There is a generally accepted standard in Russia for the size of business cards, it is 90 x 50 mm. Nevertheless, you can find cards slightly different in size, this may be due to a variety of reasons.
Regular business card size
A business card is a small piece of cardboard or thick paper on which you can see contact information that the owner would like to communicate to useful or interesting people. This is usually your full name, telephone number, email address, and place of work. Sometimes on business cards you can find a personal website, fax, address and other information.
In the past, it was customary for men to have business cards slightly larger than women. In general, even the role of the cards was different then: a person came on a visit and a porter or a servant took a card from him and brought it to the person to whom the person came to visit.
A men's business card was usually about the same size as today: 90 x 50 mm. The woman's business card was made smaller, approximately 80 x 40 mm. But the young girl usually had a small card at all, 70 x 35 mm.
The fashion for business cards of different sizes became a thing of the past when business card holders and albums for storing cards were introduced, where a standard pocket was provided for each. An additional argument in favor of the standard size is the very fact that today business cards are printed in a printing house, and there it is easier and cheaper to do everything according to a template than to try different sizes.
There is also a European format for business cards, it is 85 x 55 mm. Usually they are ordered by businessmen or scientists when they are going on a visit to European countries. Also, euro-standard business cards can be useful at international events held in Russia.
Why people want custom sized business cards
A business card is not only a medium, it also serves to shape a person's image, and this forces people to use a variety of types of paper, experiment with designs and resize cards. Sometimes a person comes to the printing house to order a batch of business cards, but the standard size does not suit him, he wants to be original, wants to somehow stand out from the competition.
There are many difficulties associated with this: the printing house needs to change all the cutter settings, and then return them back. This usually requires additional time, but not all employees can cope with this task, which is why some printers refuse such orders altogether. Another reason for the higher price of custom business cards is that they usually require more design paper, which is already quite expensive.
If you want to create business cards for use in Russia, but would like to stand out, then it is not recommended to make them larger than 90 x 50 mm, but it is acceptable to reduce it a little. The fact is that business card holders are of exactly this size, so a larger business card simply won't fit in them. As good as your card is, if a customer loses it, it won't be of any use.
