Can a business card be die-cut into the shape of a logo?

Yes. Jay Kos's card is cut to the full outline of his monkey-in-a-bowler-hat logo. We build the cut line as its own file from the logo artwork, so the card itself becomes the mark.

What if I only have a JPG of my logo?

A die needs a clean vector outline. In 2014 Jay Kos's team only had JPG images, so we redrew the monkey as vector artwork with a separate cut line before printing. We can do the same for any logo.

How thick should a die-cut business card be?

For a detailed outline like this one, 18 pt silk matte works well: it feels firm in the hand and holds fine points cleanly. Thicker, layered boards suit simpler shapes with fewer small details.

Can the same die-cut shape be used for hang tags?

Yes. A die-cut business card and a die-cut hang tag use the same kind of cut line. For a tag we add a drilled hole and a cord or string, so the same shape can hang from a garment.

Can you match a brand colour from a physical sample?

Yes. Jay Kos sent us his chocolate-bar wrapper as the reference. The green and yellow were given as PANTONE 350 C and 601 C; the brown, which had no Pantone number, was built in four-colour process to match the sample.

Do reorders keep the same die and colours?

Yes. The front artwork and the die line on Jay Kos's card haven't changed since 2017. Only the back changes, when a name, a title or the studio address does.

Case study · Business cards · Jay Kos

Jay Kos ↗

Un mono muy particular

Since 2014 we've printed New York menswear designer Jay Kos's business card: 3 × 3.5 in, 18 pt silk matte, die-cut to the outline of his monkey-in-a-bowler-hat logo, in the brown, green and yellow he chose himself. Six runs, never re-coloured.

Business-cards for Jay Kos with 3 × 3.5 in, die-cut to the monkey outline, 18 pt silk matte, single sheet, four-colour process, : the monkey, no text, : bottle green, yellow serif type, one per person and six runs, 2014–2022, 1,000 per name.

TécnicasTroquelado

La idea

Jay Kos wanted his monkey logo to be the card itself: no rectangle, no words on the front, and only his three colours.

Four rules

01The card is the monkey. We redrew the monkey as vector artwork and built the cut line as its own file, following the hat, the ears, the jaw and the ruffled fur on…
02His colours, exactly
03Words only on the back. No text on the front at all. The back is bottle green with banana-yellow serif type, one version per person, so the monkey stays the same f…
04Thin enough for the detail. 18 pt silk matte, a single sheet, 3 × 3.5 in: firm enough to hand over, and fine enough to hold every curl of the outline.

A very particular monkey. Card artwork by Jay Kos; the scenes, the gloved hands and the rooms are recreated with AI.

El cliente

Jay Kos (born Jay Koslowsky) has made menswear in New York since 1996. He spent two years at NYU dental school, learned hats at Worth & Worth on Madison Avenue, and has run his own boutiques ever since: the Upper East Side, then Mott Street in NoLiTa, and now Spring Street in SoHo, by appointment only.

He's known for colour and for exotic skins. A street video in 2026 put the price of one of his alligator jackets at 169.795 €. In his own words: “Color for me is a drug. I'm a visual junkie, and color is my crack.”

His mark is a monkey in a bowler hat. It turns up everywhere, from the boots to the silver buttons on the alligator jackets, and on the business card we've printed for him since 2014.

jaykos.com →

@jaykosdesign on Instagram →

The Jay Kos die-cut card, front and back, lying on a black stone plinth: the brown monkey head in a bowler hat beside the bottle-green back with yellow type — Front and back on our plinth. Recreated with AI from photos of the real card; phone number blurred.

Flat artwork of the die-cut card: the monkey-head front in brown, green and yellow, and the bottle-green back with Jay Kos's name, title and the Spring Street address — Front and back, rendered from the print files. 3 × 3.5 in.

A hand in a green suede glove pushing a fan of quiet grey and navy swatches off a banana-yellow lacquer table — The quieter palette, declined. Still from the film.

Low macro of four stacked Jay Kos die-cut cards on black stone, raking light along the cut edges of the bowler hat brim — Four cards stacked: the knife follows every curl of the brim. Recreated with AI from photos of the real card.

A chocolate-brown leather-panelled room with an alligator jacket on a dressmaker's form, candles and a crystal whiskey glass — The brown room. Still from the film.

Concept: the monkey-head die-cut shape with a drilled hole in the hat and a cotton cord, hanging as a hang tag on a dark green background — Concept, not a printed job: the same die line as a hang tag.

A cast-iron SoHo street at night after rain, a shopfront with drawn green velvet curtains and a black lacquered door — SoHo, by appointment only. Still from the film.

A tailor's atelier in deep bottle green, a hand chalking a line on green cloth beside brass shears — The green room. Still from the film.

A man in a bowler hat and oxblood alligator jacket seen from behind in a doorway between a green room and a brown room, a yellow room beyond — Between the rooms. Still from the film; an anonymous figure, not a real person.

A man in an alligator jacket and bowler hat walking away down a cobbled SoHo street at blue hour, a green garment bag over his shoulder — Spring Street at dusk. Still from the film.

He chose the colours. He's kept them.

The palette came from Jay himself. In 2014 his team sent us a Jay Kos chocolate-bar wrapper (“Banana and honey monkey bar”) and asked for the same three colours: a reddish-brown, PANTONE 350 C green and PANTONE 601 C yellow. They're unusual together, and they're entirely his.

Our founder, Austin, has been suggesting a quieter palette for years. Jay has said no every time. It's his card, and he gets what he asks for. We print it exactly as he wants it.

Six runs, never re-coloured

The first order came in December 2014 with only JPGs of the logo, so we redrew the monkey as vector artwork with its own cut line. In 2017 we reformatted the card to 3 × 3.5 in and added names for the team. Since then the front and the die line haven't changed.

Reorders are simple: the back changes when a name, a title or an address does (the studio moved from Mott Street to Spring Street in 2021), and the monkey stays the same. One reorder came the day after Austin sent a quick check-in email: “I need to reorder monkey card.”

The same die, as a hang tag

A shape this recognisable works just as well on a garment as in a wallet. The die line that cuts the card can cut a hang tag too: drill a hole through the crown of the hat, add a cotton cord, and the monkey hangs from a sleeve or a lapel.

We make hang tags and business cards in custom die-cut shapes, from your own outline. If your logo only exists as a JPG, we'll redraw it first, as we did here.

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Tarjetas de visita troqueladas →

Cómo hicimos el vídeo

A designer this particular deserved a film with rules. We borrowed the colour-coded rooms of Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), shot by Sacha Vierny with costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier, where every room is one colour and the clothes change colour as people walk between them. Ours are the card's three colours: bottle green, chocolate brown and banana yellow.

The card shots are real: our own footage of the printed card. The rooms, the street and the figures are generated with AI. The man in the doorway is an anonymous figure seen from behind, not Jay Kos; no real person is depicted. The film is an homage and is not affiliated with any film or filmmaker.

Empieza con estos materiales

Mismo papel, foil y acabado, ya fijados. Del arte de Jay Kos's no se incluye nada.

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Preguntas

Can a business card be die-cut into the shape of a logo?: Yes. Jay Kos's card is cut to the full outline of his monkey-in-a-bowler-hat logo. We build the cut line as its own file from the logo artwork, so the card itself becomes the mark.
What if I only have a JPG of my logo?: A die needs a clean vector outline. In 2014 Jay Kos's team only had JPG images, so we redrew the monkey as vector artwork with a separate cut line before printing. We can do the same for any logo.
How thick should a die-cut business card be?: For a detailed outline like this one, 18 pt silk matte works well: it feels firm in the hand and holds fine points cleanly. Thicker, layered boards suit simpler shapes with fewer small details.
Can the same die-cut shape be used for hang tags?: Yes. A die-cut business card and a die-cut hang tag use the same kind of cut line. For a tag we add a drilled hole and a cord or string, so the same shape can hang from a garment.
Can you match a brand colour from a physical sample?: Yes. Jay Kos sent us his chocolate-bar wrapper as the reference. The green and yellow were given as PANTONE 350 C and 601 C; the brown, which had no Pantone number, was built in four-colour process to match the sample.
Do reorders keep the same die and colours?: Yes. The front artwork and the die line on Jay Kos's card haven't changed since 2017. Only the back changes, when a name, a title or the studio address does.

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