Great Resources for Business Cards & Stationery

Written by / Design Sponge

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    • design_sponge_stationery_Business_cards.jpgIn today’s world of texts, emails, blogs, and social networks, the act of exchanging printed business cards or writing letters on personal stationery might seem a little outdated and impractical. Since the world has become so wrapped up in online communication, the printed material you do come across needs to be a lot more impressive to seem worthwhile. However, I think it is the very tangibility that makes the medium exciting, and if you are looking for a creative way to make you stand out professionally, a beautiful, clever, or thoughtfully designed business card can be just the way to do it.

    Luckily, there are so many ways to print and make your own cards these days, so money no longer needs to be an issue. I’ve rounded up some great resources for business cards and stationery: where to get them printed, ideas for how to make your own, and sites you can visit to see awesome examples and find inspiration. It doesn’t matter what your area of business is– I highly recommend checking out these business card resources and getting yourself some great cards fast. They will give a tangible and tactile first impression that no email or facebook message ever could. Enjoy!


    Card Designers and Print Shops: 
    There are many places to go for good business cards. If you want to design something simple yourself and have it ready fast, you can always get cards printed at a copy shop or through your home printer. However, if you’re looking for a little bit extra: letterpress, colored edges, interesting graphics, or other creative details, here are some wonderful shops and designers that offer beautiful business card designs at reasonable prices. Some have pre-designed cards for a discount, but also offer full custom design services if you want something totally unique. These are some of my favorite shops out there; I hope you find something you like!

    Already designed the perfect business card? I want to hear from you! Where did you have it made, and how did you go about designing it? 


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    San Francisco based print shop specializing in small batch correspondence cards, business cards, and other small paper goods.


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    Also based in San Francisco, Oh Happy Day offers beautiful and creative ways to make your business cards stand out, including watercolor and colored edge treatments.

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    The Mandate Press offers several great design template for business cards, but also does full custom design and print work. These are a couple example of their custom designs.

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    This letterpress studio is based in Portland Oregon and run by two graphic designers. They specialize in custom cards, invitations, and other letterpress print projects.

    Tutorials and Ideas for DIY Business Cards:
    Below are some great examples of clever homemade business cards, which can cost far less than professionally printed cards, but look way cooler. Most of these don’t require a particularly skilled artistry either, so even if you’ve never crafted before, these business cards should be a snap!

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    Alt Summit Business Card DIY:
    On her way to a blogger’s conference and in need of some quick but beautiful business cards, 26 year old Danni of the blog Oh Hello Friend whipped up these awesome cards in no time–and you can do the same. I love the bright pop of yellow against the natural brown kraft paper, but these could look equally amazing in any hue.

    Kate Pruitt
    Kate Pruitt
    As a Contributing Editor at Design Sponge, artist Kate Pruitt shares DIY projects each Wednesday. Kate lives in Oakland, California and has a background in art/art history and recently left her job creating window displays to pursue her own work full time. Growing up in New Hampshire, Kate spent a lot of time building machines out of paper and scotch tape, and thus discovered her first DIY impulses.

    Read More From Kate Pruitt
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    • http://profile.typepad.com/d101588576797890316 A Facebook User

      I believe technology is surpassing business cards which is saddening to me. I liked the physical contact involved, and thus the marketing built up. I will continue to buy business cards. If anyone needs affordable business cards call 888-860-7248 ; They are Print Runner

    • http://profile.typepad.com/elaine88designs Elaine88designs

      Very nice post! I love business card design. Another great resource to buy business cards from is Minted. com: http://www.minted.com/business-cards

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003406350264 Jafna

        Yes, you do need to call the companies and ccenal them. They won’t actually be ccenalled until you completely pay them off though.If you have quite a few cards though, don’t ccenal them all at once. If you do, it screws up your credit rating. You should only ccenal one card every 1-2 months.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/adesigndockblogspotcom Adesigndock.blogspot.com

      Love the companies you featured…excited to check them out. And love these DIY cards. So fun!

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003406331938 Lyan

        I have a business that is less than a year old so I frseoee this to be a year of great gains and challenges.My business goals are:To steadily build a monthly revenue that can fully support both myself and my partner.To establish our business as the go to for art marketing advice in our local area.To build our seminars and events to the point of being able to support a two-day marketing workshop.To achieve all this we are creating strategies to build our online presence, networking with local art organizations, holding seminars and events to share our knowledge, and generally making ourselves a visible part of the community.We face the challenge of being able to get our brand and message out to enough of our target market, providing the types of services that are most needed and wanted, and growing the business at a pace that we can sustain but also support our goals.All in all I look forward to the challenges and triumphs in the year ahead.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/denig Eleonore Denig

      I used Mary at Milkglass Creative- She has a new Etsy shop open now! HIghly recommend her.

    • http://profile.typepad.com/ohhellofriend Ohhellofriend

      Thank you so much for including my DIY card in your round up post Kate! So many lovely cards featured here.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003406322303 Roya

        For Mozilla Firefox:When you visit a website, you can find if it is scuere or not by looking at the browser bar (which contains the web address). If their is a light blue thing shaded before the web address, then it is digitally scuere. Also, after the web address, their sometimes is a small construction-colored lock. This means it is verisign-secure.BUT, this does NOT tell you anything. It just means it does not steal your credit-card information. However, if you sign for a subscription service, they still charge you for something like a free trial. You MUST read their TOS, take pictures etc, just in case they charge you. The majority of websites are not-fradulent and have nice customer service.A easy way to check is to just type into google the website you want, followed by scam So, google would look like google scam . Read through some links, and determine with good judgement if you think it is a scam. Also, you can install WOT, search it, as a Mozilla Firefox plugin, and they will tell you warnings on whether a site is safe. Hope you browse safely!~DebateTech