How do you handle take the spec as given, and the copy too?

The client supplied the whole spec up front — 4″ × 4″, rounded corners, 530gsm Gmund Heidi, letterpress deboss in black on both sides, copper foil on one or two sides — plus the exact copy for both faces. Treated all of it as fixed. A strong brief gives spec, copy and reference at once, and this one did. The only genuinely open question was how much copper, which the client explicitly left to design.

How do you handle match the finishes, not the layout?

A coaster is square, four inches across, and gets set down on a bar. A business card is a hand-held rectangle. Copying the card's layout onto a square would look like a stretched card. Carried the materials and finishes across — same stock, same black letterpress, same copper — and let the format drive the composition. The reference the client showed was a pub-style ruled menu coaster, so the front took a ruled menu structure the card never had.

How do you handle spend the copper deliberately?

Copper foil on one side or two was the design's call, and each side costs a pass. Decided by what each face is for — the menu side is read at a table, the back is the brand moment with the logo and the QR. Foil earns its place where someone looks once, not where they read six lines of prices.

How do you handle 530gsm, and let it be thick?

A coaster has a job — it absorbs, it sits flat, it takes a wet glass. Card stock doesn't do that. Gmund Heidi at 530gsm, which is roughly double a heavy business card. It also takes a deep letterpress bite without the impression showing through, which on a two-sided piece is the whole reason to use a heavy sheet.

Case study · coasters · Gentleman Farmer Wines

Progettare un sottobicchiere da abbinare a un biglietto da visita

Gentleman Farmer aveva già stampato un biglietto con noi e ne era entusiasta. La richiesta era un sottobicchiere con lo stesso carattere (stessa famiglia di carte, stesse finiture, stessa sobrietà), con un menu di sei stuzzichini da vino su un lato e un QR verso il negozio sull'altro. Riprendere un pezzo esistente è più difficile che partire da zero, perché ogni scelta si misura con qualcosa che il cliente può tenere in mano.

Due sottobicchieri Gentleman Farmer color osso caldo: Gmund Heidi da 530gsm, stemma nero in stampa a caratteri mobili e monogramma in lamina rame, angoli arrotondati, uno in piedi e uno disteso.

LamineDeep Copper · 115-2 TecnicheLetterpress, Deboss, Copper Foil, Rounded Corner CarteGmund Heidi Used White 530gsm InchiostriPANTONE Process Black

L'idea

La maggior parte degli stampatori avrebbe copiato il layout del biglietto su un quadrato, chiamandolo coordinato. La scelta qui è stata portare con sé i materiali e lasciare che fosse l'oggetto a decidere la composizione.

Four rules

01Prendi le specifiche così come sono, e anche i testi
02Abbina le finiture, non il layout
03Spend the copper deliberately. Decided by what each face is for — the menu side is read at a table, the back is the brand moment with the logo and the QR. Foil earns its…
04530gsm, and let it be thick. Gmund Heidi at 530gsm, which is roughly double a heavy business card. It also takes a deep letterpress bite without the impression showing…

The mark, flat compared with The mark, in copper foil — Il marchio, piattoIl marchio, in foil rame

Lo stesso artwork, a un solo passaggio di distanza. Su fondo scuro la versione piatta appare stampata; quella in lamina cattura la luce della stanza in cui si trova.