But not in this case. Oh no. Our eyes boggled at this blast from the past – 1988 to be precise – from Datum. It’s the firm’s first business card, featuring such avant garde design flourishes as round-cornered borders and nifty logotype involving a hatched tint. 

As the firm’s joint managing director Mark Gamble recalls: “That was all done with a Rotring pen.”

Also note the lack of any personal details. Back in those days Datum, now based near Hatfield, was a platemaking business. “So print costs were involved, hence the universal card. It’s a bit flimsy. We just had a pile of them for everyone to use.”

We wondered if Mark might perhaps have a special date-ordered business cards archive in an album, but sadly he does not. “We might have the odd tint book knocking around here as well, though,” he reveals.

Can you do better? We’d love to see your examples of past corporate identities, and state-of-the-art Rotring repro. Please share them with @printweek on Twitter.

Meanwhile, we’re happy to report that Mark says Datum’s current cards are “Nice and thick, matt laminated, and indeed colour.”