Ring Samples

I went into the summer with some Rhino goals in mind, and I've been slowly working through a few of them with a series of ring samples. One of the goals was to increase my "organic" design skills, so I started with exploring curve networks. Coupling these curve networks with some solid primitive forms got me some simple but effective sample ring designs I was able to upload to Shapeways and get printed in a variety of materials. I think these samples will also be helpful to my students in ART277. I got various ring sizes printed to check the tolerances of printing, attempted to incorporate a "tension" held rutilated quartz stone and pushed scale limits. I've gotten about half of the rings from Shapeways, see below. TBC.

On the right in Pink - a stock band I created with curve network, attached to all ring samples. Left - Rutilated capture ring. 

Process capture of creating designs from solids.

With this ring, I tried to go as tight as possible to the minimum limit of material thickness for the top design. I'm calling it the "bite ring." I learned a lot trying to create the curve network for the top.  

The aluminum plastic on the left is hilarious to me because the design I created is meant to reference hammer texture. Oh, metalsmith humor. 

Design for Digital Fabrication - Student Work - Vinyl Tattoo

Art277 - Design for Digital Fabrication
Vinyl Tattoo

For this project students were asked to look to tattoos as inspiration for creating body adornment. They started with sketches, converted those into Rhino curves, and then output the design to the vinyl cutter, cleaned up the sticker and then stuck it on the body/clothing.  


















Design for Digital Fabrication - Student Work - Pendent Lamps

 ART277 - Design for Digital Fabrication
Pendent Lamp - Renderings & Prototypes

For this project, students were asked to create a flat pack pendent lamp. They started by drawing the designs by hand, translated those into rhino and created a .3dm, rendered it, and then built a prototype from their files. They were encouraged to combine multiple processes from the class that they had learned so far: 3D printing, laser cutting, vinyl cutting. Here are a few renderings and projects exhibited at Arts Tech Night at Kenilworth.







































Design for Digital Fabrication - Student Work - 3D Printed Ring Documentation off the Body

ART277 - Design for Digital Fabrication
3D Printed Architecture Inspired Ring

For this project, students used Rhino to design a ring inspired by architecture. Students printed their own preliminary ring size tests on the Makerbots in the DCRL, and then got the final designs printed through Shapeways. They all fit!































iAm - sockets

A couple weeks ago I started experimenting with plasti-flex, the material I am casting the iAm sockets out of. This part is currently functioning as an interface with the wall, a transitioning material. The initial mold was created out of a 3D printed prototype and some left over Oomoo rubber. I wanted to test out the plasti-flex so when I heard someone in the studio had some extra rubber, I just quickly grabbed the test print and a Tupperware to make a test mold. The makeshift mold allowed me to quickly test the colors and flexibility of the material. The fit turned out really nice. 
I've since re-designed and machined a new socket piece for the final mold and have poured some ReoFlex30 over it. I should have some really nice sockets once this mold is ready to be used. TBC

















DFD & Frank Stella's Retrospective

On the way back from Spain I had a connecting flight in New York, so I decided to stay for a night and check out the Whitney Museum since I hadn't been before. After viewing the collection I made my way into the Frank Stella Retrospective, and oh baby did I fall in love with his work. I had seen many of his paintings before in books, but had never seen his sculptural "paintings." I am so glad I got the audio guide -- Stella was influenced by architectural structures and tools, something I can definitely relate too. Here are a few of my favorite pieces --- and I am especially thrilled about the most recent body of work of gray-scale sculptures created using digital fabrication processes!!!




La penna di hu, 1987-2009
Mixed media on etched magnesium, aluminum and fiberglass
La penna di hu, 1987-2009
Mixed media on etched magnesium, aluminum and fiberglass -- Side View



K.459, 2012
Tusk SolidGrey 3000, plexiglass, and steel pipe

K.459, 2012
Tusk SolidGrey 3000, plexiglass, and steel pipe

K.459, 2012
Tusk SolidGrey 3000, plexiglass, and steel pipe

K.459, 2012
Tusk SolidGrey 3000, plexiglass, and steel pipe


Circus of Pure Feeling for Malevich, 4 Square Circus, 16 Parts,2009
Stainless steel tubing, wire, Protogen RPT

Circus of Pure Feeling for Malevich, 4 Square Circus, 16 Parts,2009
Stainless steel tubing, wire, Protogen RPT


And of course, some 3D printed Stella ornaments in the gift shop -- Stella knows what's up.

Interface & Interaction Design

I stumbled upon this website and am blown away with how thoroughly they cover this section on Interface and Interaction Design. It's free, you just have to sign up for an account. Check it out.  This section is written by Martin Charlier.

https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/interface-and-interaction-design


Sheila Ring - Finished - it's about time!

So, I finally finished up the ring to bracelet redesign. I am super happy with how the whole process turned went - from designing my first 3D modeled ring, to using a casting service and then post-processing myself. I definitely would get other objects cast in silver through Shapeways. While the cost was only $50.00 to get the design cast in silver, I did spend a considerable amount of time designing, cleaning up the ring, finishing, and setting the stone... so if I had to price out the piece for production, I would probably need to sell this particular ring design starting at around $175.00 to make a profit.  $50.00 for casting, 3 hours for post-processing labor per ring @ $20.00/hr and packaging, plus %60 mark up for profit, with design hours being paid for after the first 2 sales. Compared to a company like Skydog, price is right on par... And their paying rent in LA, which means their jewelry is a steal - GO SHOP NOW!














iAm - samples - installed

I've been working on sketching a new idea... Thinking about how to make arrangements to increase body awareness in the viewer. I am working with proximity, sensory deprivation, and the possibility of being near other people, to increase awareness in how we interact with objects and other people in our everyday life. The samples were designed in rhino, 3d printed, some were spray painted to mimic a final finish, mounted on the wall, and each given a pair of ear plugs.  






Tom Burtonwood - Photogrammetry Workshop

Last week Tom Burtonwood visited UWM... He did a workshop on photogrammetry. I had done 3D scanning in the past with a Sense and a Next Engine, but I had never tried using a camera and Autodesk's recap360. Tom demonstrated a scan using Nathaniel as the model. I tried scanning a bike with Fred and Scott... My scan didn't turn out so good, but from what I can tell, it's because all of the surrounding elements were too neutral. Tom mentioned needing lots of "stuff" in the background that is changing, i.e. patterns, people, movement etc. so that the program has an easier determining which content is important and which isn't. 
We also learned how to use NetFabb to edit our scans once they were generated. I was already familiar with NetFabb from Frankie's class, but it was still helpful to hear another approach to the software. 






Compact Progress - Plaster Molds

Yesterday, I designed and 3D printed a couple test molds for my compact mirror insulation. I poured one set of the straight side mold to see how it works... I also designed a tapered side mold to see if the plaster comes out any easier. I anticipate having to break the molds to get the plaster out, but anything to make it slightly easier would help.







S100 - Rhino Gold - Bracelet to Ring - Progress

I finished up my sample Shapeways print today - working with my friends bracelet, transforming it to a ring... There were a lot of possible ways to take this design, I just tried to do a bunch of different techniques to test out the service and quality of the company's silver prints. I ended up ordering the final in raw silver, so I will do finishing and patina when the piece comes, as well as set the stone after I take it out of the bracelet. The final design is kind of clunky looking in the rendering... but I'm hoping it won't be so once it's printed... But, worse case scenario I just hack into it to feminize the form a litte more.