Customisation
Five things you decide yourself.
Logo, material, packaging, contents, or a full design from nothing. The earlier each is settled, the cheaper it is to change.
- 5 decisions
- 1 correct order
- Material always first
The order of decisions
There is an order, and the order saves money
These five decisions do not stand alone. Each one narrows the next, so taking them in reverse means paying twice: once to make it, once to redo it. This is the order we use in every brief.
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Material & colour
Genuine leather or PU, the colour, the type of paper. Decided first because it moves the per-unit price more than the other four decisions combined — and because the marking technique depends on it.
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Logo & branding
Deboss, emboss, foil, laser engraving. Only choosable once the leather is known: foil works well on smooth leather and disappoints on a coarse grain; laser is the other way round.
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Inserts & layout
Calendars, forms, letterheads, a branded opening page. The contents are printed separately from the cover, so this can be settled later without holding up the leather.
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Packaging
Box, sleeve, paper bag, greetings card. Last, and the one most often forgotten until a week before the event — even though it is the first thing the recipient sees.
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Full design
Not a fifth step but a different route. If it is a product we have never made, the four decisions above are replaced by one process of sketching and prototyping.
How far have you got?
What needs deciding next
Pick what you have already settled, and this will name the single next step — not all five at once.
| Already settled | Next | Why that one first | Have this ready |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing yet | Material & colour | It moves the per-unit price more than any other decision, and it limits which logo techniques are possible. | A rough quantity, and a per-unit budget range. |
| Material is chosen | Logo & branding | A marking technique can only be judged once the leather is known — the grain sets the limit on detail. | The logo file in any format; we will judge whether it works. |
| Material and logo done | Inserts & layout | The contents are printed separately, so they do not hold up the cover and can run in parallel. | The page type: plain, ruled, dotted, calendar, or your own forms. |
| Only the wrapping left | Packaging | The first thing the recipient sees, and the only part still changeable close to the shipping date. | The handover date, and whether it ships piece by piece or on one pallet. |
| The product does not exist yet | Full design | There is no material or technique to decide until the shape itself is agreed through a prototype. | Visual references, the function you want, and a realistic deadline. |
Five pages
One decision each
Decided first
Material & colour
Three kinds of leather and how each one ages, the colour choices, the finishes, the paper and its weight.
After the material
Logo & branding
Deboss, emboss, foil and laser engraving — how each feels under the finger, and which logo shapes fail on leather.
Can run in parallel
Inserts & layout
What is printed inside: four basic layouts, divider pages, and the pitfalls of a planner layout.
Decided last
Packaging
Boxes, sleeves, greetings cards — and the damage that actually happens after the goods leave the workshop.
A different route
Full design
From sketch to prototype, for a product we have never made. It needs samples, and it needs time.
Why that order
Foil and laser read leather in opposite ways
This is the clearest example of why the material is decided first, and why a logo that looks good on screen is not necessarily good on leather.
| Technique | Works well on | Disappoints on | Limit of detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold / silver / rose gold foil | Smooth, even leather | Coarse-grained leather — the foil will not adhere evenly in the valleys of the grain | Thin lines break up; it needs a solid shape |
| Laser engraving | Textured leather and suede | Very smooth leather — the result can look like a scorch mark | The finest of the four, but low in contrast |
| Deboss | Almost any genuine leather | Thin PU, which loses the recessed shape | Set by depth, not by file resolution |
| Emboss | Thick leather with a dense grain | Soft leather, which will not hold a raised shape | The coarsest; simple shapes only |
Which is why, if you arrive with a complicated logo, our first question is not about the logo — it is about which leather you want. The detail is in the four ways of marking leather.
Variations
What has already left this workshop
Snap buttons and metal studs on suede and on plain leather, in several colours. These are real examples, not renders.
Custom work, with the year it was made: Woodburn · 2016, Keyrings · 2017, Kava DeJourney · 2017, Piston Brake · 2018, The Coffee Universe · 2019, NKRI · 2021, Boxel · 2024, IDB · 2025. Fuller examples are in the portfolio.
First step
Send us the logo file, in any format
We will reply with which technique suits that logo, on which leather, and what will be lost if it is forced. Pricing and MOQ per order model are on bulk & white label.
