 Business cardsMarch 22, 2018 |
Call me, maybe
Much of our lives, contacts, and professional communication has moved online. So why are business cards still a thing? The ubiquitous little pieces of card stock continue to be popular tokens of contact info—and contributors to desk clutter.
Perhaps it's because they so powerfully capture our achievements and ambitions that we can't let business cards go. There's just something not quite right about going to a networking event and not ending a conversation with, "Here's my card, let's stay in touch."
Business cards don't just make us feel better about ourselves—they're proven to make other people feel better about you. A recent study found that doctors who handed out business cards were "perceived by patients to be better overall communicators and have greater medical expertise."
"Too many people use business cards as a proxy for actually being an interesting person."
— Forbes contributor J. Maureen Henderson in "Business Cards Are Dead—Here's Why" 🔥
10 trillion: Number of business cards printed annually in the US
88%: Percentage of received business cards that will be thrown out within a week
2.5%: Average corporate sales increase per 2,000 cards handed out
10x: Times longer a customer holds on to a color card than a standard white one
47%: Annual growth rate of the printing company Moo.com since 2010
70%: Percentage of Moo.com's business comprised of business cards
$10,050: Price someone paid for Steve Jobs's old business cards—"caressed and carried by the man himself"—at auction. (Here's a fun list of other legendary business cards.)
14,000: Number of metal business cards resembling a lock-pick kit that famed hacker Kevin Mitnick hands out each year
Business card butcher
If you've watched American Psycho, it's probably impossible for you to even think about business cards without remembering an infamous boardroom scene. In a send-up of the hyper-masculine culture of 1980s Wall Street, Christian Bale, playing psychopath Patrick Bateman, is whipped into a frenzy over a coworker's business card.
"Look at that subtle off-white coloring," a twitching Bateman says in a tortured voiceover. "The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a watermark!"
"The joke, of course, in the scene, is that all the business cards look alike," director Mary Harron tells the New York Times.
Business cards by design
All of the American Psycho cards might look alike, but business cards are a more diverse species than they let on. There's no universal standard for one thing: Sizes vary around the world.
"Business cards aren't dead, they're just getting weirder," writes the Wall Street Journal in an article describing artists and designers presenting wooden cards in jigsaw shapes, outsize and tiny cards, and metal ones with lock-picking tools.
Cards have always come in creative forms: After all, the point is to stand out. To that end, graphic designers invest in annual sourcebooks, like this one, that testify to the diversity of design. They trust that there will always be people willing to invest in fancy business cards, because they want to "leave an impression." Here's a famous one by the Austrian graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister.
Pop quiz What phrase did Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have on an early business card? |
Digitize this!
You'd think that living as firmly in the digital world as we do, paper cards would have fallen to the wayside, but that's not the case. The business world simply sprouted apps that allow you to digitize cards, like Bump, Cardmunch (which LinkedIn purchased in 2011 and shuttered in 2014), WorldCard, Evernote, and many more.
But will an app ever replace the exchange itself? "The act of theater surrounding the exchange of a business card allows for flirtation, self-expression, and recognition," Nathan Shedroff, a design strategist at California College of the Arts told Bloomberg. "[Using apps] in comparison to analog business card exchange [is] the difference between having sex and merely exchanging bodily fluids." That won't stop companies from trying: Microsoft just updated its Pix app to scan business cards and connect card swappers on LinkedIn.
15th century: The Chinese first start using calling cards to share travel plans.
17th century: Calling cards become popular with European aristocracy to make acquaintances, send wishes, announce travel plans, and more. Using calling cards for business purposes was considered uncouth—enter trade cards.
18th and 19th century: Social cards are used for courting. They are presented to the lady of the house for inspection before meeting. If she declined to meet, a servant would tell the suitor the lady "was not at home." (Henceforth known as "the Victorian burn.")
19th century: Social and trade cards merge to form business cards, prompted by the industrial revolution and wealthy entrepreneurs who make their living from commerce, not inheritance.
20th century: As work culture becomes more multilayered and hierarchical, business cards reach their peak.
21st century: A new art form emerges. Business cards for fictional characters, from Ellen Ripley from Alien to the Daily Planet's Clark Kent. Often the product of (bored?) graphic designers, they're quite the exercise in branding.
Do you know your old-school calling-card etiquette? In addition to tips for modern-day design, this extensive guide covers the basics. For starters:
"Gentleman would also inscribe initials upon the card to denote the reason for his visit. The initials stood for the following French words:
p. f. – congratulations (pour féliciter)
p. r. – expressing one's thanks (pour remercier)
p. c. – mourning expression (pour condoléance)
p. f. N. A. – Happy New Year (pour feliciter Nouvel An)
p. p. c. – meaning to take leave (pour prendre congé)
p. p. – if you want to be introduced to anybody, send your visiting card (pour présenter)"
Business cards are ubiquitous in many Asian countries. Here's a crash-course on business card etiquette in modern-day Japan, and some separate tips for China—where some young children reportedly "carry cards not only with their own contact details, but also with the job descriptions of their parents and even grandparents."
The most ridiculous business card in the world
Eccentric Chinese millionaire Chen Guangbiao, an irrepressible publicity hound who once touted his plan to buy the New York Times, has earned international guffaws for the grandiose claims on his business cards.
Among the recycling magnate's claims:
- Most Influential Person of China
- China Moral Leader
- China Earthquake Rescue Hero
- China Low Carbon Emission Environmental Protection Advocate
- Environmental Preservation Demolition Expert
One Weibo critic snarked: "I'll give you another title: Most Shameless Person in China."
Poll What do you use your business card for? |
In yesterday's poll about kava, 50% of you said your favorite relaxing beverage is chamomile tea.
Today's email was written by Jackie Bischof with Anne Quito, edited by Jessanne Collins, and produced by Luiz Romero.
No comments:
Post a Comment