How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Business Cards

Business card printing is an important long-term marketing strategy that is worth a little extra time and effort to get just right. One of the most important aspects of any business card printing project is that it stands out to your customer. You want your business cards to be memorable and easy to spot later. One of the best ways to do that is by choosing the right colors. This article discusses how to use the color wheel to choose colors that will make your business cards easy to read and memorable, while also maintaining a professional look.

Introducing the color wheel
To really understand how to choose the right colors for your business cards you need to have a basic grasp of the color wheel. The color wheel is simply a tool that designers use to find colors that are analogous, complementary, monochromatic, or triadic. These fancy words are just different ways of explaining how colors work together to create different effects.

Analogous colors
Analogous colors are those that are nearby each other on a color wheel. If you’re using a blue hue, analogous colors are those shades of teal and purple close by. Analogous colors work well with each other because they are visually similar. Use analogous colors on your business card to set elements apart subtly.

Complementary colors
Complementary colors are those on the exact opposite side of the color wheel. If you choose a bright blue, the color on the opposite side is yellow. Use complementary colors on your business card to create a strong contrast between text and background or to separate elements from one another in a dramatic fashion.

Monochrome colors
Monochrome simply means that you are only working with two colors. You do not want the colors to be too close to each other on a color spectrum since this will make the text in the background difficult to distinguish. Black and white are the most common examples of monochromatic color schemes

, but red and black, blue and white, green and black, and many more are other examples of monochrome.

Triadic colors
Triadic simply means three colors that are equidistant from one another on the color wheel. Bright red, bright blue, and bright green would be an example of a triadic color scheme. Use triadic colors for a balanced visual effect for business cards.