. Always hire a professional - those websites with card builders are mostly rubbish

2. Keep it simple(ish) but not boring - self explanatory

3. A business card is like a powerpoint presentation. There must only be a very small number of well chosen words which prompt questions from the person whom you give the card to. The answers to any detailing question the potential customer has must come from you and not the card.

4. Easy on the colour scheme. Yes, the card with 11 different bold and bright colours will stand out in a pile of business cards but definitely not for the right reason. Use complimentary colours.

5. The card must have a purpose - a business card with the purpose of simply communicating your contact details is completely different from a business card whose purpose is to entice potential customers into contacting you. With a defined purpose there is less chance of the card becoming too cluttered.

6. Speaking of cluttered - this is a definite no-no. If your card looks like a spam advert most people will toss it the minute you're out of sight.

7. Avoid words like "guaranteed" "best" "satisfaction". These words sounds much like those late night infomercials selling (mostly) useless junk.

8. Check, double check, triple check and quadruple check before printing. Nothing looks more unprofessional than a) a business card with an error/typo or b) a hand written correction on a printed card (yes I've seen this). An error like this is even worse in a field like DETAILing where attention to detail is expected.

9. Don't use a border around your card. Someone in the printing industry told me that its a risk when cutting the card.

10. Align your card with any other marketing media you currently have. The theme must be consistent. For example, if your Facebook page and website have a certain colour scheme and logo then stick with it when designing your card too. This communicates a unified brand message.

11. Don't be afraid to experiment with textured stock, cutouts and other cool stuff. It will definitely give your card an edge. However, this will obviously raise the price of your cards but its most definitely worth it.

Excellent tips and advice. ^------Folks, read this again!

[dirtdestroyer]

Same with the front and back. Think I have the basics covered so far. Always room for improvement though.

I've seen several great card designs in this thread but this one reminded me of an important tip: on promotional items such as this, get the grammar and spelling correct. Always double check before having the card printed.

"YOUR GONNA LIKE THE WAY YOUR RIDE LOOKS, I GUARANTEE IT"

This should not pass initial review before printing. I can forgive the use of "gonna" but not the misuse of your vs. you're.

To go one step more in the professional direction also use an email address set up to use your domain name instead of yahoo or Gmail. If you are paying for hosting this is free.

Don't get me wrong I'm no grammar Nazi and make mistakes with such things (including in my posts) but anything which is designed to impact 1st impressions and anything representing the business requires extra attention.

[daimler]

Here's my mine...

[craz0boy]

I've seen several great card designs in this thread but this one reminded me of an important tip: on promotional items such as this, get the grammar and spelling correct. Always double check before having the card printed.

"YOUR GONNA LIKE THE WAY YOUR RIDE LOOKS, I GUARANTEE IT"

This should not pass initial review before printing. I can forgive the use of "gonna" but not the misuse of your vs. you're.

To go one step more in the professional direction also use an email address set up to use your domain name instead of yahoo or Gmail. If you are paying for hosting this is free.

Don't get me wrong I'm no grammar Nazi and make mistakes with such things (including in my posts) but anything which is designed to impact 1st impressions and anything representing the business requires extra attention.

Those biz cards are long gone. These are my recent ones which I need to update already lol well at least the back side.

[DasRah!]

I love this card! But obviously...it does not scream "Detailer" like it should. SO i ended up with a fairly simple design that looks very professional, but is very generic .

[jakescakes]

^ The logo/colors/font have a barbershop vibe going on. At least that's what came to my mind.

[builthatch]

i use a small card. i am a big guy and it has turned out to be quite a conversation piece for some odd reason. i've gotten "oh how cute" and "where's the rest of it?"., but generally people really like it. it's pretty basic, but on nice stock with smudge proof ink. they are noticeably cheaper than the same design on the same stock w/ the same ink, but if i used a normal size.

a high quality card that you don't worry about giving out is crucial. if the card is too expensive or too nice, you end up being more selective and that sucks.

sorry i had to blur out my info but that's the way things go sometimes on the internet, haha.

[David Hayward]

Mine is overly simple. I'm not using it to advertise I run on referrals only and I just give them to people so they can give them to someone they know.