Stainless Balm Case

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Uncarved Seal/Personal Seal | 印跡 | 인흔

Object

Made in Lausanne

2026

Steel
35x35x85

In an age that prioritizes digital signatures and traceability, I began to wonder about the traceability of our own identities, how we remember, record, and recognize our individuality. What happens if we forget our own handwriting, or even our own signature?

Our handwriting carries a personal trace. It reflects our influences, habits, and experiences, revealing where we’ve been and how we’ve changed over time. As our interactions become increasingly digital, we risk losing one of the few expressions that is uniquely our own. It seems the more digital we become, the less unique we are.

This project reimagines the purpose of the stamp seal, not simply as a mark of authentication, but as a way of preserving reality. Instead of transforming a person’s handwriting into an idealized or designed form, the seal captures and preserves the authentic gestures, imperfections, and traces that make each person’s writing unique.

The project proposes a new method of constructing a personal seal that is more compatible with the abstract, fluid nature of handwriting than the traditional carved block or square seal. Rather than carving into stone, sheet metal is folded along the lines of the owner’s handwriting, transforming the written gesture into a three dimensional form.

Using folded sheet metal instead of traditional carving, the fluid nature of handwriting is both captured and turned into the vertical form of a traditional seal. Elements extracted from the owner’s handwriting are used to fill the negative spaces, so the construction itself becomes the concealment of the seal. The resulting object preserves the unique traces of it’s owner, turning handwriting into a lasting physical record of identity.

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Stephen Chan is a Korean-Hong Kong designer, working between cultures and industrial craftsmanship.

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