Feeling stoked with your 'card', until you see it in the mirror
Business cards and the rituals around them
While ‘pundants’ are hailing the imminent death of the business card, we think there are still some interesting years of transition to play out– especially in ritual homelands like Japan.
Called Meishi in Japan, business cards have seen quite a particular ritual evolve around them, as a way of according respect to the first meeting of a business relationship. In a similar way to looking your drinking mate in the eyes when saying cheers– the Meishi ritual makes us pause and properly acknowledge the meeting, and the person.
In the west, we generally do not look after business cards, or their exchange, all that well. Other than machine-gun dispersal sales reps, we are often seen handing over tardy and bunny-eared cards that send all the wrong signals. Yet if we approach each meeting with a separate and sizable steel case of cards, we come across as too schmick and contrived…
That sounds like a project; the card carrier that is casual yet careful, gives and takes, yet is incorporated easily into our pocket systems.
Has anyone seen any great solutions?
Some favourites so far are:
One side for giving, the other for receiving
- Sam Hecht for Lexon: Give and Take. Facilitates a great ritual, but is unfortunately too clunky for the pocket.
Casual yet refined... pretty good if you can find them
- Dior Homme card carrier: Hard to track down, and a little bulky, but getting close…
- And of course, we had to link to everyone’s favourite business card designer: Business Card Fail
surely the ‘schmick’ problem only arrises when the business card carrier is a dedicated business card carrier. if its a well designed compartment of you existing ‘pocket management system’ then you appear to have just shoved some in your wallet in case, but the cards come out sparkling, eh.
i know, i owe you an email of two. like “well done chaps”.
Will the business card change in the near future with electronic devises.
Soon just by a hand shake we will have downloaded the person’s details
to our phone or personal devise. IBM has been working for quite sometimes into
electronic stuff pin under the skin. Allowing new people to get your personal detail by being close to you.
The issues with personal information protection are huge.
But would that mean we will really focus on the person we meet instead
of a papercard ritual? Or would it mean we will make our mind quicker
if the new meet is valuable or not like we brows the net???
Rituals are a massive part of being human.
I was carrying my cards around in a cigarette tin for awhile. I loved it, because each time I would pull it out for a card, people were expecting me to offer them a cigarette. It made for some interesting interactions.
Thanks Brainbox.
The cigarette tin would have at least worked better than a condom tin. You might have got some slaps with one of those…
It’s not all that practical, but I love the wood case from Masakage Tanno. Looks like a directors board, but not. http://merchant4.com/shop/?&category=1&product_id=68
Totally agree Jase. That’s a very styling way to carry (so long as your trousers don’t struggle with that in their pockets).
Woah… was only just introduced to the business card scene from American Pyscho. I now understand the business card fail video much better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoIvd3zzu4Y