Between postcards and the printing of advertising material, the 85 × 55 mm (3.5" × 2") paper card defends its role as the analog door opener. It is more in demand than ever… despite e-mail, Linked-In or Xing in Europe!

Why is that? At a time when digital news takes seconds to vanish and emails lie in the depths of the hard drive, the analog business card stands like a rock in the surf. While most of our communication is paperless, printed matter has becomes a rare luxury in business life. Production qualities such as varnishes, lacquer, hot foil or blind embossing add to the allure.

Scarcity is one of the strongest psychological mechanisms, both economically and in communication. We desire things that are limited and rare.

What is rare is valuable. Business cards aren't a rarity, as the numbers from online print shops show, but the air becomes thinner when it comes to the individual design and quality, printed in an analog limited edition, on valuable paper. That's why p98a created the Business Card Workshop. Design and print your own 100 exquisite business cards, in letterpress, on the finest Gmund cotton cover stock.

This 2-minute scene from “American Psycho” shows what role the business card played in the 1980s: Sadistic stockbroker Patrick Bateman commits his first murder after his colleague trumped him with a fancier business card.