Announcement Card Design Essentials

Whether you're celebrating a graduation or birthday, a retirement or anniversary, or a grand opening or sales event, you know that announcement cards are fun and remarkably effective ways to get the word out. Announcement cards are perfect for any event, because you can design them in infinite themes and styles. But, even though the sky's the limit when it comes to announcement card designs, there are still certain tenets you should follow that will help your announcement cards stand out as uniquely mesmerizing.

Capture attention

The first goal of any announcement card design is to capture attention. There are several ways to make your design stand out, depending on the reason for your announcement. If you're announcing a personal celebration to family and friends, a photo of the person or people the celebration is for won't be missed. If you're announcing a business event, you should think more along the lines of creating an outstanding offer to pitch on the front of your announcement card.

Be judicious with fonts

Often amateur designers, in an attempt to get away from "boring and normal" fonts, employ many different fonts or fonts that don't match the tone in their announcement card designs. Seasoned professionals know that one or two fonts will usually be ample for your announcement card designs - one font for your headline and another for your body copy, for example. Keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with straying from fonts such as Arial and Times New Roman, but in many cases subtle differences can have more influence than irregular fonts that aren't recognized by readers.

Design for action

Many announcement cards seek some action from recipients, such as advance RSVPs that typically go unheeded. Your design can work to increase your RSVP rate by providing a benefit. Arrows, exclamation points, warning signs or other relevant eye-catching graphics can draw attention to a line that says something such as "RSVP today to reserve your fried chicken dinner at the celebration!"

Print quality announcement cards

The best designs poorly printed are wasted. If you're commemorating a special event and want to save it in a frame or scrapbook, or if you're marketing a business event and want to legitimize your company, you must print your announcement cards with high-quality ink on premium papers. Don't worry - it's cheap to print custom announcement cards with quality materials, and extra touches such as gloss or matte finishes bring out your colors and add tone to your designs.

Use colors wisely

Simple is often best when it comes to color use, especially for fonts, separation lines, shapes, sidebars and other accents. An image might contain a million colors, but the rest of your announcement cards should stick to a handful - one or two colors can be elegant or fun, depending on how you use them. If you want a rainbow of colors, stick to the recognized color spectrum or choose from a range of hues with the same root color.