Emiland de Cubber is a presentation designer. His business card capitalises on the still-lingering metaphor of the “slide” in a Powerpoint or Keynote presentation. The card is actually not a card, but an actual Kodak slide with two stickers for his name and contact info.

Pictured here is the box to house his slide-cards. None of those business card holders, thank you very much.

via Designers Go To Heaven »

I’m not actually sure why he’d need a business card, but it never hurts. I love the vintage typography, even on this cartoon card.

via FFFFound »

The above is my grandfather’s first business card from the year 1945. In itself, it is remarkable that he kept a single business card for so long, but what’s more amazing is that he’s kept every business card for the past 65 years! At least, his own, that is, I’m sure a few have fallen through the cracks over the years.

I’ve begun to upload the cards to a Flickr set and will update this as I find the time to retouch and upload the cards. Also, I’ll have to listen back to a video I filmed where my grandpa time-stamps each one and tells a bit about the backstory.

But yo, a card from 1945! Check out that phone number. Brilliant.

This mind-bending experience of a card appears to be some kind of metallic ink varnish laid on in a haphazard pattern to resemble that brushed metal finish that some metalworkers like to do. I really don’t know how to describe it.

Naturally, it’s wildly inappropriate for most purposes. In both cases here, the type is difficult to read and this fancy finish doesn’t add to or highlight the offering of the business. Further points reduced for the use of thermography and christmas-card lettering on the Garden City Roofing card.

I should write a letter to the folks at Trans American and kindly inform them of the typographic axiom that governs how the only words that should ever be set in the typeface Avant Garde are in fact “Avant Garde.”

And, I think Transamerican is one word. Or at least deserves a hyphen.

Apparently, this is Steve Martin’s business card. I want one.

Not that this is terribly notable, but I thought it fitting to showcase the old school Tropicana logo and mascot on this vintage card.

The odd thing about this card is the terrible spacing of the text. Even in the previous generation, before computers, typesetters and designers knew about balance and whitespace.

My father recent gave me an old rolodex of his packed with business cards from yesteryear. This is the first of many gems that I’ll be posting. In this case, it deserves a double-take and a WTF, in any era.

Not so much of a card, but simply a piece of paper rubber-stamped with the contact information for the Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Cuban Interest Section.

Oddly, if you knew my father, it wouldn’t surprise you that he’s getting involved with at least two Communist nations.