A very open question to kick off – why should freelancers bother with business cards? There are so many ways for freelancers to advertise themselves nowadays, are they really necessary?

Though you are right to say that there are so many ways to advertise these days, (online especially), I would argue that a business card is less about advertising and more about a simple form of communication. It's a potentially sealed deal, or at least a "call to action" (as they say), when meeting someone one-to-one. A business card won't do the job for you, but it will connect you to your contact details which someone will then have to hand. It may not create business immediately, but when a potential client recalls you and your services, there's a better chance they'll get in touch if a business card is lurking in their wallet or desk drawer.

What kind of information should be included on a business card? How text-heavy should it be?

As with many applications of graphic design, "less is more" usually rings true. However, when it comes to deciding which contact details to include, technology has provided us with various portals of communication. Tricky part is understanding which ones your potential clients prefer to use. Having two to three options covers a lot of bases. Whether the person wants to speak to you right now (telephone) or just wants to know a bit more or is shopping around (email), the important factor is how you want to receive these forms of communication. If you're often not around to pick up the phone, for example, then it may do your business more harm than good to include a telephone number.

Is there a standard size that should be adhered to?

As with many formats there sadly isn't an international standard, but most are similar. This is presumably based on pocket/wallet sizes, (being a similar size to things like credit cards). To stand out, many companies and professionals are now breaking this mould. Some opt for bespoke die cut shapes, different ratios and even different materials. The key is then to ensure that the attention-grabbing factor outweighs the frustration of the card perhaps not fitting comfortably into a wallet...

Would you recommend choosing a card with content on both sides, or would one side be enough?

"Less is more" still applies here, but having a whole other side and not using it is just wasted. It shouldn't necessarily be an opportunity to pile in more content, but more a space to say something about you/the business visually. Branding aside, a cute photo of a kitten would be better than a blank space.

Do you have any tips for creating a logo or image that others can connect to you?

Tricky one. It's hard to suggest a tip without going into the whole reasoning behind branding, but I would say that it is well worth having a logo or image. The shorter the thinking time between associating your (business) name with what your business does, the better. Branding is something that shortens that gap.

How important is colour choice?

It depends on what you're trying to achieve. As with all visual factors, (shape, size, weight, font) if it communicates the wrong message then it could produce serious negative results.

Comic Sans is known for causing a bit of a stir when it comes to the wonderful world of fonts – what should be considered when choosing a font?

All kinds of things should be considered, from how you want to come across to simple technical aspects such as legibility.

There are plenty of different templates, not to mention low prices, at several online one-stop shops for business cards... opinion?

I accept this is part of the commercial world but, like many things, if you want to take cheap options then you're likely to get cheap results. If you want to be perceived as generic then go for something generic. Technology is putting more control in the individual’s hands. This is great for people who may never have had the opportunity to create their own branding before, but this does create a sea of mediocre (more often than not: bad) output. Although you could argue that this helps the truly good work shine. My frustration with the availability of these “one-stop shops” in terms of what I do is that many don't believe there is a genuine skill (or even talent) to graphic design and thus think it isn't worth paying for because the impact of bad design often isn't instantly obvious.

What’s the difference between creating business cards in Word and drafting in a graphic designer to do the job for me?

Likely the difference between a good and bad business card, haha. Again, it often isn't obvious to people what looks good and bad because it's not their job to make this distinction. Also, Word is simply the wrong tool. Terrible analogy, but I don't try to cook my dinner in the fridge.

When it comes to printing the cards, where do I start? What do I need to consider?

Printing is the final stage of the product and should be considered as carefully as the design itself. Paper weight, type, quality, and cut are just as important as the design factors. Again, as with anything, if you go for quick and/or cheap, the quality will suffer. If you go to a professional printer’s (and not chain store that offers a whole range of products and services) then you are more than likely to get back something professional. Professional printer's will be run by people who not only know their stuff, but will actually care about the product you're trying to create.

Thanks Adam, this has given us plenty of food for thought!

I never dreamed in a million years I’d end up living in Munich and working as a translator. I’d always been good at languages at school and so it was a natural choice to go on to study them at university. I studied French and German at Newcastle University and I guess it wasn’t until my year abroad that I started to consider a career in translation. Even then, I was too wrapped up in uni life and wasn’t really thinking about what I might do after I graduated. That was still two years away, after all. When it came to the year abroad there were three options: study, teach English for the British Council or do a work placement. Any combination of those options could be done as long as roughly the same amount of time was spent in a French and a German speaking country. At that point I had a friend who was studying in Paris. I’d been to visit her and had fallen in love with the place. I became adamant that I had to spend the French part of my year there, no matter what. I’d already ruled out teaching – it’s really not my thing. My university had no connections with the Sorbonne or any other higher education institutes in Paris and so I was left to my own devices to find myself a work placement there, which I did. Great, I was moving to Paris! That was the dream. But I still had to decide what to do in Germany.

I had no idea where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do in Germany. After speaking with my Mum – rather annoying how she always seems to know best, but that’s another story – we decided that doing a work placement there, too, was the way to go for me.

I had no idea where to even start looking. I went to the Newcastle language school for advice and they told me it had been a few years since anyone had expressed any interest in doing a work placement in Germany. Still, the secretary dragged down a ring binder – covered in a layer of dust may I add – and I began to look through the rather limited contacts to see if there was anything I fancied. To be honest, I wasn’t really bothered. I was so excited about going to Paris it didn’t seem like such a big deal at the time. I emailed a few of the contacts and waited to see what would happen. After receiving several replies and offers, I ended up opting for one that was based in Munich – a six-month placement in the translation department of an international company with its headquarters in the Bavarian capital. What I hadn’t realised at the time was that the company was one the biggest employers in Munich and amongst the top 100 employers in Germany. So I was moving to Paris, but first I had six months to spend working as a translation assistant in Munich!

I guess I was a bit naive when I first started. I had done some translation as part of my degree but I had never learned anything about translation techniques, research, the importance of good grammar... A month into the placement I realised two things: I loved Munich and I loved my job! I was doing a lot of proofreading but I also got the chance to translate some short articles for the company’s intranet site and bi-monthly company magazine. It gave me an amazing sense of satisfaction to see my work published. My two colleagues were amazing. They had both been in the industry for over 20 years and patiently taught me all the skills needed to produce quality translations. Suddenly, six months had passed all too quickly and it was time to move to Paris. I was gutted to be leaving and I knew then that translation was the career for me.

Fast forward a year and my finals were approaching. Friends were starting to apply for jobs and go for interviews. Everyone was talking about ‘London’ and ‘grad. schemes’. I panicked. It was just a few months until I graduated and I had no job lined up. I knew that I wanted a career in translation, but when I looked into it, it seemed I needed either an MA or much, much more experience than what I had. I applied for a couple of positions in the UK but to no avail. Most of the companies didn’t even respond to my applications. I got quite down about it all so I decided to contact the company I had worked for in Munich on my year abroad. They’d told me to keep in touch, after all. They were delighted to hear from me and said I could go back and do another six-month placement with them. I’d secretly been hoping for more to be honest but there was no scope in the company budget for a third full-time translator.

So I moved back to Munich to start building up my experience. The six months came and went all too quickly again and I was back to not really knowing what to do next. I applied for more translation jobs in Germany and in the UK but I still didn’t have enough experience. I didn’t have enough money saved up to start up as a freelancer and ended up moving back to the UK. The job situation had gone from bad to worse as the economic crisis worsened and I ended up temping. Not quite the dream career in translation I’d had in mind. I considered at that point doing a Masters in translation but financially it just wasn’t an option. Sick and tired of it all I decided to go travelling for a few months and when I returned I was lucky to find a job using both my languages. It wasn’t in translation but I’d have been silly to pass up the opportunity. It was by no means my dream job: the opportunities to progress within the company were limited and after three years I began to get itchy feet. After a particularly horrendous Monday I was all for handing in my notice and starting a translation MA. I got home that night to find an email out of the blue from the company in Munich. One of my former colleagues had decided to take early retirement and there was a position available! I had to double take. I couldn’t believe it. If I was interested, the company would fly me out for an interview the following week. I flew out for the interview and got the position. The company looked favourably on the fact that I had done two placements with them previously, that I knew the company and that I had experience in the industry.

And that’s the story of how I became an in-house translator. It wasn’t as straight-forward getting to where I am now as I might have hoped, but I got there eventually and it was well worth the wait. I love my job. It goes without saying that having an MA in translation is seen by employers and clients as greatly advantageous, but my story also goes to show that it is possible to enter into a career in translation without necessarily having the “expected” qualifications. A bit of perseverance, determination and willingness to go out there and find some experience, even if it is unpaid, goes a long way. I was lucky enough to get my foot in the door during my Bachelor degree. If there are people reading this out there who are doing a BA in or with modern languages and are contemplating what to do on their year abroad, take some time to think outside the box. Teaching and studying appeared to be the popular choice going off the track record of previous years’ students at my university, especially for those who weren’t actually studying any business modules.  In fact, there’s a whole spectrum of industries that you could explore as part of your course – translation being just one of them. The choice you make could have more of an influence on your future career than you might ever realise at the time.

I hope that this story inspires anyone considering a career in translation who perhaps finds themselves in a similar situation to the one I was in. Good luck and don’t give up on the idea!