It’s already long time business card became indispensable attribute of the businessman. But after deciding to order a business card, and coming in a design studio client is often lost in the huge amount of options offered to him. How to be? Here are eight simple rules you design “business card”.
About the size.
Classic Business Card is a rectangle of not very thick cardboard with the size 50×90 mm, and for women – 40x80mm. Senior managers can use the cards with the size of 60×90 mm and cards of their wives in this case should be 10 mm less than the length and width. In the UK, on the contrary, female business cards dimensions are 10 mm greater than their husbands (50 x 100 mm). A business card of a young girl can be even smaller, as a rule, 70×35 mm. Be aware that your card had a standard size for your circle of friends, and it did not have to bend or prune.
Colour.
It is desirable that a Classic Business Card had a dark text on a light background.
The style must be rigorous, without frames and flourishes. The rules of business etiquette doesn’t recommend to use plastic or leather as the material for the manufacture. It is better to focus on the quality of the paper. It must be of excellent quality can be slightly tinted. On paper, you can not save. Cards which have glossy surface, made of laminated paper or plastic, is not acceptable because it is impossible to make any entries on them. European business etiquette norms involve the use of pink, blue, white background and dark brown, blue and black text.
Font.
Classic Business Cards font are not strictly regulated by business etiquette rules and depends on national circumstances. He just has to be easy to read. It should be noted that when use decorative fonts it is very easy to cross the border of good taste. It is accepted to allocate a name and a surname with easily readable semi bold font and a little bit greater size, than the basic content of business cards. In addition, there are already special devices-scanners that read the information from business cards, that allows you to create an electronic database of the necessary cards.
A little about the psychology of perception.
It has long been known the numerous results of psychological experiments on the perception of the printing features of the information by the human eye. It is proved that our eye begins to study a piece of paper with printed characters, photos, or just a picture from the upper left corner to diagonally down to the lower right corner, and then slips up again, stopping in the middle only, if there is attention-grabbing details.
This property of human perception is invariable, and therefore it is better to take it into account when choosing the location of the printed elements on the business card.
The upper left corner is optimal for placing a logo. The middle of a Classic Business Card– small area that the eyes jump faster of all, so the information here should be separated somehow – with the large font, or color. The default location for addresses and phone numbers at the bottom and in the middle is allowed, but you can shift the block in the lower right corner. Then the card is obtained for a more balanced perception.
Some bilingual countries have a practice of printing double-sided cards with text in a foreign language on the reverse. But if you stick to the strict rules of protocol, it is not entirely true, as the flip side of the card is intended for additional entries.
Ordering the card in a foreign language first and last name should be written in full, and patronymic should not be indicated or designate one capital letter. It is noteworthy that in countries with left-hand traffic usually an address is indicated in the right corner of a business card, and with a right – hand traffic- on the left.
About store
Business card holders are now a great variety – from handheld plastic and metal to the desktop, bound in crocodile skin. This stylish accessory can be an ideal gift for the boss or just a good souvenir. By the way, having decided to make a small note that many card holders are horizontal cells of a transparent material. Therefore it is better to do them in the vertical direction, so that a person will not have to twist his neck every time to read on it your data.
Conventionally cut
Seeing in the lower left corner a couple of small letters (especially if it was sent to you by e-mail), do not be surprised and do not think that person just “painted” a pen. There are certain abbreviations adopted worldwide.
p.f. – Congratulations.
p.r. – An expression of gratitude.
p.c. – An expression of condolences.
p.f.N.A. – Wishing a Happy New Year.
p.p.c. – Parting out for the long term.
p.p. – Representation.