Premium business cards: a practical guide for professional firms

A premium business card in Australia is usually 90 x 55mm, printed both sides on heavy board such as 450gsm soft-touch, with one finish, such as spot gloss or foil, on the logo. From Proof & Print, 250 soft-touch cards with spot gloss are $240 inc GST, dispatched 5 to 7 business days after proof approval.

For a law firm, accounting practice, agency or developer, a business card is often the first physical thing a client keeps. This guide covers stock, finish, layout, content and how to manage cards across a team.

Which stock should a premium business card use?

A premium business card usually uses one of four stocks: 300gsm uncoated, 400gsm matt laminated, 450gsm soft-touch or duplexed 600gsm and above. Weight and thickness do most of the work; in the hand, people notice stiffness before they notice design.

• 300gsm uncoated or felt-textured. Tactile and writable. Suits firms whose staff write appointment times or mobile numbers on the card.
• 400gsm matt laminated. Crisp, durable and quiet. A sound default for large teams.
• 450gsm soft-touch. Velvety, matt and substantial. The laminate adds stiffness and gives finishes something to contrast with.
• Duplexed 600gsm and above. Two sheets laminated together, often with a coloured core or painted edges. Distinctive, and priced on quote.

Our paper weight and gsm guide explains why a 450gsm laminated card feels so much heavier than a 350gsm one.

Which finish suits a premium business card?

Premium cards usually carry one embellishment, applied to one element, typically the logo.

• Spot gloss (spot UV): a clear gloss on the logo against a soft-touch background. Understated, visible at an angle.
• Raised tactile gloss: a thicker gloss you can feel with a fingertip.
• Foil: gold or silver metal that catches the light. Suits monograms and traditional marks.
• Letterpress: an impression pressed into cotton board. Formal and tactile, with simple artwork.

Each has different artwork limits; very fine lines and small type may not hold. Our letterpress vs foil vs spot UV guide compares them in detail.

What size is a business card in Australia?

The usual Australian business card size is 90 x 55mm. That differs slightly from the US size and from the bank-card format defined in ISO 7810 (ID-1, about 85.6 x 54mm), so check card holders if you are ordering both.

Rounded corners (commonly a 3mm radius) soften the card, resist dog-earing and look modern. Square corners read as more traditional. Either works; pick the one that matches the rest of your stationery.

How should a double-sided business card be laid out?

A double-sided business card works when each face does one job: a brand side and a details side.

• Brand side: logo and perhaps a single line (the firm name, or a short descriptor), with generous space. This is the side that carries the finish.
• Details side: the person and how to reach them, set in a clear hierarchy.

Keep type no smaller than your designer's minimum for the stock, and avoid hairline rules under a laminate. Leave a 3mm bleed if any colour runs to the edge, and keep important text inside the safe area.

What should a professional business card include?

A business card needs seven core details, consistent across sectors:

1. Name, as the person wants to be addressed.
2. Role or title.
3. Firm name (and logo).
4. Direct phone or mobile.
5. Email.
6. Website.
7. Office address, if clients visit.

Sector extras are common:

• Lawyers and accountants: post-nominals, practice area, and, if your firm participates in a professional standards scheme, a scheme disclosure line such as "Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation". Whether that line is required on a business card depends on the scheme and your jurisdiction; ask your professional body or the Professional Standards Councils.
• Lawyers: some professional rules limit how you may describe yourself, for example as a "specialist". Check your law society's guidance.
• Real estate agents: licence or certificate numbers, where your state regulator or agency policy expects them. Requirements vary by state.
• Companies: ABN or ACN, if your firm includes them on its stationery.

This is general information, not legal advice. Our proof check flags missing sector details where you might expect them, but it is your firm's call what appears. Our guide to professional standards scheme lines on stationery covers that disclosure in more depth.

How should business cards match the rest of the stationery?

Business cards should share typefaces, colour values, formatting and one signature finish with the letterhead, compliment slips, envelopes and folders. Cards are rarely seen alone. A client may hold your card, a letter and a folder at the same meeting, so the set should agree:

• the same typefaces and colour values across cards, letterhead, compliment slips and envelopes;
• brand colours specified for both coated (laminated card) and uncoated (letterhead) stocks, since the same ink looks different on each;
• consistent formatting of phone numbers, addresses and web addresses;
• one finish used as a signature, rather than different effects on each item.

Our law firm stationery suite guide walks through a full set.

How many business cards should you order per person?

There is no single right number of business cards per person, but a first run of 250 is common. A business development partner or a sales agent who meets new people every week will use far more cards than someone in a support role. A practical approach:

• order a modest first run per person;
• give client-facing roles a larger run;
• reorder per person when stocks run low, rather than over-ordering for everyone.

Over-ordering has a cost beyond the print: titles change, mobile numbers change, and boxes of outdated cards end up in recycling.

How do you manage business card reorders for new staff?

Business card reorders for new staff stay simple with a locked template, a single source list, recorded colour values and scheduled reorders. The quiet test of a card programme is the twelfth reorder, not the first. A few habits make it painless:

• Lock a template. Fix fonts, sizes, colours and the order of details, so adding a person is a data change, not a design job.
• Keep a single source list. Send names, titles and numbers from one list, checked by the person. On our proofs, names and titles are checked against the list you supplied; we flag anything that looks wrong and never change it silently.
• Record colour values. A brand colour match ($95 per design) records your colour values so reorders stay consistent.
• Consider scheduled reorders. Our storage and scheduled reorder service ($29 a month) holds your approved artwork and stock, and reorders on the schedule you set.

How much do premium business cards cost?

Premium business cards from Proof & Print cost $240 inc GST for 250, $325 for 500 and $385 for 1,000 on our builder default: 450gsm soft-touch, printed both sides, with spot gloss on the front. Prices include GST and metro delivery:

Raised tactile gloss, foil and rounded corners are also in the builder. Letterpress, duplexed and edge-painted cards are quoted by your consultant. Cards usually dispatch 5 to 7 business days after proof approval.

Next step

Order cards for a single person or a whole team through our business cards page. If you are refreshing letterheads, compliment slips, envelopes and folders at the same time, The Practice Suite bundles a matched set for $3,195, and our legal and professional practices page explains how we work with firms.