Setting Up Your Template: Business Cards

"What goes into a good business card?

Back when the process of printing was considerably more complicated people would often get their batches of business cards printed all at once, and that would be it for the year, if not a few years. This led to people simply expecting you to have a similar card on a regular basis, and rarely saw much change in this.

The layout of the cards was also much different, because less could be done. The standard business card is a well-known image in our society, and easily recognizable. This was simply what you did.

But these days things have changed. You have the ability to get some very different cards unlike anything other people are doing, and you can get multiple cards printed on a regular basis. Many people change their card every year, if not more, simply so they can hand someone something new.

If you’re going to be changing your card this often than you might benefit from setting up some business card templates.

What this means is an overall layout that you set up and continue to use with your different cards. The placement of your company name, where you have your contact information, your logo/slogan, and various other pieces of information are the different things you’ll consider with your layout.

Also think about both the front and the back of the card. Take the back into consideration with every layout you do. The great part about it is that even if you don’t end up wanting something on the back, you can of course easily not use that part of your layout, whereas if you didn’t design anything you might have to go back later and add it in.

Make sure that your business card templates are set up so that you can easily change out information without harming the overall feel of the card. These are going to be meant to have multiple images in them while still looking good, along with different types of designs. If your layout is too specific towards one particular image, it won’t work for future projects, and will end up going to waste.

Think about how many different ways you can work with the same layout, such as switching around what was once your company name with your contact information, or adding a quote in where a picture had been.

A strong template is one that can be used to gain a lot of high quality work, and give you multiple business cards in the long haul. That means you have to have future efforts in mind when you design your initial template. This isn’t always easy to do, and often people end up with templates that only work for a single business card.

Do your best to foresee what future work you’ll want, and make yourself a template you can use as many times as you need to.
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