The Best Business Cards for Artists

Despite the growing importance of the artist’s online presence, physically printed business cards remain essential to make a professional impression during one of the most important activities for artists outside their studio walls: networking and exchanging contact information. In this article, we will discuss the best practices for business cards, including ten examples and templates you can use to have a professional business card in minutes.

Aesthetics and appearances matter in the art world. As a result, your business cards must align with the high-end visual identity of the art world. Instead of hiring a graphic designer, which can be costly, the CAI Design Studio has prepared a series of ten templates for you to use and print with a free Canva account. Why Canva? It is arguably one of the most user-friendly platforms with terrific value for money. We have tried out Canva and ordered business cards to verify the quality, and it simply does the trick for an almost unbeatable price.

You can either try to recreate the templates using this free article or purchase the ten templates to avoid making any mistakes for the price of just a coffee here or at our overview page with Career Tools for Artists. By doing so, artists can save time and money while ensuring they have the best business cards for success in the art world.

The Design of Business Cards in the Art World

If we browse the internet in search of examples and templates of business cards for artists, unfortunately, the majority of online resources advise artists to use designs that are not suited for the high-end art world—even more, they can be frowned upon or harmful for the credibility of the artist. The visual identity of the art world is marked by minimal designs where simplicity meets sophistication. They use specific trendy fonts in the style of Helvetica for sans-serif fonts and classy serif fonts in the style of EB Garamond, using black or dark grey text on a white background. The fonts are often small and arranged aesthetically with a lot of white space reminiscent of accrochages in white cube galleries.

Unfortunately, most online resources advise artists to use tacky images and illustrations to look playful and creative instead of professional and formal. Think of splashes of paint, illustrations of paintbrushes or canvases, and hand-written fonts that are too crafty for the professional art world. Do not make this mistake when designing your business card but use a template or style that aligns with the visual identity of the contemporary art world. Feel free to brows through the websites of industry-leading art galleries, renowned art platforms, or established artists to explore and understand the visual identity of the art world.

For business cards in particular, having received hundreds of cards from renowned art galleries and successful artists, we will never see those tacky designs with a lot of color as the templates you’ll find elsewhere online. Instead, they are very formal, professional, and minimal, as are the ten design templates we will be sharing below. But before we have a look at those designs, let’s discuss the most important information and contact details you want to have on your business card as an artist.

The Must-Have Information for Artist Business Cards

1. Name and Surname (Must-Have)

Your business card must consist of your name and surname. All too often, artists are advised to have a brand name, logo, or artist name. However, in the art world, this is not customary, and it can even be frowned upon. In the art world, your name is your brand. Think of Yayoi Kusama, Ai Weiwei, or Marina Abramovic. Artists are people and not corporate businesses with a brand name or logo. So, simply write down your name and surname on your business card and do not use an alias unless there is a specific reason for it; for example, the anonymity of Bansky or in the case of a collective such as teamLab.

2. Artist or Artistic Discipline (Advised)

It is also advised to mention below your name that you are an artist by writing down ‘artist’ or ‘contemporary artist’ below your name—as if it is a title you hold. You could also specify your artistic discipline(s) in this line. Think of ‘photographer,’ ‘performance artist,’ ‘contemporary painter,’ or ‘multidisciplinary artist.’

3. Artist Website (Must-Have)

Another must-have item on your business card is a link to your artist website, where they can find your resume and portfolio. Make sure you have a professional domain name, preferably ‘www.namesurname.com.’ Avoid tacky domain names such as ‘www.beautifulpaintings.com’ or free domain names such as ‘www.squarespace.syeh.net/namesurname.website.’ For more information about artist websites, make sure to read our complete article on How To Set Up A Professional Artist Website.

4. Email Address (Must-Have)

A third and final ‘must-have’ element for your business card is an email address. The majority of formal contact with potential gallery partners, collectors, or press will happen by mail. As a result, make sure your email address is included. It is also advised to have a professional email address such as ‘[email protected]’ instead of tacky email addresses such as ‘[email protected].’ Another professional option is to have an email address that is connected to the domain name of your website, such as [email protected]

5. Instagram Account (Advised)

Less formal than the artist’s website and an email address, but as effective and frequently used—if not more—to contact artists or to view their work is Instagram. Instagram remains the number one social media platform for the art world today. Everybody in the art world has an account, and they use it to connect or discover new artists. As a result, you are advised to include your Instagram handle on your business card. Not only is it a perfect invitation to view your work from their phone, but it also gives the option to follow you and to stay in touch.

6. Telephone Number (Optional)

Additionally, you can also add your telephone number to your business card. By doing so, people can call or write you via WhatsApp instead of direct messaging on Instagram—which does not always send a notification to your phone—or emailing you for a more direct contact.

7. Studio Address (Optional)

To conclude, another option is to add your address or studio address to your business card. This can be useful for shipping purposes or studio visits.

10 Business Card Design Examples & Templates for Artists

Last Updated on February 9, 2025