There's the cards that are tacky, but not in a stylish, avant-garde, kinda way... more like the tacky, tacky- tacky kinda way. They have 5 different unreadable fonts in 5 different ugly, neon colors. Sometimes they have no graphics whatsoever, or the graphics they do have are fuzzy because the original picture file was too small and they blew it up to fit.
Yes, let's talk about graphics a little more. If you're advertising a business that specializes in beautifying people, it's probably not a good idea to feature your (scary-looking) cousin (whose hair you do for free once a month because you owe them money) be featured on your card. You should use a template that already features an attractive model with great hair. Or, you can take the time to find a really nice, copyright-free picture of a model to upload to a template.
You know, cheap paper looks... cheap. It's dull, it gets wrinkles, and it smudges if you breathe on it. That's because it has no coating on it. It looks unprofessional and will make you look unprofessional. Your business cards should have at least a protective coating on the front, and if you can swing it, get the UV coating, which will keep the card looking fresh for a long time.
Plain white business cards with black text and graphics can look good, but not if the fonts and picture you use looks like you printed it on your home computer with a clip-art program from 1996. Instead, find a pre-made business card template with eye-catching graphics and matching font. Don't use a Victorian, fancy font like Vivaldi if your cards have a modern, high tech flair. You'd think that would be common sense, but I've seen it done.
Too much information can be a bad thing on a biz card. Sure, there's a lot to say, but you really don't need to say it all. If you feel that you must include a lot of info, then choose a business card template that you can edit the back of. Then, you can put anything on there you like- a map to your salon (especially if it's out of the way), a list of all the things your salon specializes in, etc.
Keep your designs simple, readable, yet classy and your cards will work hard for you- you'll get your money's worth right away. Plus, you'll never have some picky blogger making fun of your business cards. This guy does a bang-up job of making fun of business cards in general, he has some really good points.
