Cut-out lettering meets origami for BASF event invites

How do you impress an industry that deals in colour coatings for a living and entice them to a trade show? That’s the task faced by German studio Are We Designer each year. Its client, BASF Coatings, annually invites bigwigs from the automotive industry to preview the new colour collection.

• See some more of Are We Designer's playful stationery here

"For the annual workshop 2012, all clients were invited to a presentation where tailor-made colour coatings were discussed and presented in a very special and classy atmosphere," recalls Are We Designer’s Daniela Kempkes.

This year, Are We Designer decided to go the extra mile, producing invitation stationery with special coatings, together with custom envelopes, all in a copper shade.

"We didn’t use the classic foil treatment," explains Kempkes. "Due to the tight production schedule and the limited run, we produced them as film sheets and then added the cut-out letters by hand on each single sheet. It sounds insane, but we had a lot of fun doing it."

The same detail also went into the envelopes, which were all handfolded to open out like a flower. "Since we did an origami class in our free time last year, we learned a lot about paper," she says.

Kempkes and her team clearly enjoy coming up with different and original themes for each yearly show. "It's always big fun," she explains, "and we have another secret ingredient – we travel a lot and bring back new impressions of foreign culture."

This article was originally published in Computer Arts issue 210.

Like this? Now read these!

• The ultimate guide to designing the best logos
• Illustrator tutorials: amazing ideas to try today!
• Download the best free fonts