INKO iPad keyboard and cover tattoos electric circuit onto leather
images courtesy of alexandre echasseriau

 

 

 

exhibited at the 2015 saint etienne biennale, the ‘INKO’ iPad keyboard and cover, from alexandre echasseriau, uses bare conductive electric paint and combines the craftsmanship of a leather worker and a tattooer. the idea behind the project was to incorporate a printed circuit board with the deep texture of the hide, in order to create an electrical connection. acting just like a keyboard, yet providing protection when not in use, the ‘INKO’ has achieved the group’s ambitions. jéremy lorenzato, the tattooer, inked directly into the thick tan, creating a circuit that transmits a signal to the device, via a miniature bluetooth antenna. the case’s shape was formed in one step, using an embossing technique employed by a leather worker, david rosenblum.

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom02
the ‘INKO’ keyboard provides an unusual feel

 

 

 

the hand made tattoo has been replaced by a multidisciplinary team composed of pierre emm, johan da silveira and piotr widelka, and their system called ‘tatoué’. this trio of designers transforms a tattoo machine with a 3D printing system, using bare conductive electric paint to print. after numerous discussions with the artist, it turned out that the manual tattoo was incompatible with leather material. however, appropriate audiences’ machine allows full control of the injection of painting and keeps its path to the hundredth of a millimeter.

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom03

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom04
the leather cover

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom05
using a bluetooth antenna, the keyboard syncs with the iPad

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom06
the conductive ink tattooed onto the leather case

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom07

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom08
the ‘INKO’ name being inked onto the leather

 

 


the production steps explained in french
video courtesy of maxime phedyaeff

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom09
image © designboom

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom10
the tattooed circuit board
image © designboom

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom12
the tattoo machine

 

INKO-ipad-case-alexandre-echasseriau-designboom11