14. About Port, a Slim Business Card Holder Without a Gusset

Last time in this column, I introduced the story behind making the "Business Card Holder with Gusset: Nexus." This time, I'd like to share the story behind making a business card holder "without a gusset."

The "Business Card Holder with Gusset for 70 Cards: Nexus" was designed with salespeople and others who are often out of the office in mind, with an emphasis on capacity and durability. In contrast, what we envisioned this time was the everyday life of people who work mainly "in the office."

Things like: "Inviting clients into the company and greeting them," "I keep spares at my desk, so carrying just a few is enough," "I usually keep my card holder at my desk, too," "Even so, I want that brief moment of exchanging cards to be beautiful and smooth."

With that daily life in mind, what we aimed for was a compact, slim silhouette that fits neatly in a pocket while still pursuing ease of use.

The ideal was for "simplicity" and "functionality" to coexist naturally, and we wanted the finished piece to be as thin as possible.

As we proceeded with a gusset-free structure, the challenge was the difficulty of use particular to holders without a gusset. A flat pocket has no gap for your fingers, so there was the drawback that "cards are a little hard to take out."
Typical card holders deal with this difficulty by making the pockets slightly larger. Having some extra room on the left and right of the card pocket makes it easier to slip your fingers in.

However, that inevitably makes the whole card holder larger and no longer compact, so at 11DROPS we wanted to solve the problem without increasing the size.

To make cards easy to take out while keeping the size compact, we decided to use "slanted-opening pockets" (aori pockets) that open on two sides for the card pockets.

Because the opening is large, your fingers don't catch, and taking cards in and out became smooth and easy, but here we ran into another challenge: the weakness that the contents fall out easily.

When many cards are inserted, pressure and friction hold them in place, but with only one or two cards, they can slip out at the slightest movement.

So after trying various things, the ideal solution turned out to be a small twist in where the pockets are stitched. Rather than the usual "L-shape," it is a "U-shaped" stitching method that additionally pinches in part of the pocket. It is only a tiny structural change, but it has proven truly reliable.

While keeping the smooth feel of inserting and removing cards, it adds just the right amount of hold, so the cards won't fall out even when the holder is turned upside down.
Another major revision was making all four pockets with this slanted-opening structure. Because the edges of the cards lift in each pocket, they are easier to catch with your fingers, further improving ease of use. I think a card holder with every compartment made as a slanted-opening pocket is quite a rare structure.

Since it was designed on the premise of being kept at a desk, we deliberately did not make it heavy and rugged; it is a card holder that values a soft feel and atmosphere, settling smoothly into your palm or the inside pocket of your jacket.

Despite its slim appearance, it comfortably holds about 30 cards in total: 10 in each of the back pockets and 5 in each of the front pockets.

I would be delighted if it helps you exchange cards with smooth, graceful gestures.