Surprises are pretty rare these days – you’re lucky if you can even watch your favorite show without someone on Twitter giving away the ending first. Sensing the value of a good surprise, brand design house Giraff came up with an unassuming-looking leave-behind card that leaves potential clients in no doubt as to what Giraff is all about.
One of the first questions when I arrive at a meeting is ‘Why do you call your company Giraff,’” explains studio founder Tal Huber. “I wanted to leave behind a surprising product that would convey the message of a highly creative company.”
And she wanted the very act of opening that card to answer that ubiquitous question: “Why Giraff”?
So ... why DOES she call it Giraff? Let’s find out.
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Picking up the card – a chunky Black 300 gram (110-lb. Cover) Favini Burano sheet – we’re presented with that question in white ink digitally printed by Hauser Printing in huge letters. Lifting the top flap of what will ultimately prove to be a tri-fold reveals another word, “discover,” in much smaller white-ink letters on the bottom tri-fold panel. Lift THAT piece and ...
Surprise! The words “We aim higher” practically leap out at you in huge white letters inside a unique oyster fold!
Now I’ve seen my fair share of custom folds, but there’s something so unpredictable about the way this piece blossoms like a rose. If you’re any kind of print nerd at all – or even if you’re just someone who likes to fidget – you simply can’t resist opening and closing it a few more times to watch the bloom and contraction of the fold.
A closer look at the piece reveals that the “oyster” itself is actually a lighter sheet (90 gram or 60 lb. Text) of that same Burano paper, the folding lines laser engraved, glued to the outer card, and then hand folded.
And...yep, you’re way ahead of me. Giraff has generously agreed to send us copies of this inspiring piece to be included in a future VIP Box for our VIP members! Start your VIP membership right now and you might be one of the lucky ones to receive this ingenious piece.
As a member you will receive four VIP Boxes a year brimming with rare print pieces from around the world just perfect for sharing with clients, printers, and for inspiring your own work to even greater heights.
Sabine Lenz is the founder of PaperSpecs.com, the first online paper database and community specifically designed for paper specifiers.
Growing up in Germany, Sabine started her design career in Frankfurt, before moving to Australia and then the United States. She has worked on design projects ranging from corporate identities to major road shows and product launches. From start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, her list of clients included Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Deutsche Bank, IBM and KPMG.
Seeing designers struggle worldwide to stay current with new papers and paper trends inspired Sabine to create PaperSpecs, an independent and comprehensive Web-based paper database and weekly e-newsletter. She is also a speaker on paper issues and the paper industry. Some refer to her lovingly as the "paper queen" who combines her passion for this wonderful substrate called paper with a hands-on approach to sharing her knowledge.