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Visiting Card Layouts

Once you finish with basic layout as we have seen in Adding Graphics to Visiting Cards tutorial, we can start working on different types of layouts. The client wants different layouts out of which he decides which design is the best for his requirement according to his taste and choice. Mostly, the designer offer several layouts for a single visiting card. These layouts are prepared by changing fonts, style, colors and the placements of matter.

Changing fonts
This has limited scope as the fonts we use should based on the subject of the card. Though number of fonts are available and no one will stop you from using them for card, its not advisable to use fancy fonts for serious type of occupation. For example, lawyers or doctor can not use ornamented fancy fonts. The choice of fonts should always reflect the type of business you are into. At the same time, an artist has the liberty of using decorative fonts and he doesn't need to limit himself to regular fonts like Arial or Times New Roman.

Original Card

Changing font
Inside Graphics Network font is changed.

Another point must be taken into account while changing the font. You can change it for title, your name etc. But there are limits for address because mostly the address font is smaller in size. You have limited scope to play here. If at all you want to change it, try to keep it open and simple to make it readable.

Changing styles
Changing the styles can make significant difference in the appearance of the card. You can change the font from regular to bold, italics etc. Mostly people do not prefer underline but it can be the choice for the main title or the company name.

Changing the tracks can also make a difference. Better not to go for tight track but you can toggle between loose and very loose option. Tracking is the distance between the characters. You can use manual kerning to increase the distance between the character according to your requirements.

Original Card

Changing style
Inside Graphics Network style is changed.

If you are using vector softwares like Corel DRAW, you can stretch the text and add another effect to it. This will add more thickness to the character or it can make the character thin by compressing it.

Changing colors
Using different color can change the mood of the card. But changing colors demand lot of experimentation. You need to change the related colors in the card. The whole color scheme of the card must be in harmony. You can change the color of the font as well as background. You have to be careful about the color matching and combinations.

Original Card

Changing color
Inside Graphics Network color is changed.

If the card contains the company logo which is colored one, you may not be able to change the color of the logo. Now you have limited scope in this situation. If you still inclined to change the color then you need to use the color in the harmony of the logo colors.

Changing placement
This is the most important aspect of changing the card layout. You simply change the place of title, name and logo or even the address without changing the font, style or color, the card will look totally different.

Though it looks the easiest way to make different layouts, changing placement needs some experience because mostly the places of different types of matter is somewhat fixed in the card. For example, the address goes generally at the bottom. The Name of the company goes in the middle and the persons name goes at the top right, left or the middle. So you have be careful while deciding the place for the particular matter.

Line, rectangle, shapes etc.
Adding line above the address gives different look to the card. You can try this effect below the company name using underline command. You can reverse the name on the black or colored rectangle. It means the white text on black or any dark colored rectangle or using contrast color combination for rectangle and text. Same is applied for other shapes like circles and ellipses.