A comp card (also called composite card, Z card, zed card or Sed card) is a

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

tool for actors and especially

models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

. They serve as the latest and best of a model's

portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a ...

and are used as a business card. A

Z-CARD Z-CARD is the registered trademark for a foldable invented by George McDonald when he was a travel writer and consultant for British Airways. History McDonald found that traditional fold-out maps were too bulky to carry with him on travel r ...

is also a folded leaflet format, typically used for marketing communications campaigns for example a loyalty programme or seasonal promotion.

History

Peter Marlowe in London invented models composites in 1965, then printed on paper to A4 format. The format was changed in 1972 to A5 card format, for filing purposes, and a few other companies started publishing cards for the model industry under different trade names since Peter Marlowe had registered the trademark "Model Composite" in Europe and the USA. Amongst these was Sebastian Sed who traded under the name Sed Cards, which are sometimes mis-pronounced as Z ("Zed") or Set cards. The publishing house of Marlowe Press stopped trading in 1990 and the words "models composites" and "comp cards" became generic within the model industry. Comp card databases and creation tools have moved online in recent years.

Format

A comp card typically contains a minimum of two pages – a cover page with full size portrait and a second page with a selection of representative shots from the portfolio. It lists the model's basic stats – typically height, weight,

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(bust, waist, hips) for women, suit or chest size and waist and inseam sizes for men, plus

shoe size A shoe size is an indication of the fitting size of a shoe for a person. There are a number of different shoe-size systems used worldwide. While all shoe sizes use a number to indicate the length of the shoe, they differ in exactly what they me ...

, eye and

hair color Human hair color is the pigmentation of human hair follicles due to two types of melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Generally, if more melanin is present, the color of the hair is darker; if less melanin is present, the hair is lighter. The ...

, nationality and contact information. It is printed on both sides of an 8.5" x 5.5" piece of

card stock Card stock, also called cover stock and pasteboard, is paper that is thicker and more durable than normal writing and printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other forms of paperboard. Card stock is often used for business cards, ...

(12 pt stock) (US) or A5 on card weight (350/400 g/m² stock in metric countries) which is between 300 and 450 μm thick depending on the card stock or quality chosen (Europe, Asia).

Use

Comp cards have been around for many years as the essential marketing tool for a model and are likely to retain this standing because they are an inexpensive way to effectively and professionally showcase a model's ability. Composite cards are used on three major levels – they are used by models, agents and the agent's client.

Production

Currently, models have many different options of creating comp cards. They can ask their photographer or create their own on their computers using image editing or

graphics software In computer graphics, graphics software refers to a program or collection of programs that enable a person to manipulate images or models visually on a computer. Computer graphics can be classified into two distinct categories: raster graphics a ...

. In addition, with technology's increasingly strong influence in the digital market, many printing companies have looked to the internet to facilitate the ordering process. Comp card printing prices can vary depending on the number of pictures used on the card, the type of paper stock used, and the general printing quality. Different layout styles are available or can be created.

References

External links

The Peter Marlowe Model Composite ArchivesOnline-Tool to create a PDF Comp CardA.Rrajani Fashion photography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comp Card Modeling (profession) Fashion photography Business documents Portrait photography