Business cards definition

Business cards are a visual representation of one person's contact information. Business cards are shared usually between business people after a formal introduction, as a convenience, a memory aid and nevertheless as a marketing strategy ( business cards are also given by business people to "regular people" - in the idea of leaving them a possibility to contact the giver regarding the product/service offered).

Business cards typically contain the giver's full name, the company's name (the one that the giver represents), possibly a logo of the company (where applicable) and contact information, both offline and online, such as street addresses, telephone number(s) and/or e-mail addresses / Web site addresses. A typical characteristic of the business cards is the size, usually standardized to a certain dimension 3½" x 2" (there are exceptions though) and being very thin, for better handling. A professional business card can include one or more visual design aspects , meant to transmit a message, leave an impression or simply to enchant the eye (there are theories that basically suggest that a simple design/color combination can influence people's decision ).

Other characteristics of business cards :

• Can be created in 1-2 colors or fully colored;
• The layout can be horizontal or vertical;
• Can be printed on one side or both sides (not so common, because people usually look only on the front of the business card );
• Can be printed on different type of paper (gloss/matte/linen etc.) and also on storage media (the so-called business card CDs and probably we're not so far away from seeing storage drives having the dimensions of a business card).