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Redeem now11 easy ways to design effective business cards
Key considerations for designing the perfect business cards to fit your brand
Adobe Express
08/21/2025
Even in this digital age and with the popularity of LinkedIn, business cards are far from obsolete. They’re a crucial networking tool and are often the first interaction people will have with your brand. So, it’s important to make your business card stand out. If you’re designing (or re-designing) your business cards, then you're in the right place. Here are 11 key elements of effective business card design — as well as a range of templates to get you started.
11 key considerations for business card design
1. Start with size and shape
The size and shape your business card will affect its entire design, as well as the amount of information you’re able to include. The standard dimensions for most business cards are 3.5 x 2 inches, with a horizontal layout. However, depending on how much you want to stand out, you can consider a vertical orientation, rounded corners, or even square-shaped cards.
2. Incorporate your brand
If you’re thinking about business card creation, you should already have your branding nailed down. When designing your business cards, it’s important to keep your brand top of mind and to closely follow your brand guidelines as they relate to color, font, and logo use. By adhering to your brand guidelines for your business cards, you’ll ensure that your connections can easily identify your brand.
3. Choose what to include
Business cards are inherently small, so it’s important to be concise and only include the most important information. Keep it simple with your name, company, company logo, email address, and phone number. You could even consider adding your physical office address, too. It’s worth noting that business cards are commonly double sided – with many opting to put their company logo on one side, with their details on the other.
4. Consider the hierarchy of information
On business cards, the most important information should be the largest — in this case, your name, and company name, followed by your contact information like your email address and phone number. Design hierarchy allows the viewers eye to be drawn to the most important information first, so consider this when designing your business cards.
Further reading: 8 basic design principles to help you create better graphics
5. Make readability a priority
Your business card’s entire purpose is to give people an initial taste of your brand and to make sure they can contact you. The information needs to be clear and readable, so your font needs to be large enough to read and in appropriate colors for your text to stand out against your background.
6. Allow for white space
Don’t feel the need to cram any more information onto your business card than is necessary. Leaving some negative space (aka white space) will make your design look clean, professional, and pleasing.
7. Add your CTA
A call to action (CTA) is a useful addition to a business card. It explicitly tells your recipient what action you want them to take. Some examples of CTAs for business cards are:“Get in touch” or “Get a quote.”
8. Consider your card’s physical materials
The physical presence of your card can be a branding opportunity — from the type of paper you use, the thickness of the card, whether your cards are matte or have a sheen, or whether your lettering is embossed. Take the time to consider what feels in-line with your brand.
9. Familiarize yourself with the requirements of printed design
Designing for print is different from designing for screens, so make sure to familiarize yourself with the differences such that your design is intentional. One key consideration for printing is to include a bleed so that the area around the edge of your design won’t be cut off after your cards are printed.
Further reading: Designing for print versus designing for screen
10. Proof it over and over
There’s no such thing as proofing a business card too many times before sending it to the printers. That might be an exaggeration, but you want to avoid any delays in production or additional expenses by having a last-minute change. Make any mistakes and you’ll be stuck with them for a while, especially if you’re ordering a large batch.
11. Consider any special touches
Distinct business cards help you stand out, however, there’s no need to embellish just for the sake of it. Examples of special touches include foil accents, extra thick paper, embossed gloss, or textured paper. But, if it’s not 100% in-line with your brand, then it’s probably not worth the trouble.
Get started with Adobe Express business card templates
Looking for inspiration? Check out Adobe Express’ range of business card templates, professionally prepared, and ready to be edited to fit your branding. It’s a great way to get started.
