Case study · Hang tags · Kipsta · Decathlon
Kipsta · Decathlon ↗2,008 shoes. 2,008 secrets.
In 2022 Kipsta, Decathlon's football brand, dropped 2,008 pairs of Barrio shoes designed with Séan Garnier, each paired with an NFT. We made the physical Golden Tickets: 0.76 mm rigid plastic cards with rainbow holographic foil, each with its own QR code and serial number under silver scratch-off, hung on every pair with a steel ball chain. Rockrider saw them and ordered 1,060 more.
Het idee
A ticket on every shoe, and a secret under every ticket.
Four rules
- 01Every card different. We printed each QR code and serial number as variable data after the foil, and added a small sequential check number to every card so all 2…
- 02A secret under silver. A 27 × 27 mm silver scratch-off panel over a 25 × 25 mm QR code set in a 29 × 29 mm white box. The serial sits under scratch-off too, with…
- 03Rainbow on the face, not the edge. Rainbow holographic foil on the frame and the triangle on the front, and on the frame of the deep blue back. We left the edges unfoiled on…
- 04Built to hang. Credit-card size (85.6 × 54 mm) in 0.76 mm rigid, glossy plastic with rounded corners and a hole at the top centre, plus a 2.4 × 120 mm sta…
A ticket on every shoe
In early 2022 Kipsta, Decathlon's football brand, released a limited run of 2,008 pairs of Barrio street-football shoes, designed with freestyle world champion Séan Garnier. Every pair came with a digital twin: an NFT called the Golden Ticket.
Andy at Kipsta asked us for the physical half: one rigid holographic card per pair, each carrying its own QR code and serial number under a square of silver scratch-off. On 10 March 2022 the cards were hung, one by one, on 2,008 pairs in Decathlon's warehouse in France.
“They are awesome!!! Very great job.”
That was Andy's note the day the cards arrived in March 2022. By December he called the project a success, and his card had already done something else: it found us our next Decathlon client.
Every card different
Wanted: One card per pair of shoes, each one able to claim exactly one NFT and no other.
Constraint: 2,008 unique codes had to land on the right cards, match the right tokens and be countable before anything shipped.
We chose: We printed each QR code and serial number as variable data after the foil, and added a small sequential check number to every card so all 2,008 could be counted and none could go missing.
A secret under silver
Wanted: A code nobody could photograph off a shelf, revealed only by the person who bought the shoes.
Constraint: The cover had to survive packing, shipping and a warehouse full of hands, then come away with a coin in one stroke.
We chose: A 27 × 27 mm silver scratch-off panel over a 25 × 25 mm QR code set in a 29 × 29 mm white box. The serial sits under scratch-off too, with its ends left showing so each card can be matched without giving the code away.
Rainbow on the face, not the edge
Wanted: Something that feels like a collectible: a ticket you keep, not a tag you throw away.
Constraint: Foil on the edge of a rigid plastic card tends to spill onto the faces and look messy at the corners.
We chose: Rainbow holographic foil on the frame and the triangle on the front, and on the frame of the deep blue back. We left the edges unfoiled on purpose, so every face stays crisp.
Built to hang
Wanted: A tag Decathlon's own team could put on 2,008 pairs by hand, fast.
Constraint: Paper creases and tears in a shoebox, and the tag had to read as a ticket, not a price label.
We chose: Credit-card size (85.6 × 54 mm) in 0.76 mm rigid, glossy plastic with rounded corners and a hole at the top centre, plus a 2.4 × 120 mm stainless steel ball chain for every card, packed loose so each one could be clipped to a pair in seconds.
Plus 220 Golden Tickets in gold
Alongside the 2,008 shoe cards we made 220 ambassador cards on the same build, with “Golden Ticket” printed in gold ink, for the people who carried the drop. 2,228 cards in all.
Chapter two: Rockrider, 30 years
A few months later Alexandre, Rockrider's design lead, got in touch. He had seen Andy's card. For Rockrider's 30th anniversary, Decathlon's mountain-bike brand wanted the same idea for its riders.
We made 60 jersey cards for an “NFT 30 years contest”, each with a chain sized for a zipper pull, and 1,000 Rockrider community cards (49.6 × 85 mm artwork, no chain), all with the same holographic frame and a silver scratch-off over the QR code. Proof approved on 5 August 2022, cards delivered on 7 September. Alexandre's verdict: “It's perfect.”
Chapter three: numbered 1 to 120
In June 2023 Rockrider came back once more, for a project with Ford France: 120 hang cards in white plastic, printed in PANTONE 294 C with holographic foil, each numbered 1 to 120 in white ink in Decathlon's own bold typeface, on a chain.
About the film
A 40-second fable in the key of French storybook cinema: emerald and gold, warm tungsten light, a stockroom of green boxes and a red cardigan. The card art is Kipsta's and Rockrider's own, and the closing shots are photographs of the real cards. Every QR code you see on this page has been replaced, so none of them scan.
Make your own
Hang tags, tickets, membership and loyalty cards, collectible cards: if every piece needs its own code, number or name, we can print it as variable data on paper or rigid plastic, with holographic foil, scratch-off, numbering and chains or cords. Tell us the run and how the codes will be used, and we'll plan the build with you.
Begin met deze materialen
Hetzelfde papier, dezelfde folie en afwerking, vastgelegd. Niets van Kipsta · Decathlon's ontwerp gaat mee.
Vragen
- What did Peppermint make for Kipsta and Decathlon?
- 2,008 rigid plastic Golden Ticket cards, one for each pair of the limited Kipsta Barrio street-football shoes released in 2022, plus 220 ambassador cards. Each card is credit-card size, 0.76 mm thick, with rainbow holographic foil and its own QR code and serial number hidden under silver scratch-off. Decathlon hung one on every pair, with a stainless steel ball chain.
- What was the Kipsta Golden Ticket?
- The NFT that came with each pair of Kipsta Barrio shoes, the street-football line designed with freestyle champion Séan Garnier. The physical card carried the code to claim it: scratch off the silver, scan the QR code and claim the NFT before the deadline printed on the card, 18 June 2022.
- Can you print a unique QR code and serial number on every card?
- Yes. Codes, serial numbers, names or sequential numbers are printed as variable data, so every card in the run is different. Send us the data as a spreadsheet; we check it, proof a sample of records and can add a small check number so the whole run can be counted.
- How does scratch-off protect a QR code?
- A silver scratch-off panel is printed over the code, so it can't be scanned or photographed until someone scratches it away with a coin. On these cards the panel is 27 × 27 mm over a 25 × 25 mm QR code, and the serial number is covered too.
- Can holographic foil be used on plastic cards and hang tags?
- Yes. Rainbow holographic foil works well on the faces of rigid plastic. On this job we kept it off the card edges on purpose, because foil on the edge of rigid plastic tends to spill onto the faces.
- What did Rockrider order?
- For its 30th anniversary, Decathlon's mountain-bike brand ordered 60 jersey cards for an NFT contest, with chains for the zipper pull, and 1,000 community cards, on the same holographic scratch-off build. In 2023 it came back for 120 numbered hang cards for a project with Ford France.
- Can I order holographic hang tags or NFT cards like these?
- Yes. Order a sample pack to feel the plastic and the foil, start a quote with your quantity, size and how the codes will be used, or book a consultation and we'll plan the build with you.
