The photography business is perfect for business cards. It provides the opportunity to showcase your work, whether it is a high resolution image on the back of the business card or one or two samples on the front and back of the business card. Here are a few tips for good photography business card design.
Prioritize Print Quality and Data Quality
It doesn’t matter how great the resolution is on an image if the business card template renders it to a low-quality image. For example, a high definition image converted to 8 bit graphics is going to look bad on a photography business card. A photo of yourself rendered as if it came off a dot matrix printer is a failure for a photographer, though it might be acceptable for an artist or skilled tradesperson.
Data quality and print quality affect the print job when it comes to font, as well. Photographers are more likely to use fancy fonts. A business card template that can’t handle your literal signature will either convert it to a contrasting font or print gibberish. If the font is faithfully reproduced but the printer’s print quality is poor, your signature or tagline come out looking amateurish.
A related mistake is printing beautiful business cards on poor quality paper. This will cause anyone who handles the business card to question the quality of your work.
Focus on the Essentials
Photographers often focus on the sample images to put on the business card and where to put them. A common mistake is making the business card too cluttered because you’ve jammed so many images on the card. A related mistake is failing to provide enough information. Don’t put your business name and sample images on the card but leave off your phone number, email address and other contact information.
You might want to emphasize a beautiful logo that is evocative of the type of photography you do so that you have plenty of room on the business card for your name, phone number, email and one or two social media links that take people to a digital portfolio of your work.
Review Your Business Cards Regularly
The best business card for photography business owners is one that leads to clients who represent your current business. Photographers may be generalists or specialists, but your business card must represent the work you’re promoting today and lead them to you. This is why a wedding photographer expanding their general photography should have a general photography business card. Someone who receives a wedding-centric business card won’t consider you for family photos. And a generalist will lose out to someone whose business card proves they’re an expert in wedding photography.
Another mistake is failing to update your business cards. If your phone number, social media accounts or email address change, you could lose prospects because they can’t reach you. Never scratch out a phone number and put a new one on the business card. It makes people question your attention to detail, and that is deadly in the photography business.