First semblance of modern business cards appeared in ancient China. Order of the Emperor of all the officials were obliged to make a "map of visitors." Neither of them specifies the name, surname and position.
In the XVI century card already firmly established in Europe among the nobles and other senior citizens. It was more elegant decoration. They could already see the family coat of arms.
Then the cards came into the Russian Empire. When Catherine II business cards were extremely elaborate and luxurious - they were decorated with floral ornaments and emblems of their bizarre highborn owners.
Now a small - an integral part of the image of man. Modern designers and printers offer a wide variety of business cards for design and the materials from which they are made.
Take a bit of advice - do not get carried away decoration effects. Let your card will be executed on good paper, with a small amount of text, graphics and simple, easy to read font.
The "crimson jackets" are long gone - and gone forever. Frilly, overloaded drawings, color, gold trim a small but a smile on the taste of its owner did not cause.
The same applies to business card holders. Rigor, taste, style - the main categories, which should be selected business card holders. Of course, unless you are the owner of the circus agencies or on their profession not a clown.
Manufacturing techniques several cards.
Digital printing - the fastest way to print, keeping the whole gamut and color saturation. The advantages include low cost and speed of production. On the downside - the limitations in the choice of paper and ink, uneven propechatka.
Offset printing - is printing on special offset printing machines. Pros: fairly low price for a large number of copies, the possibility of accurate selection of colors and print metallic inks, large variety of types of paper. Cons - long production time, the high price of small print runs.
Silkscreen - a great way to manufacture a small representation. Pros: There are no restrictions on materials, printing on any surface. Cons: fairly high cost. However, I note the result is worth it.