| Designing your card starts with who your | | | | * Fire |
| prospects are and what image your company | | | | |
| wants to portray them. Designing a unique | | | | * Love |
| card is not a bad idea; it will help you | | | | |
| stand out of the crowd. At the same time, you | | | | * Passion |
| have to be sure that your unique card will be | | | | |
| acceptable in your industry. | | | | * Energy |
| | | | |
| Before you start designing, you have to | | | | * Revolution |
| decide what are the elements that will make | | | | |
| your card unique and successful. Would these | | | | * Anger |
| elements be photos, colors, illustrations, | | | | |
| variety of fonts, your logo, or a combination | | | | * Power |
| of the above? | | | | |
| | | | * Debt |
| All the above elements have their advantages | | | | |
| as well as disadvantages as outlined below. | | | | * Danger |
| | | | |
| Using stock photos: It is a good idea to use | | | | * Heat |
| a stock photo that is related to your | | | | |
| industry rather than experimenting with | | | | * Warning |
| photos you have taken (unless you are | | | | |
| photographer). You will be able to get really | | | | Green |
| good quality images and your business cards | | | | |
| will look more professional. The | | | | * Money |
| disadvantages of using stock photos of | | | | |
| specific items such as clothing, people, etc, | | | | * Growth |
| the customer will associate them with your | | | | |
| products or your team and might feel | | | | * Environmentally friendly |
| misinformed if the customer specifically | | | | |
| inquiries about them. Remember, the objective | | | | * Fertility |
| of your business card is to portray your | | | | |
| company and its products. | | | | * Envy |
| | | | |
| Using your picture photo: If you are in the | | | | * Spring |
| real estate or insurance industries, it is | | | | |
| very common to have personal pictures | | | | * Freshness |
| included on the business cards. Whether you | | | | |
| want to use one or not it's up to you, but it | | | | * Stability |
| is not recommended to do so in industries | | | | |
| that this practive is not common. The | | | | * Loyal |
| advantages of using a photo on a business | | | | |
| card, is making it easy for your customers to | | | | * Healing |
| recognize you. A lot of people have good | | | | |
| visual memory and if they come across you and | | | | Yellow |
| some of your competitors, the picture will | | | | |
| help them remember you more than your name. | | | | * Energy |
| The disadvantages of using pictures on the | | | | |
| business cards, especially on those cards | | | | * Sun |
| that will be mailed out not handed out after | | | | |
| a meeting, is that the recipient might judge, | | | | * Happiness |
| or already form an opinion on you and your | | | | |
| service simply by the way you look instead of | | | | * Cheery |
| what you have to offer. This could be good or | | | | |
| bad, depending what the opinion that customer | | | | * Creativity |
| have formed. | | | | |
| | | | Orange |
| Using Graphics/Clip Art: This can be the | | | | |
| perfect way to find an image that portrays | | | | * Joy |
| your company or service. These types of | | | | |
| graphics are also a good alternative to the | | | | * Sunshine |
| logo if you do not have one; however, it is | | | | |
| recommended that you do. The disadvantage is | | | | * Creativity |
| overdoing it and will make your card look | | | | |
| very unprofessional. | | | | * Determination |
| | | | |
| Using your logo: There are really not | | | | * Success |
| disadvantages using your logo and it highly | | | | |
| recommended that you always use your logo. | | | | * Encouragement |
| Make sure that your logo size is proportional | | | | |
| with the rest of the information. Including a | | | | * Energy |
| really large logo will not make your card | | | | |
| more effective. | | | | * Autumn |
| | | | |
| Selecting your colors: The main advantage of | | | | * Construction |
| using colorful card is that they can easily | | | | |
| stand out of the rest, especially in a | | | | Purple |
| Rolodex setting. Colors also portray messages | | | | |
| and you can use color to portray | | | | * Royalty |
| professionalism, creativity, or emphasize | | | | |
| your message. Do not simply choose a color | | | | * Power |
| because you like it or if it looks good, but | | | | |
| look deeper into the meaning of colors. Here | | | | * Nobility |
| are some examples: | | | | |
| | | | * Luxury |
| Blue | | | | |
| | | | * Spirituality |
| * Sky | | | | |
| | | | Brown |
| * Sea | | | | |
| | | | * Conservative |
| * Water | | | | |
| | | | * Stable |
| * Religious feeling | | | | |
| | | | * Outdoors |
| * Peace | | | | |
| | | | * Fall |
| * Faith | | | | |
| | | | * Earth |
| * Stability | | | | |
| | | | * Organic |
| * Melancholy | | | | |
| | | | The bottom line is that you can be different; |
| * Trust | | | | your business card and consequently you can |
| | | | stand out without crossing the line to being |
| * Loyalty | | | | tasteless or not taken seriously. |
| | | | |
| * Wisdom | | | | Choose graphics that will stand out to first |
| | | | get the card in the rolodex, and once there |
| * Tranquility | | | | to be easily stand out of the crowd and |
| | | | remind of your service. |
| * Integrity | | | | |
| | | | Create a catchy phrase that summarizes your |
| Red | | | | business so that it will remind those looking |
| | | | your card. |