Greetings all! I’ve been lurking around for a couple of weeks because a friend wants to start a window and gutter cleaning business and get it up and started by spring. I’m new to the industry but the friend isn’t and will be training me. I’m trying to come up with names and business cards and I’ve noticed many businesses use white, blue and green on their business cards. How important is that? We had an idea that we thought was a catchy name and to put it in purple with neon font for the name and regular type font for info all on a black background. You know, like a neon sign. Is black a color that shouldn’t be used or does it matter? Thanks for any input and looking forward to learning more!
Hi @Leo! I am with the print department here at the wcr.
Yes, many business cards in the industry tend to use different shades of blue, as the majority either want to represent water or have something water related on the card.
You do not have to follow that pattern. Blue and green do tend to make you think of water, however that does not mean setting yourself apart and being different is a bad thing. It can make you stand out.
I have one window cleaner who likes to use Superman colors, and have seen many logos in red and orange.
I can picture your idea with the black and neon, and it sounds like it could look very cool. The only issue that comes to mind is what kind of paper stock you use for your cards and how they are cut. This will depend on where you get them. If the cards do not have a great quality ink, that black has the potential the peel around the edges after cutting. It could be visible right away, or might take time, but eventually that black can start to wear away. You might want to consider plastic cards- this will prevent the ink from rubbing off or peeling when cut.
Also, will this be just a business card, or where you trying to make that your logo? Remember that not everything you print on will have the ability to be black ( like an invoice) and you will need to convert the logo to be visible on white. You also want to be able to have a one color version, as that tends to be less expensive or necessary for certain print products.
Thanks for the input. Yes, I was thinking about plastic cards as well. I was looking at the business card only and am still brainstorming on how to go about integrating it as a logo onto invoices, estimates and other what-nots. I’ve tried putting the neon font and color on a white background but it doesn’t pop as with black. I do have some graphics on the card that I could play around with and come up with something that will work on white.
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@Leo you got it! You might want to try outlining the neon text in black. That way, when it is on black you will not see the outline, it will pop more on white and when you need a one color black imprint, it will be white with the black outline. I can not say it will ever look as good on the white as it does on the black, but this might allow you to utilize the colors you want without running intro any issues later on.
