In an ever-more-digital world, it's easy to overlook printed products. But business cards are still a great way to network and connect. While many startups and entrepreneurs focus on their websites and social media profiles, a business card can help you to network with potential clients you meet in person.
Business cards benefit from great typography. Using the right fonts and styles will instantly give the card viewer a feel for what you bring to the table. The visuals of great business cards should align stylistically with your approach to business.
In this tutorial, you'll learn about the best font for business cards. You'll also see top business card examples that'll show you what font to use for business cards.
The Basics of Great Typography
It's impossible to go through your day without seeing examples of typography. Talented graphic designers make correct choices on fonts to tell the intended story. For instance, you're unlikely to see the same font on a topographical map and a wedding invitation.
Font choices are a signal. Just like the selected color scheme and graphics, the font choice serves as a visual identity for your business. Consider your business identity while choosing what font to use for business cards.
That's why it's essential that you choose the right font when building a business card. It's a visual representation of who you are and what you do. In this section, we'll introduce the font concepts that help you choose the best font for your business cards.
1. Main Types of Fonts
There are so many fonts that it helps to divide them into a few simple categories. For our purposes, I'll divide fonts into four main categories: serif, sans-serif, script, and decorative. When used properly, each category includes options that might be the best fonts for business cards.
Serif fonts are generally used in more traditional, classical environments. You can recognize them by the "feet" on the edges of the letters, which are called serifs.
Examples of serif font faces include Georgia, Times New Roman, and Baskerville. In the business card context, you might expect an attorney or accountant to use serif fonts, for example.
Sans-serif fonts are more modern and fun, generally. The term "sans" means "without," so a sans-serif font eschews the decorative strokes on the edge. Sans-serif fonts feel smoother, and you'll see examples of them in fonts like Helvetica, Calibri, and Open Sans.
Sans-serif fonts are more popular than ever. While serif fonts were long favored for ease of readability, the world's transition to digital and increased print quality means that sans-serif fonts are more readable than ever.
Beyond the simplistic "serif" and "sans-serif" categories, there are many other types of fonts that may be useful. Script and decorative fonts are more "special purpose" use fonts that aren't right for every occasion. But, if they fit with your brand and work, they can be a good font choice for a business card.
As you choose a font for your business card, think about your branding and industry above all. Every typeface has its place on a business card, but it won't work for every single business.
2. Font Weights & Sizing
When you choose a font, it'll likely include several different font weights. Using bold is an example of choosing a heavier weight to bring emphasis.
Using font weights requires intentionality. If you put every part of your business card in bold weights, then nothing is comparatively bold. Pick only one or two key elements to use a heavier font weight to emphasize the essentials.
Another vital element of business card fonts is using size correctly. While every piece of text should be large enough to be readable, reserve a few critical elements for larger font sizes.
On many business cards, it's ideal to use a mix of font weights and sizes. Save the larger fonts and heavier weights for the essentials, like your name and title. It's just as important to consider font weights as it is choosing what font to use for business cards.
3. Font Pairing
Many designs will feature more than one font, and there's a real art to business card font combinations. When appropriately designed, mixing and matching fonts can be visually appealing and make the business card feel well balanced.
Mainly if you use decorative or highly styled fonts, it helps to complement those choices with more simple choices. You might want to show your name written in a scripted font, but you should opt for easy-to-read options for your contact details.
One resource I recommend trying is FontPair, a site dedicated to exactly this art. It can help you pair together free fonts from Google Fonts so that you balance your business card perfectly.
How to Choose the Best Font For Your Business Card
Now that we've covered a few key principles of fonts, let's summarize what we've learned:
- Font choice is a strong signal of what type of business you run and your personal style in doing so. It's not a hard rule, but serif fonts are more serious while sans-serif and other categories are more modern. Consider the business and brand that you're advertising and match your font choice accordingly.
- Font weights and sizing will help you bring emphasis to the most relevant details on your business card. Use larger font sizes and heavy weights to lead the viewer's eye to essential information, like your name and title.
- Font pairing helps balance your business card nicely by mixing and matching complementary fonts. Particularly if you use decorative fonts, balancing it with simpler and more readable choices for your key details is a must.
Try Custom Fonts From Envato Elements
You probably already know that there are standard system fonts that are included on every computer and device. You'll see fonts like Georgia, Times New Roman, and Helvetica installed and available in your apps. These can be good fonts for business cards, but they're also extremely common and not very unique.
But in recent years, custom fonts have grown in popularity. Web browsers began supporting custom font faces, letting web developers embed or link to them on their sites. With that significant advancement, the floodgates were opened on custom fonts.
In this section, you've seen examples of custom fonts from Envato Elements. With a single subscription to Envato Elements, you'll unlock more than 4,000 custom fonts you can use on your designs. Choose a custom font, install it, and you'll find it available for use in apps.
The Elements library is full of good fonts for business cards. Even better, Elements library has fonts across all of the categories that we covered above. When you're in design mode, don't forget to consider custom options when choosing what font to use for business cards.
Business Card Designs With the Best Font Choices
As we saw above, Envato Elements is a treasure trove of custom design assets, including fonts. But custom fonts are far from the only thing you'll have access to with a subscription to Elements.
One of my favorite assets included on Envato Elements is outstanding business card templates with the best font choices included. There are business card templates for practically every profession with good font choices that fit the profession's style.
When you use a great business card template, you start with designs that feature excellent typography. You don't have to think about what font to use for business cards because the designer has already selected them for you.
Without further ado, let's check out five professional business cards with great typography. These templates work in popular graphic design apps like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, so make sure to choose a template for your favorite tool.
1. Professional Business Cards
Remember that choosing the right business card template is about matching the style to your brand. There's no most professional font for business cards—the fit with your purpose is what matters. The sharp serif fonts on this match perfectly with highly professional fields and will show a sense of distinction.
2. Business Card
This business card design illustrates distinguished use of serif fonts. Even in artistic and flowery designs like this, a serif choice signals a venerable approach to the work. Use the strong monogram to create a brand identity tied to your name.
3. Garden Business Card Design
Here's another excellent choice that leans on serif fonts. However, notice also the careful pairing of sans-serif choices for your details. Make a splash with your name in the professional serif headline, then fill in your details below.
4. Scripted Business Card Design
This design pairs script fonts on one side with simple sans-serif choices on the back. Use the script placeholder to layer in a branding statement and save your contact details for the reverse side.
5. Modern Business Card
Favoring more sans-serif font choices, this business card is clean and simple. The text is easily readable thanks to the careful use of font sizing and plenty of white space. Use it for a business that features light and airy branding.
If the all-you-can-download model on Envato Elements isn't your style, consider checking out GraphicRiver templates. You'll find more of the best font for business card choices, but pay for templates one at a time. It's a simple, low-cost model to craft your business card.
Build Business Cards in Your Web Browser
If you aren't a graphic designer, but still want to use the best fonts for business cards you create yourself, consider turning to Placeit. With Placeit's simple approach to building a business card, you can use your web browser as a fully featured graphic design tool.
Because Placeit features templates, you'll still spend less time thinking about what font to use for business cards. Those templates are the perfect starting point that include the best fonts for business cards.
On Placeit, most elements are customizable. You start with a template that's "close enough" to what you've got in mind, but you don't give up customization. In the screenshot above, you can see that it's easy to change the icon, color scheme, and text with simple inputs. Your business card will be print shop ready in no time.
Even though Placeit is a browser-based tool, you won't be sacrificing a selection of the best business card fonts in 2019. You can still choose from many custom font options that fit your brand style and vision. Jump to Placeit to try out this easy-to-use business card tool.
Use the Best Fonts For Your Next Business Cards
Let's face it: business cards will never go out of vogue. Having your contact details at the ready in your wallet is crucial to continue a conversation with a potential client or collaborator.
Using templates is the solution to incorporate the best fonts for business cards in less time than ever. Turn to Envato Elements for unlimited access, GraphicRiver for "pay-as-you-go," or Placeit for a simple builder.
In this tutorial, you learned about typography and how to use it to your advantage on business cards. Pairing your contact information with the perfect font faces will help you make the impact you need to grow your business. Why not start creating your next business card?
