“Oh my God, it even has a watermark.”

—Patrick Bateman, American Psycho

There are 29 shades of white listed on Wikipedia and literally millions of fonts available through Microsoft Word, and that’s just the beginning of your business card options. Throw in new shapes and sizes, and with lowering costs of printing—pretty much any color imaginable—and creating the perfect business card can be daunting.

But first things first.

“Pick an extreme,” said Dan Rubin, 34, creative director for Moo business cards, which recently partnered with Facebook. “Either go super-restrained or totally over the top. Anything else will be interpreted as average."

Either way, a card should be memorable. Not only should it stand out in a stack of other cards, but it should add in a consistent way to the impression given to the recipient, Rubin told Portfolio.com.

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Regarding color, if you wear a suit to work and keep clean-shaven, you should probably consider one of the varying degrees of white. But if you occasionally mismatch your socks and go to work on Wednesday with a Monday morning shave, you may want to consider one of Crayola’s 23 reds, 20 greens, 19 blues, 16 purples, or 14 oranges.

The important thing, says Rubin, is that the card represents the person who’s name is emblazoned on its front. “Every choice we make represents who we are and how we want to be perceived. But a business card is one of the few things that does that in the same way ever single time.” So it better be well thought out.

Rubin speaks of card design like an artist. “It’s about having an awareness that color comes to us on a subconscious level—and that we learn about color before we learn about language.”

Most of what we think we know about color is actually correct, according to Rubin. What we know from fashion and automobiles and homes is to a large degree valid. “A red tie is a power tie.” And, yet, when choosing a color, it is still important to consider the temperament generated by hot and cool hues.

A person in a position benefited by calm customers, say in investing, who still wants to stray a bit from eggshell white, may consider something in the blues, whereas a skydiver or a political activist may go with a shade of red or orange to drum up a sense of movement and energy.

But for the international entrepreneur, such considerations are especially pertinent…