STL Lab. Jewellery written in code

STL Lab is a parametric jewellery brand by architect Tamara Trusova: every piece is written as code in Grasshopper and 3D-printed in metal. We made that code the face of the brand.

Jewellery still trusts wax models and the maker’s hands. STL Lab’s pieces come from an algorithm. They caught the eye; the brand didn’t. It looked like one of many jewellery labels, and the packaging was a cloth pouch.

“In 2017, when I started printing in metal, the pieces looked like renders, 3D models. People sometimes didn’t believe they were real. I had to photograph them on a hand to prove it was all real.” — Tamara Trusova, founder, STL Lab

In a workshop Tamara built a piece in front of us, node by node. Under every form sat a digital skeleton. So the identity speaks code.

The logo is an “st” ligature, its letters linked like nodes. Deep blue, narrow monospaced type and lines drawn as links between nodes run through business cards, stickers, zip bags, a tote, social animation and the site.

Closed, the box shows abstract lines. Slide off the blue sleeve and the lines turn into the node diagram: the piece’s digital underside.

The trick is spectral masking: a coloured film hides a pattern printed in the same part of the spectrum. The booklets use it too: captions appear when you turn the sheet.

At the first fairs with the new look, more visitors stopped at the stand than before, people photographed the test box, and it got easier to explain that STL Lab is about architectural thinking, not just pretty shapes. The brand still lives in this identity.

Pentawards 2025 — Bronze

Is your product smarter than your brand looks? Tell us about it: we’ll find what’s under the sleeve.