The best fonts for business cards: Let’s imagine: You open a business card template and type in your small business name. Since it looks tiny against the white background, you increase the font size. Next, you explore the font menu to see how it will look in different typographic styles. Before you know it, you’re reading a (seemingly) endless list of fonts, and you’re more indecisive than ever.
With thousands of font style options available, selecting the typographic style that will define your business can be a daunting challenge. Keep in mind that business card fonts serve two main purposes: to capture attention and be easy to read.
In this article, we’ll dive into the importance of typography in design and discover the best fonts for business cards. Read on to learn about the different types of fonts, how to combine different styles, and what size your business card text should be.
The 23 Best Fonts for Business Cards
Adelle – Armitage – Athelas Rg – Bevan – Bookman JF – Baskerville -Bree – Cabernet – Didact – Gothic – Eloquent JF – Fjalla One – Futura Book – Georgia – Goudy Old Style – Hellenic Wide – Mostra Nuova – Politica – Proxima Nova – Quicksand – Raleway – Refrigerator Deluxe – Roboto Slab – Satisfy
What is a sans-serif font?
In typography, a sans-serif font lacks decorative lines (called serifs) at the end of each stroke. Sans-serif fonts also tend to have less line width variation than serif fonts, which we’ll discuss later. In print products, sans-serif fonts are best suited for company names or titles, as they are easy to read at a glance. These fonts are often the best modern type for business cards, as they express simplicity and minimalism.
Sans-serif fonts are often used for digital text on screens. On low-resolution screens, intricate details like serifs can disappear or appear oversized. Therefore, don’t forget sans-serif fonts when aligning your online and offline presence.
What is a serif font?
Serif fonts originate from inscriptions carved into historic buildings, bridges, and gravestones. This historical association makes serif fonts ideal if you want to give your brand a traditional or time-tested look.
Due to their tradition and legibility, serif fonts are often used in long manuscripts, books, newspapers, and magazines. Some believe that the readability and reading speed of long passages improves with these fonts, as serifs help the eye move along a line. Others believe that serif fonts improve readability because they are the fonts we are most accustomed to reading.
Calligraphy fonts are typefaces that express a human touch, such as flowing cursive strokes and handwriting-style calligraphy. These fonts work well for invitations, greeting cards, titles, or very short, expressive texts with a personal message. Classic, flowing calligraphy fonts often give an elegant look, while rounder fonts convey a playful feel.
A script font can be great for grabbing attention, but make sure your message is legible. Avoid using script fonts for long pieces of text, as they are difficult to read at smaller font sizes. If you want to use a script font on your business card, incorporate it into secondary text, such as your tagline or slogan.
How to combine fonts on your business card
When designing your business card, narrow your selection down to two fonts. Create a visual hierarchy and decide which information should stand out the most (probably your name or the name of your small business). Other information, such as contact information and social media handles, can be smaller or used in a different font.
Here are a few more tips for using fonts on your business card:
- Combine a calligraphic or serif font with a sans-serif.
- Avoid combining fonts that look similar.
- Use different weights (bold, regular, italic) of the same font to create contrast.
- Don’t use more than three font sizes on your business card. Two is ideal! Create contrast between the text and the design background to make all text fields stand out.
Four font combinations to inspire your next business card
Font sizes for business cards: recommendations
In typography, the point (pt) is the standard unit for measuring the size of letters in a design. The most prominent text fields on a business card, such as your company name or your first and last name, should be between 10 pt and 16 pt, depending on the available space.
The size of secondary text, such as your title, email address, phone number, or Instagram handle, should be visible and easy to read, but should contrast with the size of the main text. The minimum business card font size you should use in our templates is 8 pt, but you can increase it slightly if you have the space. Keep in mind that some fonts may appear smaller than others, even if they both have the same point size.