What information should you put in your business card?

This varies greatly depending on your industry, target audience, and the type of business card you are designing. At a glance your business card should have your name, contact information (in today’s world this includes web address) and position or nature of business. If you rely heavily on social media (especially if this is a personal card targeted solely to promoting yourself) including your Twitter account could be of use. However, remember not to clutter too much information onto the card. Include only your primary contact channels and main information. For example, while a discrete Twitter profile URL could be ok avoid listing every single social media profile you own. When in doubt, it’s best to stick with the basic name, contact number/email, and web address.

How often should you redesign your business cards?

The primary reason to have a business card reprinted is having to change the information on your old card – such as your contact number, email, and so on. When the time comes and you need to have your business card reprinted, you’re faced with the decision to have it redesigned or stick with the existing look.  Design your cards with sustainability and long term effectiveness in mind. For businesses with multiple employees requiring cards, changing the design of the business card can get time consuming and costly as they will need to be reprinted for each employee to keep the branding uniform across the board. Needless to say this may not be such a big problem for sole traders or those wanting to redesign their personal cards. Usually, however, it’s best to design business cards with the goal of keeping this look over the long term and change only when it starts looking dated or becomes ineffective.

What is the standard business card size?

Standard business card sizes vary throughout the world. In the Australia, the most used business card size is 90 x 54mm. Ultimately the size and even the shape of your card depends on your chosen design and preference, but remember to keep your cards practical. People are likely going to store them in their wallet, pocket, or standard business card holder at some stage – make sure your cards fit. You can also check out our business card templates.

How do I make my business card memorable?

Some people design business cards with the simple goal of having an easy way to exchange contact information and don’t care about making an impression on the recipient. This is fine – some industries even call for more traditional, ‘plain’ cards. In many cases however, your business cards should be able to make an impression and stand out as you hand them to a potential client. The level of creativity you have to play with depends on what’s acceptable within your industry and amongst your targeted recipients. Even those with more traditional cards can make an impression by doing something as simple as using high quality paper that feels unique in the hand. In creative industries people go so far as to use unconventional materials and card shapes to stand out.

How many business cards should I print?

This really depends on how comfortable you are with your design and how often your contact or other details tend to change. The quantity also depends on how many contacts you expect to give your card to. For example, if you’re going to a large networking event account for this when deciding how many business cards to print. If you are printing a brand new card design, consider printing a smaller batch to gauge the reaction of recipients. If the business card goes over well with the people you hand it to, you can print a bigger batch next time.