The small and often overlooked business card is really one of the most important tools available for promoting your business. Business cards should be designed to provide eleven basic bits of information. The first group is the all important contact information items. These include such things as your business name and address. Your phone number and email would fall into this category also. The type of business and the services that you provide are also key elements.
Business card printing is more than just the placing of this pertinent information on a small piece of cardboard, however. If the business card is going to be effective, it must connect with your customer in a most personal manner. If you are successful in your business card design, your card will end up in your customer's wallet or pocketbook, or taped to his refrigerator door. How do you design the card to achieve this goal?
The secret is in understanding the general principles of basic design. Good design in a business sense involves a concept that is known as intuitiveness. This means an understanding of your customer. It is seeing the design from his point of view and giving him exactly what he is looking for and not what you are trying to force on him. The use of graphics and color are important elements in this process. Graphics and logos have always played an important part in establishing a connection to your customer. The customer begins to associate certain images with your company. Once this mental association is complete the customer will feel a subconscious connection.
It is very important to carefully select the graphics. They should be positive images that invoke positive responses. If you are seeking to make a subconscious connection with your customer, you want it to be one that is positive. Consistency is also important. A certain color can be associated with a company very easily. The "brown" of UPS is an example. The red color of cartons of Coca Cola and the blue of Pepsi Cola is another example of color association. When selecting color to use in your business card design, select one that is most likely to be identified with your product or service, and stick with it.
If you really want your design to connect with your customer, the most important rule is to avoid the temptation to have your card proclaim how great you are, and make sure its main thrust is how much you have to offer to your customer.