Top 8 Business Card Trends in 2020

We are more than halfway through Q3 of 2020. Granted this year is an outlier for every industry, we still wanted to show what the business cards trends are so you can start planning for next year. Most, if not all of these trends will still apply to next year due to the pandemic.

Don’t be fooled by size, business cards MATTER.

Regardless of how technologically advanced we have come, those 3.5 by 2 inch business cards still hold weight. And as with everything, there’s too much competition, so people keep searching for ways to make their business card stand out.

Check out the top 8 trends in business card design in 2020!

Now, our only caveat is that depending on your brand, these trends may not specifically work for you. That’s why we have our amazing account managers and designers, because they help provide guidance on these types of things. Our first trend we want to cover is shapes!

SHAPES

There is nothing wrong with the classic 3.5 by 2 inch rectangle, but even doing something as simple as rounded corners makes the shape different. Of course, we recommend doing out of the box shapes that are relevant to your business. For example, if you sell dog food, maybe the shape of a pet food bowl or a dog bone would be clever! We have a lot of experience with die cutting custom shapes for clients.

ETCHING

Also known as embossing or debossing, etching a design or text in your business cards adds a nice tactile element to them. Embossing and debossing were mostly used in wedding invitations until now. Emboss means to raise a design or letter from the surface while deboss is when the design is recessed or sunken into the surface. We have experience doing both.

COLORED EDGES

The combination of ultra thick cards with a nice contrasting or complementary painted edge is stunning. Let’s just say your two main logo colors are black and white, but you use one of your secondary brand colors as an accent for the edge…voilà, your cards will stick out in the best way possible. Another cool idea is the triplex color edge. The main difference between triplex color edge and painted color edge, is one specifically refers to painting only the middle layer in the “sandwich” versus painting the whole edge.

HAND-ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustrations that are either sketched by hand or give the appearance as such show delicacy and care. Particularly, if you are a company that has to do with nature, wellness, or spirituality, then we highly recommend illustrations. Hand-illustrations add a feeling of personalization and approachability.

MINIMALISM

Minimal lines, dots and symmetry are always in fashion. You don’t have to worry about this clean design ever going out of style. Use sleek lines to separate your brand, go modern. Minimalism started back in the 1960s in the United States and is still relevant.

TEXTURE

Whether your business card is cork, linen, hemp or a different type of cardstock, texture is becoming increasingly important. People are inherently tactile, the need to touch is human nature…so make it count with texture that feels nice.

NEON

Whether it was Stranger Things (the Netflix TV show) or something else, neon colors have returned. The bright nostalgia of the 80s is back and here to stay. Using neon colors in your business cards is a good way to stand out. Another cool thing people are doing is introducing neon colors through foil. We have done that for several clients who wanted to do foil, but were looking for a color other than silver or gold.

MONOCHROME

We know we just said the use of bright neon colors is popular, well the opposite is quite true too!

Monochrome, meaning one color or several shades of the same one color, is becoming increasingly popular. Now, when we say monochrome, the easiest way people accomplish that is to make black and white cards. However, technically, you can use any color as long as it is the only one you use.

There you have it, folks!

If you haven’t printed your batch of business cards yet and you have the ability to refresh your designs, let us know if one of these trends above spoke to you. Our designers have experience making business cards with all of these new techniques and are happy to help you find something that works for your business.

The key is to select something that works for your brand.