Q: "What is circuit board art?"
A: Circuit board art made by Circuit Citizen is art that is drawn in electrical engineering design tools and produced with the same Printed Circuit Board (PCB) production process that is used to make the circuit boards inside of your phone, computer, and other electronics. The boards are stiff (not flexible) and about 1.6mm thick.
Q: "Why aren't they green?"
A: Yes, it's true, most circuit boards are green. It is the most widely used (and therefore cheapest) color option. However, circuit boards can be produced in a variety of colors, including black, blue, red, and others. You'll see all of these colors reflected in Circuit Citizen products.
Q: "Do they do anything?"
A: Each piece of art is different, and you will see both functional (with things like sensors and LEDs) as well as non-functional (art only) artwork from Circuit Citizen. Each piece will specify what, if anything, it does in the product description.
Q: "Is it safe? Doesn't solder have lead in it?"
A: This is a good and important question! The boards with "silver" color are actually finished with solder in a process called HASL (Hot Air Solder Leveling). Though some solder does contain lead, all "silver" Circuit Citizen boards are produced with lead-free solder that is RoHS compliant.
Q: "What about the gold?"
A: The gold boards have no solder on them at all and are finished with actual gold in a form called ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold).
Q: "What do I do with it?"
A: These boards are artwork, but you can do whatever you want with them! You should be able to find frames pretty easily at places like Michael's or Jo-Ann's, or you can use them as coasters or anything else. It's up to you!
Q: "What's up with the charities?"
A: Circuit Citizen donates a portion of profits from every design to a charity that is relevant to that piece of art. Charities are selected based on several factors, including their charity ratings (which assess a charity's impact, its financial transparency and how much of each donated dollar goes to program funding) as well as the artist's personal experience with that charity, if any.
Any other questions can be asked through the contact form, and may be added here if they get asked enough!