The Devil's in the Detail: Printing Patrick Bateman's Business Card

February 02, 2026

At Folio, we’re fans first. And when a book is as precise, unsettling and darkly funny as American Psycho, that devotion to detail has to go all the way down to the smallest things.

Take Patrick Bateman’s business card. For our limited edition of Bret Easton Ellis’s cult novel we wanted to recreate Bateman’s calling card exactly as it appears in the book – right down to the weight of the paper and the way the ink sits on the surface. To do that, we worked with Hand & Eye, master letterpress printers who understand how much the detail matters.

Letterpress is a physical process. Unlike modern printing, which lays ink flat on the page, letterpress presses it gently into the paper. The result is subtle but unmistakable: depth, texture and a tactile presence you can feel the moment you touch it. For a character obsessed with surfaces, status and microscopic differences, that sensation matters.

The card began in-house, designed by our Senior Designer Charlotte, who worked closely from Bret Easton Ellis’s description to match the business card as precisely as possible. The final design was then sent to Hand & Eye, where a negative was created on an inkjet printer, used to make a plate, and proofed on the press until every detail felt right – from spacing to impression to finish.

The final card is chillingly accurate, not because it shouts for attention, but because it doesn’t have to. Like Bateman himself, it’s controlled, precise and quietly unnerving. It’s a small detail, but it speaks volumes – about the book, the character and the care that goes into everything we create at Folio.