Business Cards for Artists (2024)

The purpose of an artist's business card is to:

• create a good - and hopefully memorable - impression
• transfer information needed for any future contacts

Plain business cards do not get you remembered. In contrast, a well designed business card using an impressive image creates a very positive impression.

​Don't forget you can use both sides of the card.

A lot of artists now use one side of a business card for an image of their art and the other side for the business contact details

Essential items for an Artist's Business Card

Overall the business card of an artist needs to convey something of your art and how you are known online.

Essential items include:

• an image - this is your opportunity to impress. However not every impressive piece of artwork you produce will actually work in terms of the business card format. Sometimes crops of artwork work best. You also need to decide whether it should completely cover one side of the business card or not.
• brand name - if your art business or studio uses one
• your name - ALWAYS use the name you want to be known by as an artist.
• what you do - an accessible quick way of describing what you produce (for when thepeople you have given the card to have forgotten who you are). Aim for two to three words not a sentence.
• email address - the primary way people contact one another. Make sure this looks like a 'proper' business email address. Use either a info@artwebsitedomain.com (i.e. use the domain name of your website) or use a non-leisure email service (i.e. gmail is OK; AOL is not)
• your website URL - ideally with a domain name which is the same as your name. (This is "standard operating procedure" for most artists although some with more common names need to add on 'art' or 'artist' to get a .com domain name)
• your online shop URL - if you have one
• social media site handles- for Instagram,Twitter,and/or Facebook. Alternatively use the social media icons to indicate the site - but only state those you use regularly!
• telephone number - make sure it's one which has an answering machine/service. Draw a distinction between a studio/office telephone number and a mobile/cell one
• an alternative place to see your art- if you don't have a website

Optional items for an Artist's Business Card
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• address - this is not essential. If you have a business address e.g, an independent studio then include it. If you work from home and are on your own I'd advise against giving this information out to people you don't know.
• qualifications and credentials - the acronym for any art society you are a member of can be helpful - but be sure to only include those relevant to who you are and what you do
• graphic elements - used to be popular but much less so now. Lines can be useful

The font(s) you use for your business card is ideally part of a carefully considered communication plan for how you represent your work in different ways and different places. For example, think about if you have a stand at an art fair, then the font(s) you use need to work for a large sign with your brand/artist's name on it. On flyers and information labels around the stand, on labels about an artwork - and on business cards. So lots of different sizes - and it MUST be easy to read in every different size

I would recommend no more than two fonts- one for featured words and one for necessary info about how to contact you​

Typefaces have two main categories:serifandsans serif.

• Serifscomprise the small features at the end of strokes within letters.
• The printing industry refers to typeface without serifs as 'sans serif' (from Frenchsans, meaningwithout)
• ​Serif fonts are considered easier to read than san serif fonts and are generally used for smaller font sizes

REFERENCE:

• List of typefaces | Wikipedia (the images of specific typefaces below come from Wikimedia Commons)
• Google Fonts- official website - a good place to get an overview of different fonts
• Adobe Fonts - browse all available fonts in Adobe
• Cleartype Font Collection | Wikipedia
• Font vs typeface: the ultimate guide| Creative Bloq
• 5 types of font and what to use them for | Creative Bloq

Standard 'san serif' fonts - are standards for a reason. They work well and are easy to read

• Helvetica - popular, easy to read because widely spaced and not boring
• Myriad - best known as the font used by Apple until 2017.
• Calibri - replaced Times New Roman as the default typeface in Word in 2007 andreplacedArialas the default inPowerPoint,Excel,Outlook, andWordPad.
• Raleway - an elegant sans-serif typeface family intended for headings and other large size usage. Used by this website for both titles and text

Standard serif fonts
Serif fonts date back to letters inscribed in stone. Nobody quite knows the reason for the flared endings of the horizontal or vertical strokes

• Georgia- designedfor clarity on a computer monitor even at small sizes
• Cambria - commissioned by Microsoft and designed to bea serif font suitable for body text, that is very readable printed small or displayed on a low-resolution screen and has even spacing and proportions
• Palatino -an old style typeface originally named after the 16th-century Italian master of calligraphy Giambattista Palatino. Linotype licensed Palatino to Adobe and Apple and it became a standard font inPostScript digital printing technology.
• Garamond -named for sixteenth-century Parisian engraver Claude Garamond - it has a very long history and there have been many updates based on previous versions

The Size of a Business Card

The standard dimensions of a printed business cardis
the finished card size - not the space you can work with using a template - unless your template allows images to bleed to the edge

The standard size isthe size that most business card holders will take - in that country and recipients also keep business cards received in standard sized holders!

The standard sizes - by country - are:

• USA: 3.5" x 2"
• Most of Europe: 85mm x 55mm
• Australia / New Zealand:90mm × 55mm
• Asia: 90mm x 54mm

REFERENCE:
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• Artist Business Cards| Agora Gallery -Make a good impression with a well-designed artist business card
• 9 beautiful artists' business cards to inspire you| Creative Bloq
  
• How to Create An Awesome Artist Business Card | format.com
• Tips for Designing a Business Card for Artists| Print Place
• 6 Tips for Creating Artist Business Cards That Actually Help Sell Your Art| Empty Easel
• What Should You Include On Artist Business Cards?
• Business cards for artists: Useful or unnecessary?| Wet Canvas
• How to Make a Business Card for Artists - What You Need to Know

• How to write an artist's statement
• How to write an artist's resume, bio or CV
• Websites for Artists
• Image sizes for social media sites​
• How to be mobile-friendly
• How to write a press release for an artist
• The Private View Invitation
• Publicity for Juried Exhibitions​