How to Request a Business Card

A personalized business card is a visual extension of your brand identity and an important element for emphasizing your professionalism. In this guide, you will learn how to create the perfect business card brief with ManyPixels! 👇🏻  

☝🏻 Before we start...

...there are three imperative brand assets (design elements) that you need finalized and shared with your designer. You can upload them as attachments, share them as links, or even save and select them as your brand profile.

• final logo (source file included)
• brand color palette 
• brand fonts 

1. Size and shape

The standard size of a regular business card in the US is 3.5 x 2 inches, which makes it similar in size to most credit cards. The standard size of a business card in Europe is 85 x 55 millimeters.
Here are the standard business card sizes around the world:

• Canada and US: 3.5” × 2”
• Japan: 3.582” × 2.165”
• Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Slovenia, Portugal, Turkey: 3.346” × 2.165”
• Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Taiwan, Sweden, Vietnam, India, Colombia: 3.54” × 2.165”
• Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia: 3.543” × 2.125”
• Iran: 3.346” × 1.889”
• Sri Lanka, Argentina, India, Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Latvia, Mexico, South Korea, and South Africa: 3.543” × 1.968”

You can either play it safe with a standard business card or adopt a more "outside-the-box" concept that will help you stand out and make a lasting impression. For example: 👇🏻

• die-cut business cards aka custom shaped - produced using a sharp steel cutting blade called a "die", for either punching out a decorative shape or pattern or creating a custom outer shape for your business card design.
• rounded corners business card - helps you get noticed and differentiate yourself or your business from "the standard squares".
• embossed business card - allows you to highlight the most important elements of your design and make them pop.

💡Tips & Tricks! Custom shapes help you seem more fun and make an impression but can have a tricky effect on more formal industries. Keep also in mind how / if the card fits in a wallet.

2. The text aka "the copy" 

What your business card actually says it's up to you. Digital nomads, freelancers, iWorkers probably won't need an address, while office-based professions require one. Different people benefit from different text on their business cards, you need to decide what works best for you. For example: 👇🏻

• your name - obviously, every card needs a name.
• company name - another given, except for personal brands, in which case your personal name is your company name.
• job title - commonly, all business cards include your job title. 
• phone number - some people prefer over the phone communication, as a faster method. 
• email - for non-urgent business communication, very useful for sending attachments.
• website URL - for guiding visitors towards your website.
• social media links - when it's relevant to your field, or you just want to show a bit of your personality.
• address - for drawing customers into your office, store, place, etc.
• slogan - depending on each brand manual and creative approach.

👉🏻 Your card is more than just some contact information, it reflects who you are, your skills, and your brand. Business people hand cards every day, you want yours to loom over everyone else's and make you stand out. Spend consistent time coming up with the suited design idea and content and then let your ManyPixels designer do the magic for you.

3. Inspiration

What are your aesthetic preferences or reference materials you are inspired by? Always provide a visual direction for your designer 👉🏻 What other similar business card concepts do you like and why?

• upload images of similar graphics that you like or assets you already have and want to use
• provide links to similar concepts that you like, on platforms such as Dribbble, Behance, Pinterest, ManyPixels Portfolio, etc. or any other inspirational source you might find convenient. 

☝🏻Where to find inspiration? Check our Ultimate Guide to creating efficient Mood Boards.

🙌🏻 After you've successfully completed all sections of the brief and submitted the project, your assigned designer will start working on it and will deliver the first draft on the next business day (sometimes 2 for complex requests). If revisions are needed, no worries, you can easily communicate with your designer using the chat in the ManyPixels app.

Ready to submit your first business card request? Pick the right plan for you here.

Didn't find what you were looking for? 👀 Check out our Scope of Service or contact us directly.