business cards
First things first, sketch!
After graduating from the One School, I had the opportunity to attend Where Are All The Black People, a conference designed to celebrate and uplift Black folks getting into the industry. I asked myself, “How do I make myself POP OUT at this conference?” I iterated through many ideas, but they all began to stray from who I really was and from my budget (I was unemployed going to the conference to look for a job lol). As a leathersmith, I save all my scraps with the intent of reusing them for some sort of art. The idea came to me the moment I looked down and saw the bag in my office. Let’s make a sustainable business card with scrap leather to show my craftsmanship and desire to push the boundaries of storytelling with something as mundane as a business card.
Design Stamp
I only had a week to execute these business cards, so I had to find a brass stamp maker ASAP. I was lucky enough to find a California-based company to expedite my stamp for me. I wrote my name in Amharic by hand, turned and brought it into a design that could turn into a vector.
things aren’t looking good
By the time the brass stamps had come, I was convinced that I could use the fire place in my house to heat up the stamp and press the logo onto the leather I had. That didn’t go as planned…
time to find help
With the help of the many leather crafting Facebook groups I was in, I received the support I needed. My brass stamp wasn’t heating up at an even and exact enough temperature to make things look professional. I
Local embosser to the rescue
After feeling discouraged, I decided to give a local embosser a call. I told him about what was happenning to my business cards, and he told me I could come into his studio to use his machinery to foil stamp my business cards. I packed my up my stuff and was out of the house within an hour!
Vision has come to life, after many struggles!
With the support of my friend at Raff Embossing and Foil printing, I was developing dozens of business cards by the hour. My vision, after many failed attempts, was finally coming to life.
The journey
In the end, my business cards came to life even more beautifully than I could have imagined. Each cards is slightly different, such is the beauty of creating art with your hands. Being a leather smith in a digital-first world has taught me much about myself, art, and embracing the uniqueness that comes from imperfections. Many times, I find my artwork, no matter how big or small the task, a mirror to myself. It would be easy for me to say that this project was all my work, but many people along the way came to my support when I needed it. Thank you to my boyfriend, my family, the leather crafting facebook groups, and Raff Embossing & Foil printing.
If you’re interested in one of my business cards, send over a message and I’d be happy to send what I have free of charge!