Studio Brief 01 - Wooden sleeve cover design and laser cutting

Having the wooden cover engraved with a shophouse will set the narrative of the publication explicitly telling the reader of the content. Adding to this, the shophouse has its own sign, "Singapore" to tell the reader what country its referring to. Rastering the areas where the tiling would have been adds depth and tactility to the engraving. The idea to have the shophouse windows cutout is again inspired by Stefan Sagmeisters "Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far".

The interchangeable cover designs allows for a creative interaction between the publication and reader, enticing the reader to engage with the publication and to not create a stagnant experience after the reader is finished reading all booklets.

The titles of the booklets are then shown through the front cover, giving the reader a more specific summary of the content in each booklet.

Unsuccessful cut through

Laser stopping during cutting process forcing an abort

6mm

4mm

Bringing this design to the laser produced initially negative results. Speaking with the wood workshop technician, 6mm ply wood was too thick and dense. Furthermore the mistake of setting the laser to cut 6mm MDF, the ply wood did not cut through and produced more substantial burn marks around the engravings. A 4mm ply was suggested which would ensure less burn marks and easier for the laser to cut through. When trying the designs for the spine of the sleeve, the laser cutter stopped halfway and would not carry on the design, having to abort the process altogether. This was due to a technical difficulty with the laser cutter itself which was acknowledged by the technician later.

First try on this 4mm ply, and the grooves of the engraves are too thick, producing a less than precise composition of the shophouse design. This was due to the ply wood board curving diagonally across, affecting the base height of the board which affects the laser's thickness when engraving. The more accurate the height, the thinner the laser which produces a more accurate composition. This mistake also prevented the shophouse window cut outs from cutting through. 

The second try produced results similar to that done on the 6mm ply wood. Thin clear lines that accurately detail the shophouse and cut out windows due to correct laser height. The spines of the sleeve the same results.Multiple variations of the proposed publication's title and differing sizes to reduce repeating the process.