A business card is a much more important item than many people give it credit for. It’s something that you hand out when you first meet somebody, so it’s all part of the overall first impression you create. Having a good business card means you stay relevant to the people you have made contact with. They have a permanent reminder of your name, address, and phone number. So it’s actually one of the best (and least expensive) investments you can make in your business.
Now, as the business card is such a vital part of the first impression, it’s important that it’s properly made. What does this mean? Very simply, the important factors are:
- Made from high quality, durable material
- Standard size and shape
- Professional looking design
Get those three factors right and you can at least count on your business card being successful. It’s no good only having one or two of the factors present, you need to have all three. The first two factors should be easy, and you should be willing to pay top dollar to get those sorted out. The third one may be a little more costly or time consuming, depending on how you go about it.
If you’re just starting out, you may not have much in the way of funds to hire a professional designer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get a professional looking result if you choose to take on the task yourself. The first, and certainly most important, step is to select the most appropriate fonts to use on your business card.
Primary and Secondary Fonts
The primary font on your business card is the one used to display your business name or slogan. It’s usually larger and bolder than all the other text, and it’s fine for this font to be a bit stylistic if that’s appropriate for your business type. The secondary font is what is used for other text such as your address and phone number.
What about tertiary fonts? Yes, sometimes the design may require more than two fonts. An example of a legitimate use for a tertiary font is when you want to use symbols or shapes (these special fonts are called dingbats, and there are many different varieties of them available).
The Key Criteria of Business Card Font Selection
Getting the right fonts for your business card can be a difficult choice. There are just so many of them to choose from. To help narrow down the field a bit, consider these criteria for business card font selection
Fits Your Image
Your primary font should reflect your business type or professional image
Legible
It’s best if your font can be read and understood without too much effort
Compliments Other Fonts
“Font pairing” imparts quality to your design
That third item is actually part of what makes font matching so difficult, because it’s not always easy to find fonts that partner well with each other.
A Font That Fits Your Image
This is the most important thing about font selection. If you’re an accountant, then a playful, childish font probably won’t be the best choice for your business. If you’re running a childcare business, then a boring, bookish font is not a good choice.
The more formal and traditional your line of work is, the more formal and traditional your font choices should be. If you work in a creative field, you can experiment with more unusual and fun fonts. Colour, alignment, and orientation are also more flexible with informal business types.
Primary Font Choices to Avoid
Because fonts like Helvetica, Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman are in such widespread use, they should never be selected as the primary font on a business card unless you’re being ironic. People have been over-exposed to these fonts, so using them could suggest you lack imagination. Formal cursive script fonts should also generally be avoided.
Best Formal Fonts
Formal fonts don’t have the same diversity as informal fonts, so that actually makes it a little easier to choose. Bookman Old Style and Georgia are classic serif fonts, and for business cards the various “Gothic” styles, for example Franklin Gothic, are typically preferable to sans-serif fonts due to their better legibility. One of the classier serif font styles is Minion, and this is a very versatile font for a formal type. Among the preferred sans-serif fonts for professionals are Adelle and Colfax.
Best Informal Fonts
This is more difficult. There are literally millions of informal fonts and they can be used in so many ways. The best choice, essentially, is the one that feels right for you. That’s the simple answer. Some that are worth checking out include Garden Gnome, Architect’s Daughter, Cash Currency, Eurostile, and Hamburger Heaven.
Don’t Skimp
Business cards are important. You want to spend your money intelligently when investing in them, even though they are not expensive. Get the most durable card stock you can obtain, and have them printed professionally. Don’t try to do it on your home printer with Avery card stock, or your business could end being up as limp as your cards.
MVP Print can assist with all your printing needs once you’ve chosen the perfect font for your Business Card and placed onto a perfect design. We are Australian owned and operated and can ship all over the country with a turn-around rate of 3-5 days. Contact us today for more information!
