SnapDIN BusinessCard Array

In the past, I have used 3D-printed business cards to display my expertise in this style of manufacturing. Now, I would like to expand their influence to showcase my design aesthetic principles and talents. These cards will be mounted on a portable DIN-rail system with a bold carrying handle design. The dynamic aspect of the project will be a trigger-like system for releasing and distributing the individual cards.

This system for carrying and distributing my contact information is also a physicalization of my skills and aesthetic principles. Not only does it show my capability of creating functional objects that use modular systems, but it also displays my use of physical design to communicate with the user.

I intended to use the repetition of the cards to communicate my admiration of organizational principles. The even spacing gives the cards and their levers a complex but intentional appearance. When combined with the arcs that house the fasteners, it implies an attention to physical details.

Design Process

The central part of this object is a 200mm extruded aluminum profile of IEC standard DIN railing. DIN rail is a standardized metal profile used to construct electrical systems all over the world. I’ve decided to use DIN rail as the modular platform for this build because of its price and my previous excitement around the standard.

DImensions Image from hackaday

My original sketches were less exhaustive than I usually do for finding the form of an object. I planned to find the form through my design methodology of “one interface at a time.” I discover the form through the sequential construction of the object’s distinct parts.

Through these sketches, I identified five interfaces that I needed to create.

1. text to card
2. card to rail
3. rail to printed part
4. printed part to human
5. and finally, interfaces between the above

The text > card interface will be handled using my Prusa Multi-Material Unit. It can switch between two colors of filament automatically during the print. This will let me print the card in one color, and embed the text in another. This gives the cards unique properties that encourages recipients to share them and discourage recipients from discarding them.

For the Card > Rail interface, I will use a modified version of my SnapDin system with an added trigger.

my SnapDIN system allows for a secure snap-on connection to aluminum DIN rail.

The Rail > Printed Part interface was where I started the handle design in Fusion 360. I made a dummy model of the rail, and specified the minimal material it needed to interface with the printed part. Then, I added end-caps that gave the impression that the rail continued into the part.

For the Printed Part > Human interface, I pursued a cut-off cylinder as the solution to avoid overhangs during printing. An important design consideration was the knuckle distance allowance. I kept this distance parametric in case I ran into issues down the line, but I estimated a distance that ensured my knuckles wouldn’t impact the other side of the casing, but was close enough to keep the center of mass as close to my hand as possible.

Finally, the interface between the Rail Interface > Human Interface is the side struts. I decided on a minimal parallel interface that overshoots the handle slightly to give a comfortable visual end-stop for your hand.

The center of balance is more towards the cards than I expected, but that allows it to sit in a couple stable orientations orientations like this one:

I feel that I have successfully created a novel experience that I can use in the future to communicate not only my contact details, but also my principles of design.