Your business card is also another important respresentation of your Brand. Your business card, like your webaite,  generally becomes the first impression a potential client has of you and your business. Thus, we feel it is important to have your card professionally designed in order  to maintain synergy accross your brand. Below are the common mistakes made in the design of business cards by both people who try to do their own designs oand  inexperienced graphic designers.

1.  Cram too much information into your card.

This card incorporates #1 and #10

Want to cram everything anyone might ever want to know about your business onto that tiny rectangle of paper? Use a small font size so you can add more text and cover as much of the surface of the card as you can. Who cares about making it easy to read? Your business card should contain everything, even if you have to provide a map to find your phone number on it.

2.  Hide the important information.

Make your logo so small only you know what it actually looks like. Make sure your name and the company name are too small to be read without a magnifying glass: after all, anyone you give your card to knows that already.  But put your fax number and physical address in large font. After all, everyone visits or faxes: no one’s going to email you, are they?

3.  Don’t bother grouping related information together.

Have your name in one corner and your job title in the other. The company name in the middle, the address in the third corner and the phone number on the fourth. Your email address? On the back of the card, with the text informing me that it’s made of recycled paper.

That hurts my eyes

4.  Use similar colors for the text and the background.

Contrast? What’s that? You like blue, so use a bright blue background and dark blue text, except for your name, which can be in light blue. Try reading that, you pesky prospect!

5.  Crowd the edge of the card.

Margins are for suckers: your business card will have text right to the edge.

6. Use as many fonts as you can.

What are all those fonts on the computer for, anyway? Show the world how creative you are!

7. Never use the back of the card.

No, don’t even consider it. That’s the sign of the devil, or something, having a Twitter handle on the back of the card. Just cram everything in the front. . . oh sorry, that’s #1.

Give me more than a phone number, Joe!

8. Don’t include all your contact information.

Yeah, you have a blog and a Facebook page, but why would you put that on your business card? It’s not like you want people to find them!

9. Ignore your company colors.

Your company logo is in green and orange? So what, if your favorite color is purple go ahead and use that for all the text. Who’s the graphic designer to tell you it’s clashing? It’s your card, isn’t it?

A dash of color and a clean uncluttered design: this simple card manages to avoid most of the mistakes I’ve outlined

10. Be bland.

Your business card reflects your personality and your business, so your boring black-on-white card makes you look just as boring as you are. What’s wrong with that? Better yet, take your sister-in-law’s card design and just swap in your contact details. Why should your business card be original anyway? Your cupcakes store can totally have the same card as her accounting business.

We’ve seen our fair share of poorly designed logos. We’ll even admit that in our early days of designing we created a few horrible logos.  The following is a list of common mistakes in logo design. Do you fall in to any of these categories?

1. Unoriginal Design. Your logo should be original to the task at hand. The logo and branding strategy go hand in hand so be sure to create something unique and memorable for your client.

2. Vague. Every logo should convey a message to the viewer.  If potential consumers know nothing about your client after looking at the logo, you have failed.

3. Rasterized. Your logo needs to be scalable so you should design it using Adobe Illustrator,CorelDRAW or some other vector software.

4. Cliché. Steer clear from anything expected. Remember, your logo should be memorable for the customer.  By adding cliché, stock-art style images, your logo will disappear in the design clutter.

5. Too complicated. Many new designers try to complicate their logos by adding lots of detail, too many words, taglines, etc.  Keep it simple. You’ll be more memorable.

6. Too fancy. For the most part, you should avoid excessive bevels, shadows, textures, filters. This will allow your logo to be used across many mediums.

7-11. Typography Issues. There are a number of common mistakes that are frequently made when designing a logo. Consider some below:

• Spacing. Fonts are built a certain way for a reason. Excessive spacing between letters (or lack thereof) should be used sparingly.
• Predictable Fonts. everyone knows that Times New Roman, Myriad Pro (although a fairly pretty font), and others are default fonts. Try to use something that isn’t default.
• Crazy Fonts. Don’t use fonts like Curlz or Papyrus to create your logo. Try using simple, professional, legible fonts. (Unless of course the target audience calls for something different)
• Ultra-thin fonts. Many extremely lightweight fonts may look nice on the computer screen but they may be difficult to use when trying to print on paper, screen on fabric, or embroider. Lightwieght fonts are also hard to read from far distances.
• Too many fonts. Try to stick to one font-style (maximum of two) in your logo design. This rule is especially true when you are doing JUST the logo design and not any of the other design work.

12. Asking for too much input. Excessive input from your client, his brother, the secretary, your mom, your uncle, the guy in the coffee shop and anyone else who will give you the time of day is well, excessive. Keep the design pure and clean by only involving those who absolutely need to be involved in the design process. (To avoid burn-out, you may also want to limit the number of revisions your client is allowed to make)

13. Clipart. This is simply taking the easy way out. Create original artwork for your client and they will thank you.

14. Unable to be used in grayscale. One important thing to remember about logos is that they frequently will be used in strictly grayscale circumstances. (Faxes, copies, one-color prints) Make your logo as powerful in both color and black & white.

15. Non-scalable. This is one of the most common tips around for creating logos.  Make sure your client can scale their logo. Most logos (I say most because I know there are always exceptions) should be usable in anything from a giant billboard to a 16px square favicon.

16. Not made for all mediums. After working in a screen printing and embroidery shop, I realized how often people design logos without taking into consideration their future use. Be sure to deign your logos with the intent that they can be used on the internet, in print, on a street sign, embroidered on a backpack, and screen printed on a t-shirt.

17. Inappropriate Inclusions. There is usually no need to include LLC, Co. or Inc. (Most customers don’t actually care).  You should ALWAYS avoid inappropriate innuendos or insinuations. They’re actually not funny- just distasteful.

18. Using time-sensitive imagery. If you use a cassette tape, bottle cap, or bell-bottom pants in your logo, you may be slapping an expiration date on it. Try to find something timeless that will last as long as the company hopes to.

19. Selfish design. Don’t design a logo with the goal in mind that it will make your portfolio look great.  The first, and most important, goal of any logo design should be to help your client reach their target audience more effectively.

20. Too abstract. While an abstract logo can be very professional-looking for a company, what does it really say to the customer? “We weren’t really sure how to visually represent what we do or how you will benefit from our services, so here’s a square with a circle thingy”.

21. Copy Cat Logo. There was a recent article on the attempt of Pepsi to take market share from Coke. They practically copied their logo. It, of course, did not work and they were forced to change their logo.

22. Bad combination of colors. Remember, green tends to reflect eco-friendly companies, red and green means Christmas and pink is almost always for girls. Try to match the colors to your target audience.

No matter what your experience level, there comes a time that you have to rush a job. And when that happens, it’s easy to fall victim to common graphic design mistakes. The following are five of these design faux pas.

1. Not considering the message
   The whole purpose of design is to convey a specific message. Often, we tend to get ahead of ourselves, thinking about the images and treatments we want to use in the design. If we simply take a moment to consider the overall reason for the design, we will produce a better product for our clients. Take a couple of minutes to brainstorm and sketch. Come up with several concepts that provide a visual illustration for your clients’ message. It’s worth the extra time investment!

1. Not considering the audience
   Perhaps you’ve had a great idea you’ve been mulling over for a while; or, you’ve just discovered a great new source for images that you’ve wanted to try out. Either way, sometimes we have a great idea or resource we use on the first project that comes our way. Before you jump on an idea, think first about the audience that will be seeing the end design. Are they young or old, student or professional, conservative or liberal? These and other descriptors should shape the colors, images and other elements you use in your design. If you are unsure about the characteristics of the intended audience, schedule a time to review these details with your client. They should be happy you’re taking this into consideration.

1. Not considering the usage
   Before you start your design, ask your client what mediums they will be utilizing. This is especially important when designing a logo. It may look fantastic on a billboard or window display but become hard to read when shrunk down for a hat, stationary or pen. Likewise, color choices may not translate well depending on how and when the logo will be used.Once the logo is designed, try it out on different colors and in different sizes. If it’s not translating well, make some tweaks (or start over if necessary). Companies want logos that last, so if you don’t take the extra time up front, they may have to invest quite a bit more down the road when they discover their logo isn’t as versatile as they had hoped.

1. Not allowing for breathing room
   White space is our friend. Embrace it. Love it. Use it. It’s easy to fall into the clutter trap of design. There are so many captivating images we want to use to convey the message. The best way to circumvent this pitfall is to take the time to edit. Once you’ve finished your design, take a break. Walk away from your workspace so you can come back with a fresh eye. It’s also good to have a friend or coworker that you can have evaluate your work.

1. Not evaluating the fonts
   Fonts, they can be our best friend or our worst enemy. Many designers fail to understand how much a font can convey. If you haven’t already done so, it’s a great idea to take a typography course (or two) so you can understand the value of the different style of fonts. Another mistake that can be made is using too many different fonts. It’s important to have unity in your design. Your fonts should work together to paint a common feel and image.

Our best advice to young designers working on advertising design concepts is “Sell the sizzle not the steak”. An old concept that still hold validity in today’s advertising world. What this means is , don’t just concentrate on the features of a product, concentrate on how they make the users life better.