Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Based on the latest business card trends, 2024 is shaping up to be an era of extremes in design. As neutrals trend, so does iridescence. As AI art becomes ubiquitous, traditional illustration is experiencing a comeback. For small business owners, adopting designs from 2024 business card trends offers opportunities to show they’re willing to adapt to the times while firmly communicating where they fall on these wide spectrums. After all, a business card is one of the few pieces of branding that’s handed from person to person. Keep this face-to-face interaction, itself a juxtaposition to the video calls and online messages we typically rely on for business communication, in mind as you find inspiration for your next business card.
The top business card design trends for 2024:
- Sophisticated #basics
- Iridescence
- Bold custom fonts
- Mesmerizing patterns
- Interactive elements
- Printed edge
- Ode to postcard
Take a look at last year’sbusiness card design trends for 2023here.
Or view ourcollection of trends predictions over the years, picked by the global community of creatives that work with small businesses every year through VistaPrint.
1. Sophisticated #basics
The latest business card trends prove basics don’t have to be boring. One of the trends becoming more popular is a minimalist, sophisticated take on basic designs.
You might be wondering, “How is this different from the other minimalist trends we’ve seen?”
Here’s how: Minimalism isn’t one specific aesthetic, but an umbrella term that covers a range of styles that incorporate clean lines, limited colour palettes and often, simple geometric shapes. There are unique takes on minimalism trends every few years, and for 2024, it’s focused on neutral colours, plain fonts and lots of negative space. Sophisticated #basics business card designs look simple, but feel elevated in their simplicity. They use soft tones, like mossy greens and light tans. When they use shapes, they’re rounded, soft geometric shapes. Fonts can be serif or sans serif; but no matter what, the text is small because a key component of this trend is significant negative space on each card.
Source: Outer Studio via Dribbble
“Minimalism is a timeless and influential design approach, focusing on simplicity, clarity, and functionality. The emphasis on flat, simple shapes, limited colour palettes, and the use of a single font aligns with the core principles of minimalism. The idea of ‘showing less to stand out’ is a powerful concept in a world saturated with information. By carefully selecting and presenting only what is necessary, brands can create a distinctive and memorable identity. It’s a way to cut through the noise and make a strong, lasting impression.”
Megan Morahan, Global Creative Director – Product Creation & Experience, VistaPrint
Source: Sumaiya Akter via Behance
“I love the minimalist effect you get with simple monochromatic designs, especially when combined with a luxe finish like foil or printed edge as it exudes premium.”
Candace Farias, Head of NA Category Experience, VistaPrint
Source: Angelina Mamoshina via Behance
2. Iridescence
Nostalgia comes up a lot in design trend discussions, and 2024 business card trends are no exception. Millennial nostalgia, and the question of whether millennials are the last nostalgic generation (they aren’t), is one of the likely drivers behind our next trend – iridescent business cards. Who could forget the rush of finding a holographic Pokemon card in a booster pack?
Source: M.Junaid via Behance
Source: multiple owners via Behance
This trend embraces chaos and striking colours. Mixing and matching energetic bright colours paired with energetic typography create a fun ‘more is more’ feel. Layering elements and a common colour palette help unify the design. What I like is that this trend celebrates creativity, individuality and expressive aesthetics through statement colours, colour techniques and maximalist embellishments. It’s offbeat and encourages an anything goes mindset.
Megan Morahan, Global Creative Director – Product Creation & Experience, VistaPrint
Source: M. Junaid via Behance
Source: Ian Douglas by 99designs by Vista
3. Bold custom fonts
Designing a custom font is one way to convey your brand’s personality while guaranteeing you have something truly unique. This trend embraces that concept, but in a very specific way. In 2024, brands will continue showcasing their boldness and bravery by making bold custom fonts the focal point of their business cards.
Custom font design is graphic design applied to text. In a custom font, design choices like shapes, kerning and scale communicate a brand’s personality, whether that’s edgy or mellow, exclusive or available to all. In the trending business card designs we’re seeing, contrast is key to making a bold font even bolder. These fonts don’t necessarily need to be complex-looking – they are just as effective when simple and straightforward. However, a bold custom font, uniquely crafted to fit your brand identity, is a great way to create something instantly recognizable and memorable for your business card. It can also act as your logo, eliminating the need to have both a logo and a font designed.
4. Mesmerizing patterns
Like we mentioned at the start, 2024’s business card trends can feel like they contrast each other. On the one hand, we’ve got designs that embrace neutral colours and simple fonts. On the other hand, we’ve got designs that lure the viewer into a labyrinth of pattern and colour. Businesses who want to stand out as forward-thinking or complex can choose cards that feature mesmerising patterns simulating movement through closely packed lines and high contrast colour palettes. These designs demand the viewer’s attention and encourage the viewer to spend a little more time with it, which can be perfect for a business that appeals to the consumer’s need to explore and understand.
Through their optical illusions, many of these designs create depth. On a flat business card surface, this depth is intriguing and unexpected. This points to one of the themes playing out in design right now – a move away from predictability. As AI art, a medium that can only produce according to the data sets it’s been trained on, becomes more prominent, designers are highlighting the kind of work that only humans can create. Sure, AI can create a complex geometric pattern, but can it use the pattern to intrigue a human viewer?
Source: Other Studio via Dribbble
Source: Eric Nyffeler via Dribbble
Source: HYP Design via 99designs by Vista
Source: Goce Veleski via 99designs by Vista
5. Interactive elements
Business cards featuring interactive designs are becoming popular as we head toward 2024. This is another example of modern meets traditional: Business cards, a low-tech, simple way of exchanging business information, are increasingly incorporating interactive elements into the design, such as QR codes or NFC (Near Field Communication) chips, to bring them to life.
The humble QR code has certainly had its moment over the last couple of years. But using one on your business card design isn’t just about giving the recipient another avenue to reach your website or contact you.
A QR code on a business card can take the viewer anywhere. From your social media profiles or ‘About Us’ page, to a piece of bespoke content explaining your brand origin story or your latest product, the possibilities are endless. Leveraging the interactive elements trend on your business card is an opportunity to create a more comprehensive brand experience by showing the viewer more of what makes your business unique and special – despite them only walking away with a tiny piece of paper in their hand.
6. Printed edge
Refreshing your business card design doesn’t always have to mean a complete overhaul – sometimes all it takes is a little pop of colour. Another business card design trend that’s gaining popularity as we head into 2024 is printed edge cards. These cards, which are generally printed on thicker-than-average cardstock, leverage unexpected pops of colour along their edges as a simple, but effective, way to help your business card stand out.
Because they’re on thick stock, these business cards naturally feel more high-end than their thinner counterparts. Similarly to the sophisticated basics trend, they play with the concept of ‘quiet luxury’, an aesthetic that’s becoming popular as more conspicuous displays of wealth fall out of favour during challenging economic times. A business card with a printed edge design can work your brand’s main colour into an otherwise neutral design, like a yellow edge to a white card. It can create contrast, and when you opt for a metallic or glittery edge, provide a quiet peek of opulence without going overboard.
Why not see what your own business cards could look like with a pop of colour along their edges? Check out our painted edge business cards now.
Source: Pixelbox via Behance
Source: TanLearn via 99designs by Vista
“These cards stand out at any angle and add a surprising yet lasting impact. The striking bold colours add dimension to the cards design, and when stacked together turn heads.”
Candace Farias, Head of NA Category Experience, VistaPrint
Source: ultrastjarna via 99designs by Vista
Source: ultrastjarna via 99designs by Vista
7. An ode to postcards
While some designers are creating high-tech, futuristic business cards, others are going old-school leaning into a more lo-fi, handcrafted look with our next business card trend: postcard-inspired business cards. Because this trend plays with traditional and throw-back aesthetics, it’s a great choice for vintage shops, neighbourhood retailers, service providers who aim to communicate a sense of ‘old-fashioned values and any business that has a history to celebrate.
A hallmark of this trend is a full image on one side of the card and all its owner’s contact information on the other side. By taking up an entire side with an image, rather than a small logo or name, it makes the card feel like a tiny piece of art, rather than strictly a business accessory. Not only does this grab a viewer’s attention; it makes them less likely to discard it. Businesses can take this sense of creating a shareable piece of art in a variety of directions, like a line drawing of their shop’s exterior or a lush portrait of the brand’s mascot. The postcard can be simple or ornate, such as a coffee shop choosing a minimalist representation of coffee and pastries, or an architect designing a business card that features a home’s blueprints.
Embrace 2024 business card trends with custom design
As you prepare your next business card order, think about what you want to communicate through design. As a brand, who are you? Are you the same brand you were in 2023, or is a rebrand part of your plan for 2024? With a clear vision of how you want to present your brand and connect with prospective customers and collaborators, see if any of 2024’s business card trends inspire a design that communicates this vision. Looking for more business card design inspiration? Check out our business cards page to get started.
Ready to make these trends your own?
Explore our custom business card designs.
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