I have a propensity toward two things, finding unique takes on design, and putting in an absurd amount of work into an absurd idea for a conventional item. Now, originally, it was going to be laser-engraved wooden cards… BUT IT WAS NOT. ENOUGH. FOR. ME.
Cue the mechanical business card!
It’s not exceptionally complicated, but it would be one of the first projects that I would take from the design sketch, to CAD design, to fabrication on my 3-D printer. Then I’ll be topping the faces with some wood veneer– I’m thinking walnut or mahogany for now. The basics of the “brief” for myself is just to design a unique business card, that stands out and demonstrates skill in engineering and design… with about a week’s deadline for ahead of a networking dinner.
The main difficulty of the project is the scale. It needs to be “business card size” and as thin as I can. so what it ultimately came to was 2″ x 3.5″ at a 2.5mm thickness. The thickness was dictated by the gear thickness. Gears? Yup, for a disc with different words that will cycle through the card. The design for the face is still flexible to fit the constraints of the card, so we’ll see where that ends up. Here’s version 1.