Flex and Bend · Corrugated Letters
A poster built from four bent lengths of red corrugated tubing. FLEX in the foreground. BEND repeating behind in dots.
Why this week's poster
I wanted a material with rhythm already inside it.
Corrugated tubing has that 〰 every rib repeats a beat.
I bent single lengths into FLEX and set BEND behind it in a repeating dot pattern.
Two words.
Two treatments.
One idea running through both.
The Build
- Objects. Corrugated flexible tubing. Glossy red. Modelled once, duplicated, then posed per letter.
- Letters. FLEX laid out in a 2×2 grid from single continuous runs of tube. BEND behind, spelled in dot letterforms tiled across the full field.
- Colour. Deep red against warm taupe. The dot BEND dropped in tone so the tubing sits forward.
- Lighting. Broad soft key from above. Short shadows to keep the forms pressed to the page.
- Texture. Wet plastic gloss on the outer skin. Ribs catching the key in tight repeating bands.
- Type. Neutral sans set small into the negative space. The tubing carries the poster.
What Worked
- The rib rhythm reads before the letter does.
- The 2×2 FLEX grid gives each character its own quiet room.
- BEND tiled in dots holds the whole field without competing with the foreground.
What I'd Push Next Time
- Cleaner continuity at the join where the X crosses itself.
- A wider tonal spread across the dot BEND for more depth.
- One letter framed from a lower angle for variation in the set.
Print Details
- Edition: open
- Size: A3
Close
The tubing did most of the work.
Bending it was the design.
