Let's take a look at a financial planner's business card. Similar to the realtor card from last week, the person works for a larger organization that has an established logo, but has the freedom to create his own business card. The trick is using the established logo and information in a way that communicates clearly and helps you stand out, not just among all other financial planners, but also within the organization he works for that has several financial planners. Let's take a look.
THEME: Some business cards may not have a specific theme, but anything visual has a look and feel to it. This particular business card feels dark. It was likely printed by a discount printer as the black was faded and looked almost purple-ish. The "D" actually faded in with the black background as well. The yellow/gold coloring along with different size lettering while all lines being equally spaced makes this card feel like chaos.
LOGO: The logo cannot be changed. This is an established firm with independent sales reps. Each rep can create their own business card, but cannot alter the logo. As mentioned above the "D" of this logo sunk right into the dark card. The size of the logo on the back is overbearing with the other information that was put on it.
FRONT: The front of this card tries to establish some individuality and personality. The person who gave me this card said they used the yellow/goldish text to pop off the dark background. I like that they are using their face on the card. Similar to realtors, you want people to remember your face and be reassured by the logo. If they identify the logo, but forget you, they will have lots of other reps with that same company to choose from. If you are going to use a picture of yourself, make sure to use a professional picture. Even if you are trying to be more personable, if you are asking someone to handle their money, you better look like you know what you are doing. You want them to take you serious. The text spacing makes this feel like its one block of information, not separate pieces of information. The color doesn't quite stand out they way they had hoped.
BACK: Overall, this is not bad, but the logo is large and the text is tiny in comparison. The text is too close to the edge of the card.
Let's see what we can do.
THEME: First, I want to lighten up the overall feel of the card. Black feels heavy and white feels light. I want people to meet Josh and feel light and encouraged about a topic that can feel heavy, finances. Using a white background also allows the picture of Josh to really stand out, creating impact.
LOGO: As previously mentioned, the logo was not going to change. I used the logo on both sides of the card and while they are a good size, I made sure they did not consume all the space on the card.
FRONT: I used a chest and above cutout, rather than a square cropped photo. In the photo, Josh is clean and professional, but not suit and tie formal. I made sure his tagline was clear and easy to distinguish from his name and title. The text was kept from running near the edges while the picture bleeds off the bottom and right sides of the card. This gives it a clean and full feeling without it coming across as crowded.
BACK: With the back of this card, I provided all the information that was part of that text blob from the old front of the card. I used color, text and spacing to make the information feel separate, but cohesive and easy to find. As with the front, I made sure none of the information was too close to the edge of the card for a full, yet comfortable feel for the amount of information that is on it.