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So I put the Mutant Crystal prototypes on chains, in a very temporary fashion. I wanted to see how they worked as pendants. Honestly, in person, the large scale is a little too Flavor Flav. But only a little.
And as Meredith pointed out, the pendant should have a "back," and that back should be flat so it can lay comfortably against the skin. I'm excited to rework this a bit, and to wear it!
I've been playing in Rhino with some forms reminiscent of the Flower of Life, or Seed of Life -- thinking about how these translate into three dimensions. They're still in progress, but I think the wireframes are interesting. My diamond earring is in the file to help me keep scale in mind.
Recently, I was chatting with Mark Bloomfield, the founder of Electrobloom, on the Shapeways forum. He's got a great new product -- 3d printed jewelry in flower designs that are customizable with attachable charms. It's a really fun idea that has lots of possibility for expansion.
I went to the Outside Lands music festival last weekend. Really, how could I not -- it was walking distance from my apartment. The fest was in Golden Gate Park -- so you could wander through the trees between concerts -- terrific venue.
It was fun to see MGMT, Girl Talk and some others. Actually, my favorite part was dancing to Miguel Migs deejaying in some igloo-like tents.
They really put some effort into the props and "furniture" for the event, including these latticed windmills.
There were art installations in the trees, including this kind of steampunk tree house with a rustic diamond. Reminded me of my diamond earrings.
At the Girl Talk concert, drugged up 20 year olds petted my hair and backpack, and remarked on how soft they were. This was my cue to leave.
And I was rewarded for doing so. We went to an after party at the Boom Boom Room, where Gypsyphonic Disko was playing. Amazing! Their sound is a crazy Balkan-Urban fusion, with an accordian, Balkan horn, a drumbeat, and a dj. Super fun, boisterous and danceable.
I've been preparing to approach some retailers with my Diamond Wireframe Earrings, as well as some other new designs. One part of this is to find a reliable way to get the earrings assembled. I dropped some components (my 3d printed designs, plus the findings) off to a woman at a local bead and jewelry shop, for her to put together. I picked them up last week, and she'd had trouble putting them together, because of the (apparently) too-small holes in my designs, and the janky jumprings I'd gotten from one of the major online shops for hobbyist beaders.
I increased the size of the holes in the 3d printed designs, so the earrings will be easier to assemble.
Also, she thought the quality of my findings (hardware) wasn't great in general. I agreed; the gold-plated hooks I've been wearing a while have worn down to their original silver color -- not good. Also, the jumprings look sloppy and badly cut. But I wasn't sure where to find better findings.
Meredith to the rescue! Meredith and I went to Cranbrook together; she studied Metals there, creating amazing conceptual pieces, and worked as an expert metalsmith and jeweler for years. She recommended Rio Grande as selling high quality components for professional jewelers. I placed an order and am interested to see if the quality looks better. The price is certainly higher, as I'm ordering sterling silver and gold filled, rather than silver or gold plated. But I really want to make a premium product that people can wear and enjoy for a long time.
If anyone else knows of a great source of findings, I'd love to hear about it.
Hooray! I won a month-long premium subscription to Lynda.com from Ponoko. Sounds like the perfect way to improve my Rhino skills, and try out Ponoko's Personal Factory.
Mutant Crystals arrived in the mail today from Shapeways!
I drew these mutant crystals in Rhino recently... In addition to exploring more "perfect" and refined geometric shapes like my diamonds, I'm interested in "imperfect" ones like these. They have a more hand-drawn sensibility (even though they were entirely designed in CAD).
I printed out one version comprised of just the structural lines. My friend Michael was just commenting that it looks like some kind of secret military spacecraft, and that he'd like a tchotchke for his desk shaped like it. Maybe I'll make one!
And I printed out a version with some of the facets "shaded" with lines. I made sure the lines were kind of irregular, like someone was drawing them by hand. I love the idea of something "handdrawn" coming out of the 3d printer. My friend Andrew thinks they'd make good Christmas ornaments too. I agree.
One of the "shaded" ones has a loop at the top, so I can try it out as a pendant. The other doesn't; I wanted to see if maybe the chain would look better going through the structure.
I could also see making a necklace out of multiples of these irregular shapes (designing additional ones) and having them joined end to end.
These models are made of shapes that are 1mm thick -- they're pretty thin and delicate, for this scale of a model. They flex and bend a some as you hold them. Though the "shading" makes them a bit stronger. I don't know whether I should make them thicker for use as a necklace or not. Guess I'll find out
how delicate they are by wearing them.
