business card/letterhead design

Problem: “I’ve got a logo, but no business card or letterhead!”

Solution: It’s important to not just slap your logo on a business card with your name on it. The look of your company doesn’t stop with a logo, but should be carried out in a package of items. You start with the design of your logo and then carry that theme to a business card and letterhead designed just for you. From your business card, to your letterhead, to your website, if your stuff looks put together, so will you.

More information about Business Cards

Q. What information should go on a business card and where?

From Jacci Howard Bear,
Your Guide to Desktop Publishing @ About.com .

A.Business cards serve many purposes but their primary purpose is to tell what you do and give the recipient a way to contact you. At the very least a name and contact method (address or phone number) should go into a business card design. As for where to put this information, there are hundreds of possible arrangements, but there are a few commonly accepted guidelines for where to place the most essential information. When in doubt or when there is little time to experiment, follow these guidelines for creating a basic, serviceable, and effective business card.

Other information is optional but as a minimum the business card design should usually contain:

• Individual's Name and/or Business Name
• Individual's Title or some other descriptive text to indicate what the person does if it's not obvious from the business name
• A way (preferrably multiple ways) to contact the person — could be phone, fax, email, web page, mailing address, street address, etc.

• Orientation
  Horizontal layouts are the most typical, most widely used format for business cards.

• Name
  Whether using a horizontal or vertical arrangement, the person's name or the business name are usually the most prominent text item on the card. It is usually placed in the center or upper half of the card and emphasized with a larger or bolder font.

• Contact
  Contact information is usually placed in the lower half of the card (left, right, or centered). The preferred method of contact (such as phone number or email) is often emphasized with a larger size, bolder font, or more prominent placement.

• Mini-Ad Layout
  Business card layouts frequently mimic the common and successful Ogilvy ad layout formula that places the visual (logo) at the top or upper left of the card followed by the headline (name) with the signature (contact information) in the lower right.

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