QR Codes on Business Cards: Size, Quiet Zones, and Why Yours Might Not Scan

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A QR code on a business card has one job: someone points a phone at it and lands on your site before the card goes back in a pocket. When that scan fails, the code is not decoration. It is dead space you paid to print. The good news is that scan failures almost always trace back to a handful of measurable printing decisions, and the company that invented the QR code publishes exactly what those numbers are.

If your code has to fit a 3.5-inch card

Start with the module, the single black or white square that makes … Read more at Free Business Cards

How Small Is Too Small for Business Card Text

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Illustration of a magnifying glass over the small text on a business card

Design guidance from the people who build business card software puts a hard number on a question most card owners never ask: Easil, whose design platform ships with business card templates, recommends a minimum of 8pt for text on standard documents like business cards and flyers, because anything lower becomes genuinely difficult to read. A card can carry beautiful colors and a clever logo and still fail at its one job if the phone number makes someone squint.

The fix is not complicated, but it asks for honesty about two things: how small the type actually is, and how much … Read more at Free Business Cards

Business Card Etiquette: When to Hand Out Your Card (and When Not To)

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Two professionals exchanging business cards at a networking event

A box of five hundred business cards costs about twenty dollars, and a depressing share of those cards ends up in a hotel trash can within a day of being handed out. The difference between a card that gets kept and one that gets binned usually has nothing to do with the design. It comes down to the conversation around the exchange, plus a handful of habits that experienced networkers treat as basic manners. The Better Business Bureau’s networking guide and career advisors at HEC Montréal spell out most of these rules plainly, so here they are in one place.… Read more at Free Business Cards

Business Card Paper, Finish and Size Guide: What to Pick Before You Print

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Fanned stack of blank business cards in different paper finishes next to a ruler and pen

Here is how it usually goes. You pick a business card design on a screen. The box shows up. The cards feel thin, the photo glares under the office lights, and the pen skips right off the back when you try to jot down a number. Design is only half of it. Weight, finish and size decide how the card behaves in someone’s hand.

The numbers below come from two guides put out by VistaPrint, which is a printer. That makes them a vendor’s own specs. They are a good starting point, but check the template of whoever actually prints … Read more at Free Business Cards

What to Put on a Business Card (and What to Leave Off)

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Stack of plain white business cards with a pen, notebook and coffee on a wooden desk

A business card has one job. It gets someone from “nice to meet you” to a real follow-up, and it has to do that in about the time it takes to glance at it. Most cards fail because they say too much, or the wrong things. Here is a plain way to decide what goes on the card and what stays off.

Start with the one action you want

Before you pick a font or a paper stock, decide what you want the person to do next. Call you? Visit a website? Book a time? The answer decides which contact … Read more at Free Business Cards

How to Design a Business Card People Will Actually Keep

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A business card is a small thing, but it still does a job. Somebody meets you, takes a card, and later decides whether to call, email, or toss it in a drawer. A few basic design choices make the difference between a card that gets used and one that gets forgotten. This guide covers the basics for anyone ordering cards for the first time or redoing an old design.

Start with what the card needs to do

Before you pick colors or fonts, decide what the card is for. For a freelancer, it may be a quick way to hand … Read more at Free Business Cards