Whether you’re printing cheap business cards or premium business cards, remember that the most important aspect of your business card is how you present your information. There is no alternative to a good standard layout that is easy to navigate.
Business cards are a commercial product. Their primary role is to get your contact information into the hands of the customer, and second, to do it in a way that appeals to them.
When printing business cards, you should be careful to avoid both extremes of choosing to print specialty cards for their added appeal, but give them away sparingly due to their cost. On the other hand, some may choose to print cheaply and forgo print quality.
Offset printing allows you the best of both scenarios. It offers you full-color, photo-quality prints for the price of ten cents a dozen. With the right design, you can have expensive business cards that you can give away without a second thought.
Here is a methodical guide that you can follow to make your business card design.
1) Golden Ratio or Fibonacci Number: In simple terms, it was discovered that there are patterns in nature that account for its aesthetically balanced appearance. The ratio is found to be 1:1.618. Your 2×3.5-inch business card roughly follows this ratio, as do most business card designs, though the conversion is often inaccurate. Follow this as a guide and use your intuition to make it work.
o Layout: There must be a proportion of 1:1.618 between the colored and non-colored area, or the graphic and non-graphic space.
o Text: Smaller text should start with a 9 pt font size, while the name directly above these texts should use a 14 or 15 pt font size. Your company name must use 22 point text.
o Use this ratio to create various formulas for your business card graphics and overall design.
2) Rule of thirds
o You can also substitute the rule of thirds, which is also another design concept and is a rough estimate of the Fibonacci number.
o Perfectly centered layouts are boring, hence the term deadlock. The rule of thirds uses an asymmetrical balance that gives your design more tension and therefore more attractive. Simply create a nine by nine grid and place important items on the four points created where the lines intersect.
o You can also use the rule of thirds when trying to create divisions for your design. There’s the bottom third, the middle third, and the top third. The bottom third can be used to hold your contact information, where your name is right in the middle of the bottom third grid.
o The middle third can contain the empty space that is important to give your business card a breather. If your text is on the right panel, you can place your graphics on the left. Remember to continue to observe the three-dot rule for vertical divisions. The top third can contain your company name and tagline.
Whether you choose to print cheap business cards, create a good design to make it look like a million bucks. It combines having aesthetically pleasing cards that are easy to navigate at a very affordable price.
