Activity

USS Biz Trek Activity #14: Design a Business Card

Your parents have them. Your teacher has them. Some of your friends might even have them! Do you have your own business cards? No?! What are you waiting for? Get started!

Business cards allow you to leave a little bit of yourself with your clients — they’re a physical piece of paper that customers can hold, pick up, and read, which means they can also remember you. They’re the perfect way to make sure nobody can ever say, "Well, I didn’t call you back because you never gave me your phone number."

There are a lot of places online that allow you to design and print your own business cards. To see what a business card should look like, go to www.iPrint.com and browse around. Then return to this page and we’ll discuss the steps for making your own cards.

How to create an awesome (low-cost) biz card:

Step 1: Go to your local office supply store and find the stationery aisle. There you’ll find many different varieties of business cardstock (the thick paper business cards are printed on), as well as some with small graphics or patterns already printed on them. Before selecting the cardstock you want, consider the function of your business.

If you’re going to be in a more professional field like publishing or Web design, you want a sharp-looking card, either with a plain white background, a granite print, or geometric graphics.
If you’re doing something more fun, like working with kids or being a volunteer clown, make your card as fun as your job. Don’t be afraid to use bright colors! They’ll make you more memorable.
Someone decorating cakes should use a more delicate-looking card, sticking to muted colors like cream and off-white.
If your business is working with your hands, like landscaping or carpentry, keep your card simple. When people look for services in those fields, they want to know that they’re dealing with someone straightforward and reliable who will do just what they want, not someone who wants to dye their shrubs bright blue to match the shutters. Pick a solid color like white or gray.

Step 2: Now for the fun part…designing them! Get out your USS Biz Trek log and write "Business Cards" at the top of a blank page. With a ruler, mark off a 2" by 3.5" rectangle; then make another rectangle twice that size (4" by 7"). The first is the standard size for a business card, so that will give you a good idea of what your card might look like. The second rectangle will give you more room to sketch what you’d like to include on your cards.

Start filling in your information on the oversized rectangle. Remember to include:

Your full name
Your business name or logo; a slogan, if you have one
Your phone number
Your e-mail address
Any other important contact information (fax, cell phone, pager)

Don’t get too complicated; keep everything justified to either the right or left sides. Centered business cards usually don’t look as good. The only thing that should be centered is your logo, and if you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can make one on the computer when you start making your cards. Use the smaller rectangle to try out other ways of arranging your business card, and draw more rectangles on other pages if you need them.

Step 3: Once you have a design you like, have some of your fellow trekkers look at your card. Do they like it? Do they have any suggestions? How could you improve it? Now check your spelling, make sure your phone numbers are correct, and be certain you have included all of the information you need.

Step 4: You’re on the final phase of your mission! Jet over to the computer and launch your word processor. Almost any word processing program has a template for business cards, so you’ll need to check the help feature on yours to see what it might require. A lot of programs have step-by-step wizards to help you place your text and graphics on the card, so follow the computer’s directions.

The last decision you’ll need to make is what typestyle or typestyles you’d like to use on your cards. This is similar to choosing your cardstock — you need to pick something that represents your business’s aim. Check out the following suggestions for different kinds of business to help you in deciding what type to use:

Web and graphic design: Sans serif types. Serifs are the small caps you see on the edges of certain typestyles, like Times New Roman. Sans serif means "without serif," so these are styles like Arial and Tahoma, where the letters made of simple, one-stroke lines. This group of typestyles is slick and cool as well as professional. The words you’re reading right now are in a sans serif typestyle.

Publishing and writing: Serif fonts. Read the description above for sans serif, then check out styles like Bookman and Garamond.

Comedy and working with kids: Don’t be afraid to be funky! Your jobs are fun, and your cards should be fun to look at. Try a typestyle like Curlz or Ravie.

Baking and flower-arranging: Think "pretty." Your products are a treat for the eye, and your cards should be, too. Look at the type French Script, and stay with that scripty style.

Landscaping and carpentry: Just like your cardstock, stay simple and straightforward. Use standard fonts like Times New Roman and Goudy to make sure your cards are perfectly legible and very professional.

You’re done, trekker! Follow the directions to print your cards, then make sure you keep them on hand at all times. You never know when you’ll run into a Miranian in need of your services!

Finished?

Rocket back to Lesson 5

Rocket forward to Activity 15