At a glance
- Idea: Create a practical security measure for an essential everyday item by adapting polarization technology for use on physical objects (cards).
- Team: This was a solo project, however I had outside help from subject matter experts including Bri Murphy, as well as my design professor, Mark Fetkewicz.
- Timeline: 6 weeks; it was done alongside other course projects.
Where It Started
Concealed Card felt like an obvious solution to a problem with big implications. Smartphone cameras make it easier now than ever to easily capture card information and steal it from an individual. Concealed Card protects this information practically and effectively by using polarized privacy filters on the physical card.
Early Development – Prototyping
Using Blender Cycles Rendering I was able to experiment with different materials and imitate the all-important polarizing effect through material nodes. Blender’s capabilities allowed me to quickly prototype without using any physical materials and reduce waste significantly.
Brand Design
For the initial mock-ups done in blender I did not have a brand identity in mind. I was focused on designing the product and functionality and had not thoroughly considered the branding component yet. The general idea was just to create a premium-feeling product, primarily through material choice. In the initial designs, the card was to be constructed from frosted glass with a polished, metallic edge. While not a bad look, after further development I did not feel that this design choice truly differentiated the brand. It also did not speak to the purpose of the card.
I was looking for inspiration on behance when I remembered something about a type of camouflage developed in WWI. The idea behind this camouflage was not to make the object disappear into the background, but rather to confuse potential opponents about the orientation and type of target they would be attacking. Dazzle camouflage as it is known, was designed confuse; to hide in plain sight. I thought this had strong parallels with what I was aiming to achieve and adapted this style as the brand identity for Concealed Card.
With this striking design language I quickly developed different types of patterns revolving around the dazzle idea. Below are examples.
Fabrication
In order to streamline the production process and minimize wait time I went ahead and ordered the materials that would be necessary while I was finishing up the branding. I ordered stainless steel business cards that could be engraved or etched, along with several glass privacy screen protectors. As I worked with the Digital Fabrication Director Bri Murphy, we realized that the laser was simply incapable of cutting through the glass material and could potentially release harmful gases if attempted. I adapted by ordering a completely different style of polarizing filter that would not need to be cut by the laser. As experimentation continued Bri informed me that laser engraving stainless steel would require a specialized coating in order to create a difference in contrast. There are several options currently on the market, but CerMark Ultra was recommended and ordered. Once this arrived, we were finally able to get results from the laser engraver.
Technical Difficulties
The project was well underway, and finally I was getting some results, but there was still an issue: warping. The immense heat produced from the 60w CO2 laser was warping the relatively thin steel card and causing the design to lose detail at the edges. Many ideas were recommended, such as engraving a larger piece and cutting the card out, but this was deemed impractical. Setting the card on another piece of metal could potentially help to mitigate warping by absorbing some of the heat, but stainless steel has relatively poor thermal characteristics. Lastly, adjusting the design to more evenly heat the metal was mentioned and we decided to try this approach.
After updating the pattern to alternate between green, black, red, and white stripes, the laser engraver was programmed to etch a single color for each pass. This was intended to evenly distribute the heat created from the engraving process. While a very good idea in principle, it proved to show no significant improvement. Finally, I decided to rotate the direction of the engraver’s path from vertical to horizontal so as to reduce the magnitude of warping from the engraver. This was relatively successful and eliminated defects that were being caused from extreme warping. The heat was still warping the card, to be sure, but it was not significant enough to reduce the quality of the pattern.
Takeaways
There were many variables that I simply did not expect, and creating physical products, regardless of how simple, is more involved than one might initially think. I am very proud of the final result; it is the culmination of many attempts at learning and improving.