In Europe,
"visiting cards" came into Italy in the Seventeenth Century. Your
footman would existing the cards to the slave of the house you wish to visit.
The slave would provide the cards to the Mistress of the Way. If the Woman
wished to see you, she told the slave to tell your slave that it was A-OK.
The original
cards were large and decorative and came to be used by any decent man or
gentlewoman. Large manners evolved which included:
Having cards
for each lady of the household.
The
mandatory silver plate on the area table.
Gentlemen
carried cards in his pocket, but one may use a cards situation.
If the cards
are not addressed, the citizen does not want to see the guest.
A gal may
have her own cards after she has been out in society for a year.
The cards
may be collapsed in the middle if the guest wants to see the whole family.
Later, in
England, there came into being a "trade card" which was developed to
bring customers to the business. They often had charts and guidelines on them.
You had to be careful, though not to existing your business cards instead of
your viewing cards, or the citizen would think you were there to gather a bill.
Today, your
cards can be simple and straightforward or complex and creative. For most of
us, simpler is better. But if you are a hip hop musician or a tattooist, you
may want to have far-out and wild and crazy cards to indicate how cool you are.
In any situation, the most essential thing is to identify you and your company
clearly so individuals know who you are and what you do.
Always
consider the back of your cards as a resource. You can put useful information
there on your company or a calendar or a leader that might be helpful to your
public.
For those
involved in innovative sectors or just for very innovative individuals, there
is no limit. You can have CD ROM cards created with lots of data on your
company (these can be passed on to portable devices). They can be created of
transparent nasty, clear nasty, white nasty, metal nasty. They can look like
casino chips, wooden nickels and real wood. They can be pierced, cut-out,
advertising (like the children's books), audio cassettes, covers with your
product in it, bracelets, key stores, bottle openers. For the truly pig headed,
you can make a coin with your similarity on it.
Linda Servis
has been in company for over 40 years. A well created, not too expensive cards
is essential to the success of any company enterprise. You will be amazed at
the large array of outstanding design ideas are out there for you to choose
from.
