What icons are allowed to be added to business cards?

[Svetlana]

Hello. Does anyone know where I can see a guide on how to create business cards? I am interested in the question of adding icons: Instagram, Facebook, Phone. What icons are allowed to add? I made a business card with my icons, but it was deleted. And I don't know which icons are prohibited to add. Does anyone know?

[Barbara]

What you're trying to add are the logos of other companies. Logos represent trademarks and are much more than simple icons, so Zazzle won't allow their use.

Colorwash's Home

[NigelSutherland]

It's a strange one. I actually think that social media companies want their icons to be used to identify them.

[Barbara]

@NigelSutherland  The social media companies love their logos being used as links back to their sites, but this doesn't happen on a piece of paper such as a business card where it's being used to attract buyers to the card, not the companies' services.

Colorwash's Home

[NigelSutherland]

I found this on a Vistaprint guide:

Although social media icons are third-party images (in other words, they are copyrighted images from an outside brand), you can definitely use social media icons on your own business card. Social media companies make allowances for their logo icons to be used on business cards, provided you are using the correct version of the icon and are following the brand’s guidelines.

This is the article.

it is especially useful as it gives links to Social Media companies' own pages of advice.

[Barbara]

@NigelSutherland 

I haven't as yet used your link, but what jumped right out at me was that this is VistaPrint where they don't use independent designers the way Zazzle does, which means the customer is placing the logo on the card, not VistaPrint.

Off now to use your link because this is one of those interesting little situations.

EDIT: I read through the pertinent information, and I gather that, if Zazzle isn't allowing the icons, they ought to change their mind because social media allows it and even encourages it as long as their guidelines are followed. I absolutely stand corrected, and I hope Zazzle takes a second look at this even if it's for business cards only.

Colorwash's Home

[Svetlana]

Yes, I would also like Zazzle to allow adding icons. Or at least get feedback from Zazzle on which icons should not be used.

Since I used different icons: social networks, location, phone, email, I do not know because of which icons my business cards were removed. Because some cards with icons remained in the store.

And Zazzle did not explain the reason for removing some business cards

[Barbara]

@Svetlana  Did you reply to the email notices you were sent when the cards were removed, asking the specific reason? Whenever I've done this, I received a reply explaining what, exactly, caused the problem. For me, it's been consistently one or more tags, not the images. Did you have "Facebook," "Instagram," and other such names in your tags? If so, that could be the reason since the names of businesses, institutions, etc. are not allowed. Don't, for instance, mention "Olympics" because the product will quickly be removed.

Colorwash's Home

[Svetlana]

I didn't receive a notification from zazzle. I saw for myself that my business cards were gone. I wrote to support, but they didn't answer me.

I didn't add "Facebook" and "Instagram" to the tags

[ColsCreations]

It's hard to guess what happened here as you say you didn't receive any notifications from Zazzle, your cards in question just disappeared, and you're assuming that's due to Z removing them for using social media icons (as opposed to the "icons" Zazzle provides inside the Design Tool which absolutely can't be used on for-sale designs). So there's no way to know what's really happened here but ...

As far as using social media icons/logos .... I looked heavily into this a while back. I am not an expert and have no legal background but the conclusion I came away with was that it is totally fine. Facebook, Instagram et al KNOW how mainstream they are now as contact methods and online presences. If you dig far enough you can find their own sets of rules regarding the color, size and even spacing in relation to other elements, of their icons. Using their icon to define an info field is no different than name, title, phone, fax etc ... You're just using the instantly recognizable icon to define the field instead of text.

To me the problem is using the icon and/or name to suggest an association or endorsement with or by the SM company, and using such to promote/sell the product. So making a business card that includes what is now a standard field for social media handle/URL and using the icon for it - no problem. If on the other hand you're titling and tagging the card as say "Instagram Business Card" then it's no longer just one of many standard fields on the card, you're using the well-known name as a selling point and that's wrong ethically and legally. If we can't use any other brand-names to draw eyes from search why would this be any different?

I was looking into this back when I made a business card using social media names as just template text. So at that time I encountered a store with hundreds of business cards titled and tagged like 'Facebook Calling Card' or such. Those cards used the icon and brand name (no other fields) as the primary design feature and selling point. I thought that was pretty shady so yes, reported several to Z. That was a long time ago but searching back now I can find those same products so clearly Z didn't think it was a problem. Also found cards that happen to be from a platinum level seller that use sm names & icons as the main design feature plus in tags & title. So case evidence says Z is not making the distinction I am between OK use and not OK use.

[MOM]

@NigelSutherlandThanks!! So much!! Will study after I recharge my phone. 👌🏽

[MOM]

@Svetlana Maybe it also depends on the source (where you got them from)? Did you make them from scratch? Or did you download them somewhere? Maybe it said there “no commercial use”? I don’t know, just shooting ideas here. 

[Jadendreamer13]

This is an interesting question, since the Zazzle forum allows forum members to use social media icons at the bottom of their forum posts….

[Barbara]

I thought about that too and ended up realizing the difference between here and on a business card is that the latter can be interpreted as using the logo as a selling point, whereas here it's nonfunctional, the equivalent of someone saying, "I have a Facebook (or whatever) account." No money changing hands. BUT, of what use is the logo on a business card without an accompanying address? Frankly, if I were designing a card that gave out a person's various social media addresses, I'd want to use logos along with the addresses because they say more using less space.

Legal stuff is often very annoying stuff.

Colorwash's Home

[Svetlana]

I also don't like business card design without icons
When I make custom business cards I add icons and it seems to me that any designer does the same

[MOM]

I hope someone from Zazzle will clarify so that we can do it correctly going forward.

[Svetlana]

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the help. But I decided to make business cards without icons.

[Barbara]

@Svetlana  I just now randomly looked at your business cards. Quite frankly, I think the way you created text templates for a person's social media is the best fit for your designs, better than if you'd included the icons, which might be a bad fit for your aesthetics. You don't need those icons. You're doing beautiful work without them.

Colorwash's Home

[Svetlana]

Thank you so much!