Decades ago, sed cards were not affordable to make, and design options were simple. Most beginning models were short of the capital to order composite cards, so they got started with an uncomplicated 8x10, monochrome photo with a quarter inch white edge. Stats were attached to the reverse side in plain text.
I can still remember those days of youre, printing dozens of copies of the same dull headshot. Again and again and again. These 8x10 pictures were also somewhat expensive, and this stopped the model sharing them. Models often sent them to businesses who were probably going to offer them a gig, or to casting directors who were likely to use them. Models definitely missed out on more than a few jobs due to the fact that they couldn't afford to pass out these headshots to enough people.
Later in her career, a model would be more successful and make more moola. This would make it possible for the model to design a B&W model composite produced by an large printer. Only the most profitable models in The big city could manage to get full color. Offset printing necessitates a lot of cash up front, but the investment became more reasonable if a group of hundreds or thousands of model composites was ordered. With this, a model would have plenty of cards to hand out - and the model could more readily afford to distribute a card to anyone who could be at all interested in talking to the model. The comp cards were even inexpensive enough to use the post office to dispatch to directors around the region, enlarging a model's market.
The sed cards of the past were a particular way as a result of the techniques and requirements involved with printing. This called for a large shot on the front and a handful of photographs, all a quarter of the available space, on the reverse of the card. A location was also reserved on the other side of the comp card to hold details for the model and a method of contact.
Printing standards got in the way of the photos on the reverse of the composite card from sharing space in the slightest way, and you weren't able to include any cool backdrops or layouts. All comp cards were as a result printed on a simple background, with quarter inch white strokes. These strokes also enabled the printing press to grab the composite card as it passed through the printing process. Designers couldn't stretch the image to the edge, the way present day cards and set ups do. Despite the fact that printing tools has come so far, the comp cards we design in the present are still founded pretty completely on this old design, which resulted from the realities of printing.