Concept
After visiting a museum or cultural event, we often hold on to physical tokens like tickets – not because of their material value, but because they preserve a memory. Inspired by this desire, ‘Nachhall’ was designed as an interactive embossing automat that allows visitors to take home an aesthetic yet meaningful souvenir. Situated in the entrance hall of the Goethe national museum, the automat transforms this unused space and default meeting point into a place that makes people want to stick around and to engage in conversation. It creates a low-cost souvenir that still feels valuable – especially for school groups, the museum’s primary target audience.
Instead of providing further information after an already content-rich exhibition, the automat poses a simple question: „What‘s on your mind?“, offering a wide range of topics to choose from. The visitor gets to physically engage with the question by feeding a blank card into the chosen slot. Turning a knob then produces an embossed, reflective counter question — inspired by themes from Goethe’s works and worldview. The goal is not to teach, but to invite a moment of introspection.
The decision to work with embossing was both conceptual and practical: it allows for low production cost, strong material presence, and a timeless aesthetic. The machine‘s design and marbled exterior reference Goethe’s interest in Italian style and his collections of stones, historical coins and medals — physical objects with personal, cultural, and symbolic meaning.
1. Starting Point
The project began with the observation that visitors often like to keep small physical mementos – such as tickets or postcards – to preserve a moment and the feeling attached to it. On our rip to Weimar I also noticed that the entrance hall was not used at all and that the souvenir shop didn't offer a lot of aesthetic, affordable souvenirs.
2. Concept Development
From this observation grew the idea of a machine that would give visitors to the Goethe House a personal, aesthetic, and meaningful souvenir – either free or at a very low cost. The souvenir would not aim to provide more factual information, but rather inspire personal reflection.
3. Design Idea & Experimentation
I chose embossing as the central technique because it combines low production costs with tactile value and a timeless, minimal aesthetic. It also connects to Goethe’s interest in coins and medals.
Before settling on the final approach, I tested various embossing methods: laser-engraved acrylic plates, impressions created using the robotic arm, and rolling patterns onto different materials. These trials allowed me to evaluate depth, clarity, durability, and visual character, ultimately leading to the choice of embossed paper for its strong material presence and refined result.
I tested the interaction with a simple, 2D prototype. Observations during these trials helped refine the design and ensure the process felt intuitive and engaging.
4. Material and Form Finding
For the prototype, I chose a simple square structure with a printed surface. The pattern was created in MidJourney, which proved challenging due to the large format and the need for seamless scaling. After generating and editing the design, I printed it on sticky paper and applied it to the wooden surface. However, the sticker paper was not the ideal choice, as it was prone to bubbles and did not adhere perfectly. If I were to repeat the process, I would first seal the surface and then use a double-sided adhesive foil (commonly used for lamination) together with a plotted print for a smoother, more durable finish.
