05 / Brand, physical product and commerce
Cupow!.
Cupow! is a brand of laser-engraved products. Marshall Bishop's work on it covers the identity, the engraving artwork, the physical product and the online store. Its premise is design you can hold in your hand: a mark becomes a material, and an object becomes a storefront.
- Type
- Brand, physical products and e-commerce
- Role
- Identity, engraving and e-commerce
- Products
- Laser-engraved tumblers and lifestyle goods
- Example product
- Peak Perspective 20 oz black tumbler
- Store
- cupow.shop
From mark to material
Cupow's products are laser engraved. On a powder-coated steel tumbler the laser removes the coat and reveals the bare stainless steel beneath, so the artwork is not printed onto the surface but cut into it. A continuous wrap design runs all the way around the object, turning a familiar form into something personal.
The work spans the full chain: the brand identity, the engraving artwork, the production of physical goods, and the commerce experience that sells them.
The 3D exhibit on Media Bishop
The exhibit is a product studio in four beats: Form, Light, Engrave and Reveal. A modelled tumbler stands on a black acrylic table under softbox lighting. Visitors move the studio light to see reflections travel across the finish, then follow a laser as it engraves a full 360-degree wrap, with sparks at the cutting point, before the finished piece turns on its table.
Two engraving studies can be shown on the tumbler: a wrap for Willie's Got Crabs, a live bait and fishing tackle shop, set over a bathymetric contour chart; and a wrap for Blue Pilot Fund, set over an Orlando International Airport diagram with aircraft line drawings. The 3D tumbler is a stylized model. The project details on the site include the original Cupow catalog photograph of the Peak Perspective tumbler.
Designing a wrap for engraving
A wrap design is drawn flat and then bent around a tapered cylinder, so it has to work as a continuous band: the left and right edges meet at a seam, and the composition should read from any side the tumbler is held. Line weight matters too. Very fine, closely spaced lines blur together on a curved metal surface and can shimmer as the light moves, so engraving artwork is usually built from confident, well-spaced linework.
Contour charts, maps and technical drawings suit engraving particularly well, because they are already made of line. Both studies in the exhibit set a brand mark over that kind of background, so the logo carries the identity and the linework carries the place.
Why engraving, not print
Engraving changes the material rather than covering it. On a powder-coated tumbler the design is the bare steel itself, so it does not peel or fade the way a printed decal can, and its contrast comes from two finishes meeting: the matte coat and the brighter metal.
Questions
What does Cupow sell?
Laser-engraved tumblers and lifestyle goods, sold through cupow.shop. One example is the Peak Perspective 20 oz black tumbler.
How does laser engraving on a tumbler work?
The laser removes the powder coat along the lines of the artwork and exposes the stainless steel beneath, so the design is cut into the surface rather than printed on it.
Can a business get its own wrap design?
The two studies on mediabishop.com, for Willie's Got Crabs and Blue Pilot Fund, show the kind of custom wrap the studio designs. To start a project, use mediabishop.com/work-with-me.