Designing Business Cards

After looking at three other business cards, I designed my own business card using Desk Top Publishing software. I used this because it provided me with a variety of templates to choose from and it had a wizard, which gave me simple step-by-step instructions on what to do. It also allowed me to move the text, add graphics, experiment with different colours, change fonts and play about with the layout of my business card. This saved me a lot of time by providing me with a template and all I had to do was to add my personal information.

Business card 1 has a heading that featured a big and bold heading, which has been centred. The heading is white text on a dark background that makes it stand out and makes it more eye catching. Similarly business card 2 has a heading that features bold text but it is left aligned unlike business card 1 which is centre aligned. Like business card1 the headings colour and the background its on makes it stand out. Business card 3 is also very similar to the other two business letters as it also has a bold centre aligned heading which is again bold. But unlike the first two business cards the heading does not stand out as much.

This is because the font used is not very readable and it is a black heading on a dark coloured background. My business card has a bold left aligned heading which I have typed using the Elephant font. I think that the most effective business card heading is my business card because I fell the font I have used is the most clear font to read and it also stands out because of the size of font I have used. I think this is very important because you want people to recognise your business card as soon as they see it.

Business card 1 uses several fonts. It uses small tightly written fonts for the address but it uses but it uses big clear font (Arial Black) for the telephone and fax number. I think they have done this because maybe they prefer people to get in touch with them by telephone rather than visiting the office. So business card 1 has used different fonts depending on what they want people to see. In contrast business card 2 uses very small and tight font (Arabic Transparent). This is because the business card is for more business use rather than for advertising. Business card 3 is very similar to business card 1 as they both use a variety of text to express different ideas and to make certain text more eye catching then others for example, the phone number is written in very small text where as the E-mail and web-site address is written in a big and bold clear font. This would suggest to me that they wanted people to get in touch with them via their web site. The headings font has a wood effect, as the business is called “Woodland Fitters”.

My own business card only uses three different fonts. I’ve used a large and eye-catching font for the heading and a small but clear font for the contact details and my name is written in a joined up hand writing font (Lucida Handwriting) to make it seem more personal. I think my business card is most like business card 2 because it is very simple and professional it doesn’t use any “fancy” fonts to attract your attention instead it simply gives my contact details. In my opinion, the most effective use of font is on business card 3 because by changing the font and the fonts size it draws your attention to certain parts of the business card. It also makes it very attractive and eye catching. This is very helpful because it’s advertising the business and if it looks appealing then it will attract more attention from customers.

Borders and shading are often used in business card designs. For example business card 1 has not used borders and shading because they have chosen to use a picture that covers the entire background of the card. It would look odd if they were to place a border over a background picture. I personally think that business card 2 would look better with a border because the card is just simply white with plain black text on it, it would have looked more attractive if it had a simple border around the edge of the card. Business card3 has a border, which runs down the right hand side and the bottom of the card. The border is shaded it tones from white to grey. I think this looks good but it would have looked better if it were applied to the whole card. I have not used borders and shading on my card, instead I chose to use different background colours and because it looked awkward having a border over a background colour.

Italics can be used to improve presentation and distinguish between words. I have noticed that business card 1 uses italics when advertising that you can save money with the card. On the other hand business card 2 doesn’t use any italic text. It is a professional business card and doesn’t concentrate too much on making things stand out. Business card 3 doesn’t use any italic text, to distinguish between words instead it uses different fonts to improve the presentation. On my business card italics are not used. Like business card 3, I chose to use different fonts rather than to use italics. I feel that business card 1 makes good use of using italics because it improves the presentation by using a wide range of different styles of writing to draw your attention to different parts of the card.

There are four types of justification. Business cards 1 and 2 use mainly left justified whereas business card 3 uses centre alignment for all the text except the phone number which is left aligned and the fax number which is right aligned. My business card text ia all left aligned, in the same way as business card 1 is all left aligned. Small fonts are used on all of the business cards because the cards are very small and in order to fit on all of the required information you will have to use small fonts otherwise it would look too cramped with information.

Most cards feature a graphic or image, on business card 1 the background is an image of a posh looking gate with trees in the background. I think it uses this picture to give people a image of how good their services are and to show that they even weld fences. On business cards 2 the only graphic is the company logo I think they have done this to make the logo stand out. On business card 3 they have a image of a forest with trees. It doesn’t stand out too much as it is in a light colour and is more like a background then a image.

On my business card I have used a image of two hand shaking. I chose this image to show that our company is very friendly and that we work together. I feel that my business card makes best use of the graphic because I feel business card 1 looks too “tacky” and business card 2 is too simple. In conclusion I would say that the best business card of the ones I have compared is business card 3 because it makes excellent use of using different fonts and justifications to draw your attention to different parts of the card. I also think the layout of the card looks very attractive and suitable for target customer. The graphics and images used are also good because its not too simple and its not too tacky.

The least effective business card is business card 1 because I think the background picture of the black fencing looks too big and “tacky” for a business card, it makes the card look more like a brochure. It also did not make good use of the space as the centre of the card contained no text.