Business cards are one of the most familiar forms in the printing world. A business card is a card that carries information about a business or individual. It contains brief information a client or a potential client needs to know about the company or the owner.
Usually, they are the first touchpoint someone will have with your brand. They help a company to build a good, trustworthy and reliable relationship with its customers in the first place.
It is crucial to have a good business card with all the necessary information. However, you need to follow some dimensions and instructions to develop a perfect business card. This article will help you clarify all the confusion or questions you have about the dimensions of a business card.
Dimensions of a Business Card
What is a Business Card?
A business card is a small card that holds the brand logo, company or individual name, email address, street address, social media addresses, etc. It is mainly used for providing the contact information of a business or person. Exchanging business cards is like a tradition in today’s business world.
Despite being analog printings, business cards still have an essential impact even in this digital era. A well-designed business card with an overall image of a company or the person can take their business to the next level.
Chart of Business Card Dimensions
| Country/Standard | Dimensions (Inches) | Dimensions (Millimeters) |
| Canada, United States | 3.5″ x 2″ | 89mm x 51mm |
| United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Turkey, Portugal | 3.346″ x 2.165″ | 85mm x 55mm |
| Japan | 3.582″ x 2.165″ | 91mm x 55mm |
| Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Taiwan, Vietnam, Colombia | 3.54″ x 2.165″ | 90mm x 55mm |
| Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore | 3.543″ x 2.125″ | 90mm x 54mm |
| Srilanka, India, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, Costa Rica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, Russia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, South Africa | 3.543″ x 1.968″ | 90mm x 50mm |
| Iran | 3.346″ x 1.889″ | 85mm x 48mm |
| ISO/IEC 7810 ID -1 ( Credit card sized ) | 3.370″ x 2.125″ | 85.60mm x 53.98mm |
| ISO 216, A8 Size | 2.913″ x 2.047″ | 74mm x 52mm |
| ISO 216, C8 Sized | 3.189″ x 2.244″ | 81mm x 57mm |
| ISO, 216, B8 Sized | 3.465″ x 2.441″ | 88mm x 62mm |
Business Card Dimensions
There are many different sizes of business cards available, and the size may vary from country to country, as you have already acknowledged from the chart above. In addition, many companies and brands customize the business card size to match their unique card design. Let’s see some of the popular business card shapes and their dimensions.
Standard Business Card Dimension
You may have noticed that most business cards share the same size. This is because they follow the standard business card size measurement, which is- 3.5 “x 2”. Have you ever wondered why? There is a good reason behind that. Business cards are intended to carry inside a pocket or wallet. Therefore, the standard business card dimensions make the card fit inside them easily. Credit cards are made nearly the same size for the same reason. This is also the standard business card size of the US.
Standard Business Card Dimension of UK
Not every business card is designed in the US standard business card size. The UK and most European countries have a different standard size for business cards, 85mmx55mm. Sometimes the measurement may go slightly up or down, but most stick closer to this.
Square Shaped Card Dimension
In search of a creative approach to making a business card, designers often choose unique and unusual card shapes. Square-sized cards are one of those. Square-sized cards have equal height and width as a square should have. The dimensions depend on the design, but the most popular choices are- 2″ x2″, 2.5″ x2.5″, and 3″ x3″.
Circle and Half Circle Shaped Card Dimension
Although this business card shape is quite rare, they are available. The circle-shaped cards tend to follow one measurement: 2.5 inches in diameter. Meanwhile, the half-circle business card dimension is 2″ x3.5″. They are also known as die-cut leaf cards for their leaf-like shape.
Folded Business Card Dimensions
The dimension of the folded business card is 3.5″ x4″. These cards are not used that much for their biggie and weird size. Instead, some companies use them as greeting cards or appointment cards.
How to Create a Business Card?
Designing a business card is not just dragging texts and logos around the corners and drawing patterns. You will have to keep dimensions, bleed line, cut line, safe zone, etc. Although you can find many apps like Canva that have presets for business cards, you can easily create custom cards. Here we will see what steps to follow while creating a business card.
Draw a Rough Prototype On a Paper
It’s not mandatory, but it will help you decorate your cards flexibly. The drawing doesn’t have to be perfect; you will specify where each element will stand. You are not getting a full page to design your card but a very limited place. So, you wouldn’t like to waste any space or mess up the design. That’s where a prior mockup design can assist you as a blueprint.
Download a Template
There are numerous free business card templates available online. You can download one or two and then alter and change some designs to create one for yourself. This is a shortcut trick to get a nice business card even if you lack creative ideas.
Card Dimension
Be aware of the aspect ratio and dimension of the business card you are designing. Keep the measurement in the right numerical value before you start working on it, lest you will spend all your time and effort to create a print that doesn’t match the card size.
Choose Appropriate Fonts
One thing you should keep in mind for designing anything is font matters. The font you use on your business card can greatly impact how your customer perceives you and your business. A perfect font that relates to the services and image of your business will surely make it more convincing and trustworthy. The best font is not always the same for all businesses. Spend some time and creativity to pick up the ideal font for your business card.
Keep Enough Bleed
When creating a card file, do not keep the file size equal to the output you want. Instead, the best practice is to keep an extra space around your card, called the bleed line. The Bleed line should be ⅛ inches wide and cut off after printing. So, while designing, let the background spill over to this bleed line so that when you cut it off, the background will go on till the very edge of the card.
Maintain the Safe Line
The safe line is an imaginary border that goes around the edge of the card and keeps ⅛ inches distance from the actual border. When creating a business card, you should keep the texts and information inside this safe line so that they remain safe, even if the cutter cuts slightly in.
What Information Should be On a Business Card?
Without the vital information imprinted, a business card is nothing but a white elephant. It only costs an individual or a company a lot of money without serving any real purpose. Below is what type of information your business card should carry.
Brand Logo
An official logo is a visual representation of a business. It illustrates a business and its service and a souvenir for the customers or clients they serve. An official logo makes a business company look professional, trustworthy & reliable. A business card logo should be a high-quality image at 330ppi so that it doesn’t get blurry or the edges don’t get pixelated.
These are the common types of a logo :
- Written Name – Often advertised as a wordmark. This is the written representation of a business. Many prominent brands in our world use this wordmark.
- Monogram or letter mark – These logos are created from the initial letters of the brand and designed creatively. If your brand has a long name that is quite long for a business card, then an abbreviation is an appropriate idea.
- Symbol – This is the graphic representation of a brand. It can be designed in any shape as long as it relates to the business’s service. A logo stands alone and backs the written business logo or the wordmark. Many iconic brands are widely known for using this type of logo.
Company Name
Give this one quite a bit of space to make it stand out because it is plausibly the most important piece of information on a business card. Because people are most likely to read the company or the business name at first glance.
Tagline
Many companies use a short sentence organized in a creative way to visualize their business and the service they provide. It is called a tagline. It should sound professional, honest, and focus on the business’s core service.
Website
A website plays an important role in showcasing a business. Including your company’s website address in your business card is something you must do. Your potential clients are likely to look into your services more deeply online. Inviting them to visit your website also helps you convince a client.
Contact Information
Contact information is the most important thing on a business card next to the company name or brand name. The prime reason for printing the business cards is to provide contact info so that clients can reach you when they need it. That’s why Your business card should clearly state all the ways of contacting your business, such as phone number, email, fax, address, etc.
Types of Business Cards
Many types of business cards are being exchanged from hand to hand in the market. Every business customizes its card to create a different image of its own. Here are some commonly used different types of business cards.
The Classic Business Card
A classic business card is the standard format, and it looks minimalistic, clean, and professional. Most of the time, people use this when they want to skip the process of finding a creative design. A classic business card holds preparatory information like the company’s name, the position of a certain person, and the necessary contact information. Generally, they contain only some plain text on a white background with little to no visual effects.
Wild Format Business Card
A major advantage of business cards is they usually get exchanged hand personally to hand rather than through the mail. That gives a business card a better opportunity to create a first impression. That’s why many companies use creative and eye-catching business cards with stunning graphic design. These are called the wild format business card, where the company gets wild to show creativity.
The Social Business Cards
Communication technology has taken a giant leap in the last decade. Nowadays, phone numbers and mailing addresses are not the only way to contact a business. Most businesses are now making their presence online and on social media platforms where the clients are. So why not promote social media pages on business cards too? That’s what social business cards do. It contains the URL or the QR code of the online pages and website so that people can connect them conveniently.
Sided Business Cards
This is a very trendy type of business card you get to see more often now. Traditionally, business cards were printed on just one side while the other remained blank. But for sided business cards, both sides of the cards contain something, often fulfilling a creative design. You will see a lot of of-sided business cards containing just the logo or the business name on one side and the rest of the information on the other side. These cards are quite attractive too.
Oriented Business Cards
As we have said, the business card should be eye-catching and creative. And that’s what the oriented business card follows. Generally, we see business cards printed in landscape mode because it gives a wider area for putting your information and doesn’t clutter. However, oriented business cards are made in the portrait mode, thus standing out as an uncommon design.
Importance of Business Cards
Provide Contact Info Easily and Quickly
Transferring contact info through a smartphone is easy but not enough to beat the business cards. All the information a business card carries can be provided to other people in just a few seconds. Also, the recipient gets all the ways of contacting your business, and he can choose his preferred way later. For that moment, just getting the card and keeping it in the pocket is enough.
First Impression
People’s attention is one of the most precious things a business can get. When you are handing your business card to someone, they will very likely glance at it. A creatively designed business card will grab their attention at that time and give a good first impression. That’s why a business card is no longer just a paper of contact info; it is now a powerful marketing tool.
Builds Trust
You usually warmly greet someone when you are exchanging business cards. This helps create trust between two people. Also, having a nice business card ready in your hand reflects professionalism and confidence. Your business card might be the first thing a potential client will see, and they will make some assumption of your service quality from them. You could give your contact info through some digital method, but handing a business card has a personal touch, which makes it effective.
Low cost
Perhaps a business card is the most inexpensive marketing tool you can find. You can print a bundle of a few hundred business cards for less than 12 dollars. Even a small business on a tight budget can afford decent business cards. While the business cards cost less, they create opportunities for your business worth a few hundred dollars.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Purpose of a Business Card?
A good business card says a lot about your business. It speaks for your business and tells others what you do and how they can reach out to you. It helps build a connection between the company and the clients. A business card serves your purpose to make you look professional and trustworthy out there.
What Are Business Cards Used for?
Business cards contain information about a company and a business. When you give them out to a customer, it helps build a quick good first impression. Business cards are used to convince a potential client to take your service. In short, business cards are used to capture opportunities.
What is The Aspect Ratio of a Business Card?
If you want to get the look and feel for a classic business card, you should go for a 1.42 x 1.8 ratio. This is the standard aspect ratio for a business card.
Are Business Cards Useful?
A business card is a great marketing tool. A well-designed business card gets referrals and is shared between colleagues. And a business card has a personal touch in it. A handshake and an exchange of business cards impact building a good relationship between the company and customers. Business cards are useful in many ways you can’t even imagine.
Which App is Recommended to Make Business Cards?
Adobe Photoshop is the best software available with many useful tools. There are some other free useful apps that you can use to create business cards. Jukebox, Business Card Star, DeGraeve, Canva, Business Card Land, etc.
Final Words
In this era of digitization and automation, business cards are still irreplaceable when building a bridge between businesses and customers. A good business card is an illustrated representation of a good business. A well-designed, professional business card attracts opportunities like a magnet. Having a business card needs some procedures to be followed, and we tried to clear up all the confusions you might’ve had about those. I hope the dimensions of a business card article helps. Have a good day.
