Most of the time many students
of computer arts misunderstand the concept of designing visiting
card. The space is limited and the matter too. People think it is
easy but from the designing point of view, card designing is the
most difficult part of DTP. In the good old days, PageMaker was
the first preference. It is still going strong. Maximum potential
of software is utilized while designing visiting card if it is really
designed with proper care. Here are some tips useful to design proper
visiting card.
Dimensions
Generally visiting cards comes in two standard sizes. American size
and Business size. American size is 92 X 54. Both the cards can
be designed either horizontally or vertically according to the choice
of the user. 2-3 mm space is left for the margin from the border
of the card.
Impressions
Using colors depends upon the type of the card and the cost. More
the colors more the cost is the rule of thumb. Formal cards need
less color. It can be single color card or maximum two colors. The
type of processing is also important. If the photograph is used
for the card then it goes for offset printing. If it is more of
a text with no continuous toned graphic it goes for screen-printing.
The cost of the card is decided on the basis of color impressions.
It is generally impression per thousand cards.
Fonts
The choice of font depends upon the type of the card. If it is very
formal card like the card of lawyer, doctor etc. Times New Roman
is the best choice. Arial also can be used. If you want to use some
script font, the distance between the characters has to be properly
adjusted by loosing the tracks. Bold and thick font can be used
for company title. Address font is generally the smallest of size
and at the bottom of the card.
Spacing
As a rule, you should keep good amount of white space in the card.
It can become too crowded if lots and lots of things are added.
The matter has to be chosen very carefully. It has to be short and
precise. Since the sight travels from left to right, the most important
things have to be aligned left if the card is not center aligned.
Sometimes short cuts can be used to save the space i.e. Rd for Road
etc. Horizontal line can be drawn above the address if you desire.
It creates prominent impression. If you are using more than one
address it can be separated with the vertical line.
Graphics
Designers use the combination of page layout and vector and/or raster
packages to design visiting cards. Use of graphics is little tricky
area and requires experience. The balance of the card should be
properly taken care of while using graphics. Generally people want
to print company logo on the card. It is fixed and nothing can be
changed. Not even color. At this stage you can try out something
by changing the size of the logo uniformly.
Backgrounds
You can get the ready-made colored or textured cards. There are
no. of types available in the market from simple card to plastic
coated and pearl finished stuff. Everything depends upon customer's
choice. Designer can suggest the proper combination of the color,
which can stand out with particular background. He can actually
create the card with specific colors and show it to customer. For
screen printing you need to have B/W output.
Samples
Here are some nice examples of Visiting cards.
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