LASERS.

So having pretty much settled on the idea that I'm going to get some promo packs made professionally, I thought it'd be best to do a bit of research into who does what best.

I was firstly recommended a company called CutLaserCut based in London, who famously did most, if not all of the work for the recent Roald Dahl film: Fantastic Mr Fox. This to me, screamed out best of the best. I had a quick look on their website to see if they had any quotes or price lists but I couldn't see anything. I dropped them a quick email explaining what I was after, along with a rough sketch on the net with dimensions. They were rapid at replying back to me and spoke about a number of different options we could laser cut the pack but it all depended on the chosen material. They recommended their own finn board (a mixture of ground and pressed wood pulp) in a variety of different weights. With this, I would be able to engrave into the board without completely cutting through giving me the option to burn type into the surface. This would however, bump up the cost a substantial amount.

After a good 10 or so emails, the nice chap gave me a call and we talked prices. It was near impossible to hear him over the loud machinery but in the end we came to the conclusion that it was going to be much more then my budget had to offer and wouldn't be able to complete the cut get it delivered to me in time. He was very understanding and said if I was ever in London and wanted to go along to the cutting studio I was more then welcome and to contact him if I required any other cutting in the future. All in all a very nice man indeed.

Next I looked into the free FabLab services that they have to offer full time students. I'd never really heard of Fab before but knew that Manchester ran a number of free workshops to do with art and design. I decided to get in touch with them, again via email and we discussed my proposal. They said that it all seemed perfectly achievable, I just needed to book an induction to cover health and safety to get started. I liked the idea of this more so then the previous option as it enabled me to learn how to use the machinery myself and see the process whilst it was happening. I attended the induction which was dead interesting and helpful. They showed me around the building and what facilities they had on offer. I didn't realise the extent of machinery they had, ranging from 3D printers, plastic mold making, wood cutters (on a huge scale), vinyl cutters, sewing equipment  and loads of other CAD CAM bits. I learned that Fab isn't just based in Manchester but has a large community running all over Europe. It was pretty exciting to see how busy it was and seeing the projects that other people were working on.

I booked myself in for the following week to do a trial run of my net to see if my material would work and hopefully not set on fire. It wasn't going to cost me anything to make it, just the cost of the card itself. The only thing that Fab ask is that you take pictures of your finished piece, write a brief description about it and upload it onto their website so that other people can make it if they chose.  Before I got round to testing this out, a company I had emailed a good few weeks back about getting some business cards got back in touch and spoke about being able to help me out with laser cutting. For the time being I put Fab on hold, but had every intention of going back.

Duke Studios describes themselves as being a multi disciplinary creative space in the heart of Leeds that offers studio spaces, co-working membership and services. I had spoken to Lord Whitney about who they'd chosen to cut their business cards as I thought they looked pretty slick indeed and pointed me in the direction of Duke. I replied with excitement of prospects of using their "motherfreakinlaser" to get my work produced. They were more then helpful when speaking to them about my plans. I must have filled their inbox with idiot emails about basic things that I had no idea about but they were great and gave me a lot of their time and patience with it all. We spoke about costs and it worked out more beneficial to get more cut at once as they charged a very very reasonable hourly rate to use their machines. They recommended a brilliant stationary service down in Brighton for material that they had used before and new would work well for the finish that I wanted. I therefore ordered a huge pack of recycled card from SeaWhite with a express delivery sticker slapped on and rushed up to Leeds for James to start cutting. I explained that I needed a really fast turn around and they said it wouldn't be a problem. To make things even better, Lord Whitney have been amazing and said that they'll bring it all over once its done as they're big friends with the people at Duke and save me a pretty penny on delivery. 


Everything seems to be going to plan now. I'm just waiting on the final packs that should be ready next tuesday. Can't wait to start screen printing on them now.