Business Cards? For students? Yes and yes. What may seem superfluous at first glance has a lot of advantages when you look closely. That's why today we're devoting ourselves to the topic of creating business cards. We were particularly interested in the question: What does the perfect business card for students actually look like?
Business cards = entry tickets into the professional world
Imagine you are at a recruiting or contact fair and have a good conversation with the HR manager of a large company. You agree that you should introduce yourself to the company. He casually slides his business card over to you and you... laboriously write down your contact details on the back of some brochure. Not exactly embarrassing, but a bit amateurish. In such a situation, you can score points with a well-made business card .
Once you have these things, you will find that situations will always arise in which you are happy to be equipped with professional business cards. Be it at a job interview or at a party when one of the guests happens to be interested in what you have to offer. Business cards are small advertising media for your own business - whoever uses them positions themselves as a serious and serious counterpart in the business world.
Put all one's eggs in one basket. But what exactly?
Less is more! Only the information that is really relevant to the recipient should be on a business card:
- First and Last Name
- Previous professional qualifications/titles
- Student + field of study/university
- Address
- Telephone (mobile is sufficient)
- E-mail address
- Website/blog (if available)
If you would prefer to keep some of your data to yourself: no problem. You can limit yourself to your favorite type of contact , e.g. For example, you can only provide your email address and leave out your address and telephone number entirely - this even seems particularly modern. However, you should always get back to us promptly if you contact us.
Alternatively, instead of mentioning your field of study, you can also mention the field of activity in which you would like to work later. But be careful: “John Doe – Project Management” seems more determined than “John Doe – Student of Business Administration” but also significantly more pretentious. You should definitely stay away from protected job titles such as “educator” or “architect”, even if you already work in these areas, e.g. B. as part of a part-time job.
Tips for designing student business cards
You don't have to be a design genius to create a beautiful and functional business card. Here is an overview of the most important points you should consider when designing:
The right format
Keep it classic. The landscape format in credit card size (8.5 x 5.5 cm) has become established. Unusual formats such as B. square cards are noticeable, but are impractical because they do not fit into common storage aids.
Coherent colors
As a student, you have particular freedom here because you are not yet bound to a given corporate design. It's worth not just choosing your favorite colors, but thinking carefully about which colors should represent you . This is how it works, for example B. Blue is particularly competent and honest, while red is dynamic and spirited. Avoid overly colorful color mixes! Light cards appear more trustworthy than dark ones. In any case, choose a strong contrast between text and background.
Decent fonts
The most important thing is readability . In other words: The text must not be too small or too ornate. As with the colors, the following applies here: avoid wild mixtures so that the eyes are not strained. It's best not to choose more than two different fonts . Otherwise it will quickly become chaotic!
Open spaces
Especially those who receive a large number of business cards for work like to make notes about the person directly on the cards. It is therefore advisable to leave the back of the card completely free and to keep it in a light color. By the way, you should avoid centering the text - this seems a bit old-fashioned now.
Individual touch
Despite all the orientation towards common standards, it should not be forgotten that a business card primarily symbolizes you and your personality. A small logo or a good photo stays in your memory. Embossing or an unusual material, such as plastic, can also be very effective as long as it doesn't overload the card. When in doubt, prefer conventional, but professional!
No matter what design decisions you make, be sure to have another pair of eyes proofread your business card. Nothing is more annoying than being left with 250 business cards because a number has been miswritten into the telephone number.
Good and cheap: business cards for students from the Internet
Unless you have an extremely powerful color laser printer of your own, it is better not to print your business cards at home, but rather have them printed in a copy shop or by an online provider . Make sure you use good cardboard paper (from 300 g/m²) and a rich color print. The higher quality your card, the more likely the recipient will keep it.
Due to their aggressive online advertising, print providers like Vistaprint are known to almost everyone. Business cards are available here starting at 0 euros ! However, there is a price trap: the shipping costs. If you want your tickets sent quickly, you'll pay a lot more.
Our editorial recommendation is the creative platform Zazzle . Here you can either upload your own design or choose between hundreds of templates that are clearly organized by topic. The good price-performance ratio and the fast shipping also convinced us.
Conclusion: cards on the table!
Student business cards are a fine line to walk . When distributed at the wrong time, they appear silly at best, self-important or even unsympathetic at worst. Nevertheless, it's worth always having a few copies on hand. You never know when and where you will meet your dream employer!
