Your business card is designed to make a great first impression. But are you aware that the use of colour can significantly affect the way that business cards are perceived? Unlike other aspects of design, the colours that you select have meaning. Understanding the psychology that lies behind colour can help you to create business cards with extra impact.
Define Your Target Audience
Defining your target audience is the first step in selecting colours that connect and create a response. For example, using primary colours works well for child related services but would be out of touch with the mood and expectation of customers seeking funerary services. For the biggest impact, keep your chosen colours consistent across your logo, branding and business card printing.
Find Inspiration
Did you know that 33% of the world’s companies use blue as their primary marketing colour, while 95% use a maximum of two colours for their packaging and publicity? Blue – think Skype and PayPal – is popular because of its associations with trustworthiness, confidence and reliability, while red – Coca Cola, Netflix, Lego – evokes a passionate and visceral response. Be culturally aware when selecting colours if you operate in markets outside the UK – red, for example, is a savvy choice for business cards for use in China thanks to its reputation as a lucky colour. Ensure your business cards are high quality and good design, this ultimately portrays how you will conduct business in the future.
Create Harmony
Using colour in business printing not only evokes a psychological response but an aesthetic one. The way that you blend colours needs to be skilfully done using the principles behind colour theory. To create harmonious schemes that are pleasing to the eye, opt for complementary colours for a high contrast effect or analogous colours that blend together for a more subtle effect. The more attractive your business cards are, the more likely they are to be retained by your recipient – 88% of business cards are thrown away within a week, but cards that use colour are 10 times longer lasting than black and white cards.
For more on business cards take a look at the fantastic article by Elissa Dunn Scott, 4 Business Card Statistics that Will Make You Rethink Your Strategy
Colour critical
Colour can be critical to the success of your business cards, which is why our online business card templates take the guesswork out of getting it right. To create your high quality, high impact business cards today visit PrintUK.com: business card printing.