Name cards are almost like the face of a company. They are used to introduce a person or business, to present contact information to a potential client or to help your business get referrals.
In the Oscar award-winning 2019 movie Parasite, the father, Mr Kim, passed Mr Park, a name card for a fake housekeeping agency. From the look and feel of the card alone, Mr Park gathered that the housekeeping agency was very high class. He went on to ask his wife to call up the fake company. That is a lot of assumptions from just a single card alone.
This begs the question: Can we judge people through their name cards?
Name cards are essentially a rectangle piece of paper with some contact information on it but somehow, it could represent a person or even a company. From the colour to the thickness and texture of the paper, it all comes together to paint a picture of the company. However, it is not enough.
Compared to websites, the information you put on the card is very limited. On websites, you can click through its pages to find out if the company is a blog shop or a legitimate e-commerce business. A single piece of name card is, well, flat. Other than the texture of the card and the embossed lettering, the card itself does not really say much. It does not actually tell you the legitimacy of the company (Case in point: Parasite). It can be impressive to look at but is that what a name card really is for? To be looked at?
East Asian Name Cards
Mr Park who willingly hired a housekeeper based on one card actually says a lot about Asian culture. In East Asian countries like Japan and South Korea, name cards are a very big deal. They have proper etiquette when giving, receiving and keeping the cards.
Exchanging of name cards in East Asian countries is almost like a way of acknowledging the person you have just met for the first time. The name cards have to be treated with respect.
You have to receive the card with two hands, take note of the person’s name and job title before keeping the card in a name cardholder. You are not allowed to write on the card, shove the card into your pant pockets immediately after receiving or pass out your name card as if you are dealing out cards on poker night.
Name cards in this cultural context is like dealing with a man’s reputation in the form of a rectangular card.
Death of Name Cards
As the world gets more advance with technology, name cards will soon be obsolete. We might never need to print them out again. There are actually many alternatives that we can look to in an attempted to replace the current rectangular piece of name card that we have.
QR Codes
Instead of name cards, why not we just carry around a single Quick Response code or better known as QR code. QR codes can be a fast link to a person’s website and resume. The person you just met could easily bookmark your information to refer to later. All you need is one QR code and the other person’s phone to scan it. The only problem with this is your bookmark tab can easily get cluttered
AI Facial Recognition
Walk up to a person and scan their face. Similar to the QR code but this time all you need is your phone. It has the same concept as Instagram’s Augmented Reality face filter, except this time it gives you contact details of that person instead of a doggy face filter. The only problem with this idea is that it will be a lot easier for people to start staking strangers. It would be pretty creepy for someone to easily obtain your personal information just by your face.
A New Facebook
At the rate of Facebook growing and expanding, it will be no surprise if Mark Zuckerburg tries to come up with an alternative to exchanging name cards in the form of an app. If Facebook does not create an app from scratch, then just get ready for them to buy an app that does.
However, when we upgrade to these ideas, we lose the physical touch that comes with exchanging name cards. Compared to the East Asian name card culture, these ideas are considered novelty. It does not have the level of respect presented to both individuals when presenting the cards. Maybe that is the essence of a name card: respect.
Exchanging of name cards seems to be a judge of character and not reputation. The way a person design their card might show their attention to detail. How they present their card might represent the way they work with others. Character is something that cannot be faked. It shows up in the work you do and how you treat others. A name card summarizes all that and includes your name and contact details on it.
On the surface, name cards may not look so important but you have to admit it feels more professional to have one.
Original Article Link: https://dear.sg/stories/the-art-of-namecards
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