Product Description

Portfoliobox collaborated with architectural media house Studio AMD and digital printer iolabs to deliver this highly unique presentation for Wellesley College.

The Pendleton West building at Wellesley College was full of cramped classrooms and labs, unchanged since its 1934 construction. Wellesley had new designs from architecture firm KieranTimberlake, and was launching a massive capital campaign to finance the renovations. An endeavor as ambitious as this demanded a presentation beyond the usual Power Point. The development team at Wellesley turned to the digital magicians at Studio AMD and their three-dimensional imaging app. Studio AMD, in turn, collaborated with Portfoliobox to build the physical launch platform for the project: a custom slipcase.

The core of the presentation is an iPad Air loaded with AMD’s Augmented Reality app and a specially printed photographic wrap on the top and sides of the inner slipcase. When viewed through the iPad, the campus buildings, including the proposed repurposed structure, appear to rise in three dimensions from the platform in a holographic sleight of hand. Proper positioning of the wrap on all surfaces of the custom slipcase is critical for the app to work properly, and the crafts people at Portfoliobox were up to the precision challenge.

The outer box is a custom slipcase with a 5-Panel wrap-around folder and hidden magnetic closure. The covering material, Iris, is a natural linen-type fabric made in Germany by Bamberger. The logo is hot stamped with a white pigment foil. When opened, a second custom slipcase housing the iPad is revealed along with a ribbon pull. This internal case is covered with white Brillianta, from Ecological Fibers, digitally printed at iolabs on a Roland large format printer using Eco-Solvent inks. This painstaking process of covering the internal case allows the holographic app to work its magic. A wood framed slipcase, with its crisp edges and corners, assures exact placement and guards against image drop off. The interior pads are covered with domestic Arrestox, its smooth surface allowing the iPad to easily slide out.