How do you handle cut-through, or just etch it?

A cut-through is the loudest move metal offers and the most fragile. Every void is a place the card can bend. Cut-through only where the void is a closed shape with support on all sides, a counter, a ring, a lobe. Anything cantilevered gets etched instead.

How do you handle enamel where the brand has a colour?

Ink on bare metal sits on top and scratches off. There is no tooth to hold it. Recessed etch filled with baked enamel, so the colour sits below the metal surface and the card can live in a wallet. Etch alone for anything monochrome.

How do you handle break the mirror?

A full mirror card reflects the room, and small type disappears into whatever is standing in front of it. Duplexed mirror-to-matte and mirror-to-brushed panels, so the type always sits on a surface that holds still while the mirror does the showing off.

Design exercise · Business cards · Peppermint

Quarantuno modi di tagliare l'acciaio.

Un esercizio sulla costruzione dei biglietti in metallo: cosa fa il supporto, dove aiuta un traforo, quando lo smalto batte l'incisione e come evitare che una finitura a specchio inghiotta il testo.

Business-cards for Print Peppermint design exercise with 0.5 mm stainless, black steel, brass, copper, rose gold, iridescent, laser etch, laser cut-through, chemical etch, colour-fill enamel, powder coat, mirror, brushed, matte and suede finishes and duplex mirror-to-matte in one card.

TecnicheLaser Engraved, Laser Cut, Enamel Fill, Powder Coated CarteSatin stainless, Matte black metal, Brushed gold metal, Copper metal

L'idea

I biglietti in metallo si vendono sul peso e trascurano il design. Quasi tutto ciò che circola è un rettangolo a specchio con un logo inciso al laser: sempre la stessa idea.

Three rules

01Cut-through, or just etch it. Cut-through only where the void is a closed shape with support on all sides, a counter, a ring, a lobe. Anything cantilevered gets etched i…
02Enamel where the brand has a colour. Recessed etch filled with baked enamel, so the colour sits below the metal surface and the card can live in a wallet. Etch alone for anythi…
03Break the mirror. Duplexed mirror-to-matte and mirror-to-brushed panels, so the type always sits on a surface that holds still while the mirror does the show…

Il senso dell'esercizio

Così ne abbiamo realizzati quarantuno, volutamente su sei supporti e con quattro processi, per costruire un vocabolario pratico: quali finiture reggono il testo, dove un intaglio passante sopravvive in un portafoglio e a cosa serve davvero lo smalto.

Niente carta in questo set. Era il vincolo.