I went to Starbucks for a iced carmel macchiato (like I usually do a few times a week) and while I was waiting for my drink I saw a pile of a business cards.

Being the business card guy that I am, I picked one up.

I think the person must have been really impressed with the business card scene from the slasher flick American Psycho (this scene is on my business card videos page), because their business card design sure is similar.

Plain white background!

Name in big letters in the middle!

Vague description of what they do! (Artist/Photograher)

And even more:

No Address (well they had the city and province)

No web site address

A generic ISP-based email address

It did however, have a phone number! Unfortunatley just no particular reason to use it.

So how can this card be improved?

Let’s see…

Plain white background. There is nothing wrong with being minimalist in your business card design.  So this part is fine, and could even help the card to stand out in a crowd of other business cards.

Name in big letters. While we all like to see our name stand out, the main thing this persons prospects are likely interested in are what type of art and/or photography they do.

Vague description.  Art and photography are pretty big categories.  Make it more specific.  Do you excel at certain types of art or prefer doing specific photography?

(Rant warning: a business card should focus on one thing. If you specialize in more than one thing, you need to have multiple business cards.)

Generic ISP-based email.  Gotta get rid of that, a business that doesn’t have it’s own website and email address just screams unprofessional, and possibly fly-by-night!  It costs like $10 bucks a month to have your own domain and email address, get it!

Okay, I hope this helps in your business card success.

Have a great day!
Mark