What is the perfect font for business cards? The answer depends on the type of message you want to convey. While graphic designers might want to use a unique and artistic font to reflect their individual styles, financial professionals might want a simpler, more direct typeface.
Below, we’ve listed some of the most popular font choices you will see on business cards today. Take a look, and you just might get inspired to create the perfect, professional business card for yourself!
Sans serif fonts are the best choices for business cards. Different fonts such as Helvetica, Futura, and Arial easy-to-read in business card printing. They also work well on digital displays when you’re designing business cards an online app or using desktop publishing software.
At its most basic, a business card needs to do one simple thing: give the reader your name, your company name, and your contact information. However, a truly great business card does much more than that. Your business card should reflect your work persona; it should feature a beautiful and creative design that shows readers the quality of your work.
Of course, your business card must walk a fine line between creativity and readability. If your colleagues or prospective employers can’t read your card, they won’t be able to get in touch with you! This is why it is so important to choose the best font possible as soon as you begin your business card design process.
For many years, Times New Roman was one of the most popular fonts in the professional sphere (largely due to its use as the standard free font on Microsoft Word). However, this classic font long predates the digital age; it was originally commissioned by The Times in 1931.
With a beautiful serif typeface and a clean, robust design, Times New Roman is an excellent choice for anyone seeking to design a simple, yet sophisticated business card.
Baskerville is an old-fashioned elegant font that has been around for centuries. It was originally developed in 1757 in Birmingham and uses the traditional serif typeface of that bygone era.
However, Baskerville is a font that also boasts some fairly modern features: the tapered serifs and vertical letter axis make the font particularly easy to read. If you want your business card to convey a sense of old-school elegance and grandeur, this is the best font for you.
Of all the sans serif fonts available today, Helvetica is the one that reigns supreme. This minimalist 1957 design looks clean and legible at a variety of font sizes, which makes it a popular choice for business cards, letterheads, logos, and much more.
As the working world has become more digital, there has been a significant change in typeface trends — including business card font trends. Many professionals now gravitate to sans-serif fonts, which tend to be clearer and easier to read on a screen.
Futura is another sans serif font, which is designed around circular geometric shapes. The font features thin, rounded letters with a very efficient appearance, making it a very popular font for business cards.
In addition to the readability of this font, Futura also evokes an air of modernity (even though it was developed in 1927 — thirty years before its sans serif cousin, Helvetica). This makes it especially popular among workers in the tech sector, who might want their business cards to reflect a more modern vibe.
If you’ve ever looked at a user manual or company email from Apple, you’re already familiar with the font Myriad Pro. This simple sans serif typeface was Apple’s corporate font from 2002 until 2017.
Myriad Pro is a simple font, with thin strokes and open letterforms that are easy to read. This is a particularly great font if you plan to incorporate other design elements (such as a logo or other images) onto your business cards. The font will be easy to read, yet it won’t distract from the other aspects of the card.
So far, we’ve discussed basic, classic fonts that can be used in a variety of industries. However, sometimes you want your business card to reflect a sense of luxury and elegance — and for that, you need an elegant font.
Leyton is a free font available online, and one that oozes opulence. The letters feature both serifs and a decorative “embossed” look that is beautiful, yet still very readable.
If you want your business card to reflect a specific vibe — specifically, a homemade vibe — you might want to consider using a script font. Fonts that mimic handwriting can add a personal touch to the card’s overall design, which is attractive for businesses like wedding vendors, fashion brands, or artesian industries.
However, even the most beautiful script font imaginable MUST BE READABLE if it is going to be effective on your business card. If you want to use script, look for fonts like Black Caviar, which uses thin strokes and wide letterforms to make the text easy to read.
Whether you are designing your first business card ever or looking into designs for your next card, it is always important to choose the right font for your industry and your style. If your card is well-designed, sized appropriately, readable, and eye-catching, you’re sure to leave an excellent impression with everyone you meet.
Not sure where to begin? There are plenty of online resources you can use, from downloadable business card templates to online printers who will work with you to design the perfect piece.
If our favorite ten business cards of 2024 still leave you wanting more, here are a few more ideas to help with the inspiration you seek.
If cardboard, plantable paper or plastic weren’t enough, consider using other nontraditional materials for your business cards. Many business card design companies offer lightweight metal or wood options. Both of these are sure to last longer and feel better in the hands of a potential client.
Business cards can also be made from recycled fabric, broken pottery or even cookies. Who doesn’t want a free cookie once in a while? Just make sure your prospective customer has another way of remembering your info once digested.
In a digital world of websites, email and contact apps, paper business cards can seem outdated. You can, however, use the paper to take your prospective customers right to your online platform. Thanks to the pandemic, QR codes have become ubiquitous; a barcode any smartphone can scan will take clients right to your website.
NFC, or near-field communication, is another possible addition to smart business cards, offering the same functionality as a QR code without the square. Most smartphones released after 2017 have built-in NFC scanners that can detect NFC tags. These NFC tags can easily be embedded in standard business cards. Once picked up by a prospective customer’s phone, an NFC tag can take future customers or clients straight to your website.
The line between functional business cards and hilarious gimmicks can be a tough one to find, but even the silliest of business cards can still get the job done. Functional business cards can have serious longevity if your customers can actually use them. Even business cards that aren’t actually cards—for instance, combs, toothbrushes or pens with contact information printed on them—are more likely to be kept around much longer. A less-functional gimmick may be fun for a moment, but may be quickly forgotten.
Consider printing your business card with a to-scale ruler on it so when your customer needs to measure something, they have to look right at your name and phone number. Better yet: print your business card information onto a handy bicycle multi-tool, guaranteeing your prospective client will be silently thanking you from the side of the road.