Case study · Business cards · Numerai
Numerai ↗A pattern you see only at an angle
Numerai card on 32pt uncoated black stock. A white pigment foil hexagon goes down first, then one semi-gloss black foil glyph pattern is stamped across the whole front, over the bare black paper and straight over the white. The back carries the contact details in white pigment foil.
The idea
Numerai is an AI-run, crowdsourced hedge fund based in San Francisco, founded in 2015 by Richard Craib. Data scientists submit models to its tournament, and the fund trades on the combined predictions. JPMorgan Asset Management has secured $500 million in capacity in the fund.
Two rules
- 01Semi-gloss black foil on black paper. Semi-gloss black hot foil on 32pt uncoated black. The sheen against the flat paper shows the pattern only when the card tilts.
- 02Black foil stamped over white foil. The white pigment foil hexagon is stamped first. The same black foil pattern is then stamped straight over it, so the glyphs run unbroken t…
Why it works
One black foil plate does the whole pattern on two surfaces. On the uncoated paper it is sheen against flat black. On the white foil hexagon it is solid black against white. Foil holds on foil, so a second colour can sit under the pattern without breaking it.
Start from these materials
Same paper, foil and finish, locked in — nothing of Numerai's artwork comes with it.
Questions
- Is the shine spot UV?
- No. It is semi-gloss black hot foil stamped on uncoated black paper. There is no spot UV or varnish on this card.
- Can you stamp foil on top of foil?
- Yes. The white pigment foil hexagon went down first, then the black foil pattern was stamped over it.
- How is the white printed on black?
- With non-metallic white pigment foil rather than white ink.
- Is the back finished too?
- Yes. The contact details on the back are white pigment foil.
