Case study · 2024
New York Romantic
A miniature keepsake from a couple's first weekend together in Manhattan — small enough to sit on a shelf, considered enough to last decades.
- Place
- Eindhoven, NL
- Scale
- 1 disc
- Lead
- 3–5 business days
Client
Private gift · Eindhoven
- Discs
- 1
- Source
- Phone snapshot
- Print passes
- 2
- Lead time
- 4 days
The work
The challenge
The skyline reference photo was shot at dusk on a phone, so half the buildings were silhouette and half were lit windows. We needed both — the silhouette to read at a glance, the lit windows to reward a closer look.
Our approach
We hand-illustrated the skyline in two layers — a soft cream wash for the buildings, then a sharper ink pass for windows and streetlights. Printed on a disc with an unusually clean mirror layer so the city lights pick up the rainbow sheen as you move past.
The outcome
Delivered in a small kraft folder with the original photo tucked behind. Now sits on the couple's bedside shelf in Eindhoven.
In their words
It catches a different light every time I walk past it. Best souvenir we've ever kept.
Materials & build
What's in the piece.
Dimensions
120 mm disc · 12 mm brass standoff
- 011 salvaged disc, mirror-grade after polish
- 02Hand-illustrated skyline, two-pass print
- 03Cream wash underlayer + sharp window/light pass
- 04Brass standoff mount, 12 mm
In situ
The piece, from a few angles.
Before & after
Drag to see the restoration.
Every disc starts scratched, dusty, on its way to a bin. We hand-polish, mask, and print — turning a forgotten silver circle into the piece on the right.
Want a piece in this spirit?
Tell us about the wall, the room, the feeling. We'll come back with sketches and a fixed quote within two working days.
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