Most bad business cards fail in the same ten ways. Scan your design against this list before you print, and you will be ahead of the majority of cards in any stack.
The ten mistakes
1. Text too small. Contact details below 7 pt are unreadable for a large share of adults. Fix: minimum sizes from the business card font guide.
2. Low contrast. Gray on white and mid-tone on mid-tone look subtle on screen and vanish on paper.
3. Cramming everything on. Two phone numbers, three social handles and a fax line bury the one action you want. Decide the priority — see what information belongs on a card.
4. A stretched or pixelated logo. Use a clean, high-resolution logo file, as covered in how to add a logo.
5. Design touching the trim edge. Text at the border gets cut. Respect the safe area explained in bleed and safe area.
6. An unscannable QR code. Too small, too dense, or no quiet zone — the rules are in QR code size on a business card.
7. Outdated details. A card with a dead phone number is negative marketing.
8. An untouched template. Default colors and sample-style layouts read as generic; ten minutes of customization fixes it.
9. Flimsy paper. Below 14 pt stock the card feels disposable, whatever it says.
10. No next step. A card with contact details but no action — no website, booking link, QR code or offer — depends entirely on the other person's initiative.
How to do it in AI Business Cards Generator
- Start from a professional template so spacing, hierarchy and margins begin correct.
- Enter only the details that serve your one priority action, then add your logo and brand colors.
- Add a properly sized QR code if a scan is your next step.
- Preview the front and back at actual size and re-check this list.
- Export in high resolution and order a small proof before a large run.