Remember the days when a business card was just black letters on white cardstock? It carried contact information that consisted of a person’s name, title, company name, address, and phone number. And that was it.
Over time, additional information was added, such as a logo and a fax number. As time went on and we entered the Technology Age, we added mobile phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and web site addresses. Cards are printed on both sides now. My own card lists my services on the back. Others list a company motto or tagline. Many cards also include the links to a LinkedIn profile or social media addresses such as Facebook or Twitter.
And the card itself is rarely a plain white card anymore. We went from white to colors. First we saw a band of ink in the corporate color along one edge. Then we went from a plain or solid background to including a headshot, and then to creating a full background from a photograph. Some have “foil” or embossed finishes. Some are even no longer in the rectangular shape but die cut into interesting shapes, or folded, both for impact and to create more surface area for information.
I’ve watched these changes take place over the last couple of decades. Most of the new designs are creative and eye-catching. But more than a few suffer from one glaring difficulty: they are difficult to read.
A truly talented designer takes readability into consideration. But so many designers ignore “best practices.” Their first priority is to make the card either pretty or attention-grabbing. In so doing they may make the following mistakes: they choose a font that has too many thin strokes that don’t show up well, particularly at small sizes. Or they are so concerned about cramming lots of text into that standard 3.5” x 2” space, that the size of the fonts are reduced to a size too small to read on the fly. Or they want a jazzy photo behind the text that is either too busy for the text on top of it to be read easily, or similarly, they choose a font color with insufficient contrast against the background image or photo. My own pet peeve is white lettering at 8 points or less against a busy photograph that isn’t dark enough for good contrast. Except for a tagline, I believe no text should be set at less than 10 points, even on a plain card.
When I taught design in another field, one of the models I used to teach my students was the concept of “Simplify and Exaggerate.” At high speed or great distance (both of which are characteristic of today’s society), it’s important to distill the most important aspects of a design to its simplest elements and then play up those elements so they get noticed and the message is transmitted clearly. Business cards should observe the same concept if they are to properly serve their purpose well.
I’m not saying some of the creativity I mentioned shouldn’t be used at all. But the point is not to over-design a business card. Let it speak for itself. Let it “breathe.” Most of all, make it readable.
Business Card Readability
Hiding Your Light Under a Bushel
What's the title mean? I first heard that phrase in Sunday School. It means don’t be bashful about your skills and talents, but display them to the world.
How does that apply to my message today?
Many professionals have more than one particular business skill or service they offer their customers, often several. But the main ones are the ones they emphasize and advertise the most. They are the ones their customers think of first. And after a while, the emphasis on those special skills overshadows other skills and services the business may offer, to the point they may be either hidden or forgotten. Perhaps the business sees certain skills as their strengths, or the ones most in demand, or their biggest money-makers. After all, a business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is what sets them apart from their competition and they want to highlight those differences, to put themselves ahead of their competitors in their prospect’s minds.
After a while, a pattern of using or offering or spotlighting certain skills—to the exclusion of other skills—may emerge. It’s easy to forget those other skills, and after all, why mess with success?
I believe that from time to time, you should remind your customers and prospects of the other skills you can provide. You don’t have to hit them over the head with this, but casual conversation sometimes opens opportunities to mention other services. For example, my contacts know I specialize in design for direct mail, web sites, and newsletters. The other day at a networking meeting I mentioned I can also do the designs for catalogs, and within minutes I had a referral from a friend who had a side business with her family that could use my expertise. I had planted a seed, and she responded.
So, don’t hide your light under a bushel—let it out and let it be seen. It can lead you in new directions!
Why Hire a Professional Graphic Designer?
Believe it or not, it’s more cost-effective in the long run. Professionals work more skillfully and generally faster than do-it-yourselfers. They make far fewer mistakes, saving you time and money. They use high-end feature-rich professional software packages and resources, and are trained in their use, rather than cheaper or low-end resources. The results always look better, and in the case of printed materials, are also much easier for a print house to handle the resulting graphics files for the project. In the case of web design, professionals don’t allow what we call “garbage code” to creep in and slow down your system, or make the code hard to read for other developers. Their code is “validated” to make sure it meets minimum standards for use on the web or in emails.
Put another way, here’s what you get with a professional: You will get more efficiencies. Efficiencies in asking the right questions. Efficiencies in proper training. Efficiencies in using more proven marketing tools and techniques. In the end, you will pay to do it right, instead of paying more to do it over.
On the list below are the elements to analyze when making your choice for a designer. Analyze these elements in light of the specific project, budget, and timeline you have in mind.
- Experience (not just years, but industries, teams, roles, and ability to ask the right questions) Paula Scher, principal at Pentagram Design was quoted once as putting it this way, “It took me a few seconds to draw it, but it took me 34 years to learn how to draw it in a few seconds.
- Design Style (impressionistic, web vs. print, bold vs. delicate)
- Disciplines (print, packaging, promotions, trade show collateral, logo design, illustration)
- Marketing (strategic vs. tactical, knowledge of target market, ability to suggest alternatives)
- Good Communication (follow-up, status re: timeline and budget progress, relationships)
- Professionalism (from the contract to handling problems to final product)
- Portfolio (what does it demonstrate/why included, and is there more to the story of each piece? Range of work presented? Consistent in quality?
- Price (don’t choose on price alone. Yes, you will likely pay more for an experienced designer, but what are you really paying for?)
So, do yourself a favor and hire a professional. You won't be sorry.
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