Business cards can sometimes feel like a bit of an anachronism. They trace their origins to the visitors' calling cards that spread from the court of France's Louis XIV to Europe and the US and were a part of the elaborate social etiquette that existed up until the early 20th century. They also draw on trade cards, which developed in 17th-century London and were effectively mini-advertisements for businesses.
By the late 19th century, business cards as we understand them existed and they evolved into their present form in the 1950s. Of course, there have been leaps in printing technology, colour and paper quality, but a business card from then would only raise eyebrows today if it lacked an e-mail address, mobile number, IM or Skype ID.
But with all the creativity there is in business today, there is clearly scope for a little more. The Danish toymaker Lego, for instance, certainly seems to be thinking outside the cardboard box. Two years ago, it started experimenting with business cards that were little Lego figures. “We do a lot of experimenting and development with mini figures, and this was something our concept centre came up with,” explains Charlotte Simonsen, the company's head of corporate communications. “We started making them for top management and it was a huge success.”