Typographic Business Cards: Designing Business Cards That Make an Impression

Even though many printed materials have gone the way of the dodo in the internet age, there is still one that has managed to stay relevant and useful even among smartphones and digital devices: the business card. 

Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash

The incredible resilience of the business card may be because its part of your brand identity and presents a golden opportunity to make an incredible first impression on potential clients and customers.

It’s well worth it to learn the basics of business card design, especially if you’re in one of the creative businesses, or even for professionals such as web designers and graphic designers, and those in fields as wide-ranging as digital marketing and real estate, a cool business card can help you stand out among the competition and dazzle potential clients right out of the gate.

The good news is you don’t have to be an experienced graphic designer to create attractive and memorable business cards. All it takes is a few simple tips and techniques.  

How to Design the Perfect Business Card for Your Brand

So just what goes into a good business card design? Here are the main elements to keep in mind.

Be Mindful of Your Font

Because business cards feature mostly text, your choice of font will have a huge impact on the overall look and feel of the finished product. Fonts, like colors, are a powerful design element that have the ability to communicate your brand’s personality.

This is where it pays to know a little bit about typography. Put simply, typography refers to the way that text is designed and includes elements such as font, structure, legibility, and clarity. Picking a good font and typeface can dramatically impact the readability of your business card.

And readability should be a top priority since your card has to be comprehensible at just a glance. It can be tempting to load up your business card with fancy fonts and other snazzy design elements, but if they make it harder to read the text, then they’re the wrong choice. 

Script fonts, for example, are full of gorgeous curlicues and other flourishes, but they’re dense and visually complex. A sans serif font is a far better option since it doesn’t have those extra flicks and strokes (known as “serifs”) that extend off the edges of the letterforms. 

A font is also the wrong choice if it isn’t visually cohesive with your brand identity. We’ll go into this in greater detail below. 

Include Your Company Name, Brand Colors, and Logo Design

It’s important to choose a font and typeface that expresses your brand’s personality traits. It wouldn’t look quite right, for example, for a children’s toy brand to use a stark, sharp-edged font that is overly formal. Letterforms with playful, rounded edges would be a much better fit to show that the brand is fun and youthful. 

In addition to an appropriate font, your business card should also include your major brand identifiers, such as your brand colors, logo design, company name, and where you can be found on social media. It’s also good practice to include an address and phone number, if applicable. 

Make Sure You Pick High-Quality Cardstock

A business card is something you look at and hold in your hand, so it’s important to choose a material that both looks and feels high quality. 

Good quality cardstock is worth its weight in gold in this respect. The basic rule of thumb in picking a good cardstock is to look at its weight in pounds. The higher the weight, the thicker the cardstock, and the more hefty and pleasing it feels in your hand. 

Add Some Finishing Details

It’s the little details that make something special, and business cards are no exception. 

You can make yours stand out by including thoughtful design touches, such as embossed letters, rounded corners, or a metallic font. These extra finishing details are not only eye-catching, they’re also super fun to run your fingers over, making for an all-around enjoyable and memorable experience when exchanging business cards. 

Examples of Great Business Card Design

Need some design inspiration to get the ideas rolling for your business card? Here are examples of some of our favorite business card designs. 

Minimalist Design

Photo by Apollo Photography on Unsplash

A sleek, minimal design is both easy to read and subtly sophisticated. 

Vintage Style

A retro design will definitely get your business card noticed and lend it an air of classic coolness. 

Cards With A Twist

Adding an extra design element to your design will make your card (and your brand) extra memorable.

Printing the Best Business Card for Your Brand

Ready to start designing a business card template that will wow potential clients and boost your brand recognition?

Banana Print is an online digital printing service that lets you print high-quality marketing materials quickly and affordably. Create your design and do your business card printing all in one place with Banana Print. 

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