Black cards with light text are becoming very popular. Users routinely choose 100% black (K)  which looks pretty dark on a monitor. And although it may be adequate, it prints with a somewhat greyish cast. Conversely, some clients choose a Photoshop default black which is a combination of CMYK color percentages. This will print quite black BUT it has disadvantages. First, because the total ink is very heavy, it may not dry properly. In addition, cutting to trim may produce flaking at the edges.

This is why we recommend C=60, M=40, Y=40 K=100. It’s dark black but uses a moderate amount of ink.  This is the background that we provided for you in our design studio Images file.

Foiling has long been a highly desirable effect that causes certain areas to “pop” with a highly reflective shine. We have all seen foil on certain deluxe red holiday wrapping paper. Common aluminum foil is of course, a silver foil that we are all familiar with.

Before Akuafoil, this technique had print limitations. Usually, only one color could be chosen per card. The foil could shift a bit at application so it was not recommended for a design element integrated close to or within another element.  And large foiled areas were not encouraged.

Akuafoil is not bound by previous foil stamping limitations. We can match in foil any CMYK color presented. Multiple colors can be done on one side or both sides of a card. Large areas are not a problem with Akuafoil. It can even be combined with spot UV, another popular shining technique.

Nexcards.com is currently accepting Akuafoil jobs on business cards. Add real eye-popping pizzazz to your business cards. Simply choose “Akuafoil Business Cards” in our print shop or click AKUAFOIL . We will do the effect on postcards by special request.

First is a 20pt frosted plastic. It’s just like our original Poly frost card but twice as thick. Now we have added clear plastic to our catalog. This looks best with a clean uncluttered design with plenty of clear white space (white will show as clear in the final product). Text should be dark and please avoid small elements as these won’t show well.

We also have white PVC 20pt plastic as an option. This is the only plastic card that we allow two sided designs. Here white will show as white just like on our regular cards stock. This new series comes standard with rounded corners. You want that because 20pt plastic has sharp edges.  It’s why your credit cards are always rounded at the corners.

Here’s a couple tips to make sure your time is well spent. In the Design Studio (click “Custom Design” or “Template Design”), there is a handy and easy Help section (just click on Help above the card just to the left of “Preview”). This one page help section is a wonder of information where you can find out what that particular button is for.

Also, if you plan to design a card and then log out before buying, you must click “Add to cart and continue” at the bottom of the page after you save your design. Do that and you can pick up your design later where you left off.

Cheers and happy designing!

You can use our HELP section present in the design studio.

1.    KISS. You know what that stands for—Keep It Simple Stupid! A designer may be letting his ego run the show if he or she submits arty and overly complicated designs (often with multiple special effects) that don’t translate well to the final product. The designer may be trying to impress rather than communicate.  Strive toward clarity and a balance of design elements and open space. This still leaves room for well-place design elements to spice up your design.

Don’t lose sight of the fact that a business card is a small form medium, only 2 inches high and 3.5 inches across. How much gradients, shadowing, wild arcs and crazy circles, non complementary colors and different fonts can one small little business card hold?

2. There’s logic behind the organization of a professionally designed business card. Although there are many layouts, this general font size formula bears repeating:

At the top of the card goes the company name/logo. This should be in a large font, perhaps 14pt-16pt.

Right below this can go a slogan if your company uses one. I like these in quotes or italics or both. Perhaps 12pt -14pt, use your judgment.

A couple lines below should go the employee name and title, “Jonathan Jones” and below “Executive Vice President.”  This should be around 12pt to 14pt.

Then all other information should go below, spread left and right in equal columns, the address, phone numbers, social media with optional icon buttons, etc. Here we are down to 10pt-12pt. I really don’t like to use below 10pt on a business card. It may look fine blown up on your computer. But the most common premature re-orders are because the design made the print too small to be easily read. Communicate, communicate, communicate!

3.  Pick an appropriate font for your card. For professional firm I would suggest a serif font, one that has those little platforms anchoring the letters. They are more formal and lend a certain weight to the text. Times New Roman is the quintessential serif font. If your firm is less formal, you may want to pick a non-serif font, just pure letters with no adornment. Arial is a common non-serif font.

Then when you have picked your font, stay with that font through your card. Yes, with all those fonts on your computer, the temptation is strong to mix it up. Resist that temptation. Your card will look more professional and cleaner with one well-chosen font.

I would be careful with applying color too liberally too. Unless your business is Rainbow Cleaners, perhaps picking every color of the rainbow is not the best choice to represent your firm. If your company uses a color scheme, two or three complementary colors perhaps, then it’s fin to integrate those into your design. Personally, I like the colors to be in the design elements (shapes, full bleed borders, etc) and the text to be separate and one color.  This integrates the text and is less distracting to the reader.

Did I say rule one it to communicate?