Standard Business Cards

A standard business card size is 85mm x 55mm or 88mm x 55mm and can be printed on various thicknesses.

Some of the suppliers who provide the free business cards, or at the least very cheap business cards tend to use quite thin boards, around the 200/215gsm mark.

For most people, this is absolutely useless as the business card will in no way reflect the quality aspect of their trade/business. A good quality average weight to aim for would be 335/350gsm with a 400gsm card being an upper weight limit for a standard business card. Some companies will offer a 400gsm card as a minimum standard.

You would be forgiven for thinking that all business card suppliers are much the same, whereas in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

What can go wrong?

Here a just a few of the things that can go wrong when producing business cards:-

• Mis-registration of colours on press. (Unsightly white line, where colours should be touching)
• Weak, or incorrect application of ink. The job may look washed-out and disappointing.
• Cards not fed squarely into press. The job may look as though the press-operator has a drink problem!
• Wrong colour, due to incorrect mixing of ink.
• Cards cut out-of-square by guillotine operator.
• Typo at typesetting stage.
• Cards trimmed too early - ink offsets onto card above/below whilst still wet.
• etc. etc.

As you can see, the possibility of something going awry when producing business cards is quite high, unless proper care and attention to detail is part of the process.

To minimise the risk, find a good supplier and stick with them!

Many people will jump around from supplier to supplier, constantly striving to get the best possible price. In the print trade, this isn't always such a good idea.

Some of the pitfalls:

(a) the printer goes out of business a few months later due to selling too cheaply;

(b) the printer may begin a progression of price hikes due to coming in far too low in the first place;

(c) the printer may cut corners to produce the goods as cheaply as possible and consequently, the quality may suffer.

(d) the printer offers a 'loss-leader' whereby a particular product (often business cards) is sold very cheaply but as soon as you require matching stationery, the prices are often over and above the standard industry rates.

Whichever company you decide to use, once they have produced your artwork I would suggest asking them for a copy of your logo in Adobe Illustrator .eps format, (with all text converted to outlines). Should the need arise, this can then be used for most print-related tasks, e.g. magazine advertising, T-shirt printing, signage, promotional items etc. etc.

A hi-res copy in JPEG format would also allow you to use the logo in-house for your Word docs, Publisher files etc.

There should be no costs involved for the emailing over of your logo.

read more on logo design

should I buy my stationery through a designer? read more here . . .