Making 'Business Cards'

Decided I want to make something less disposable than simply a standard paper based business card. Something 3D feels more precious / people are hopefully more likely to keep it & therefore keep my details maybe?? Also things are just nice.

Booked myself a lasercut induction which was v interesting - crazy crazy machine. Made me excited about what I can make

- I know I want to make some wooden lasercut things like slotted puzzles / 3D characters for my FMP so I thought it would be good practice too to try and have a go at making business cards.

- I'm v interested in physical things. bits and bobs. desk trinkets. tactile stuffs. So it made sense to make these.

- Decided on trees - I draw them a lot - interesting shapes - would make nice models. But then it does seem a bit weird to make wooden trees ..... murder

- made a little cardboard dummy one

- I have avoided Illustrator like the plague since our induction. So my lovely flatmate on graphics sat with me and gave me a crash course in how I can make my file - she also has an iPad and you can draw the design and it turns it into a vector!!!! :O

- I bought 6mm wood because I thought it would look better but I soon realised that in order for the stand to fit in the trees would end up being like 15cm tall ... not very business card-y. So I had to change my whole document the night before my slot to fit to 3mm wood

- I feel a teeny bit more confident with illustrator now woo!

- watching the machine do its thing was so satisfying!! also v exciting

- I had to reign my wonkiness in for this - but unfortunately one of my designs was too wonky. I shouldve realised but I didn't and its too heavy on one side to stand up which is a shame but maybe it can just be a metaphor for deforestation..

- I'm really pleased with these - it was really rewarding to see an idea that I wasn't sure whether it would work come into life. I learned a lot of new skills too ! They're much more exciting than my previous business cards which were designed on PowerPoint when I didn't have Photoshop...

- They also smell really good

- I actually really like the sheet leftover that it cut out - maybe this could be a technique to use ... ?

- I decided to leave the wood as it is because I love the natural look of it, I just sanded the burn marks off. I painted the other side white at the top and wrote my details on - if I had had more time to make these I wouldve done something more professional - maybe write my name using the lasercutter or screenprint or something - but I think they work if a little on the handmade side