Case study · Business cards · HOJA DE VIDA
HOJA DE VIDA ↗A leaf of life
Business cards for HOJA DE VIDA, a sparkling botanical energy drink from Austin, Texas: the whole card is a leaf, PANTONE 375 C on 32 pt duplexed cotton, with holographic foil veins debossed into the front, embossed on the back, and a black foil logo.
Het idee
HOJA DE VIDA, a botanical energy drink from Austin, wanted a card that speaks for the drink when there's no can to taste. We made the card a leaf.
Four rules
- 01The card stands in for the drink. Make the card a leaf. The whole surface is the leaf, edge to edge, and the logo sits on top of it, so the card says botanical before anyone…
- 02Veins in holographic foil. Holographic foil veins. They flash violet, cyan and gold as the card turns, and the green between them stays flat and bright.
- 03One green, by number. A flood of PANTONE 375 C on both sides, edge to edge, with the foil and the black foil logo on top.
- 04Pressed in on the front, raised on the back. 32 pt duplexed cotton: two thick cotton sheets mounted back to back. The front veins are debossed, pressed into the paper, and the back is…
De klant
HOJA DE VIDA (say “oh-hah”) is a sparkling botanical energy drink from Austin, Texas: guayusa, cacao fruit, green coffee, ginseng, acerola and saffron among the ingredients, and a motto to match: ride the wind.
It's a young husband-and-wife company, run by founder Curtis Bomgaars and his wife.
We're a Texas company too, so this one was a pleasure.
The name
In Spanish, a hoja de vida is a résumé. Word for word, it means a leaf of life.
On their website Curtis puts it this way: “sometimes words aren't enough and you just have to prove it.” A business card is about the shortest résumé there is, so the card had to prove it too.
How we made the film
HOJA is from Austin, and so are the live oaks, so we borrowed the magic-hour light of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life (2011), shot by Emmanuel Lubezki in central Texas: the sun low behind the leaves, wide lenses close to the subject, and wind in everything. A leaf of life, filmed like a tree of life.
The scenes, hands and landscapes are generated with AI, using HOJA DE VIDA's own artwork for the card. The short phone clip of the printed card is real. No real person is depicted, and the film is an homage that is not affiliated with any film or filmmaker.
Begin met deze materialen
Hetzelfde papier, dezelfde folie en afwerking, vastgelegd. Niets van HOJA DE VIDA's ontwerp gaat mee.
Vragen
- Can you combine holographic foil with embossing or debossing?
- Yes. The foil and the impression are registered, so the foil sits exactly on the pressed or raised area. On HOJA DE VIDA's card the holographic foil veins are debossed on the front and embossed on the back.
- What is a duplexed business card?
- Two sheets mounted back to back to make one thick card. Because each side is its own sheet, you can deboss one side and emboss the other without the impressions showing through. HOJA's card is 32 pt duplexed cotton.
- What's the difference between embossing and debossing?
- Embossing raises the design up out of the paper. Debossing presses it down into the paper. Both work best on thick, soft stock such as cotton.
- Can you print a Pantone colour on cotton paper?
- Yes. We print the spot colour as a flood. Uncoated cotton absorbs ink, so colours look softer and more matte than on coated paper, and we judge the colour on the real stock rather than on screen.
- How fine can holographic foil lines be?
- Very fine foil lines can fill in or break. We check every line and gap at real size before the foil die is made, and thicken anything that won't hold.
- Is the film real?
- The card artwork is HOJA DE VIDA's own and the short phone clip of the printed card is real. The other scenes are recreated with AI, and no real person is depicted.
