Establishing an Identity . . .

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Gene

I was introduced to two incredibly energetic women  that have decided to build their dream company, designing and manufacturing their own line of designer handbags and using as much as possible, local sources for production.  A made in the USA product.

Logo tag mockup

Front of the carved acrylic model of the tag.

Part of selling a product is a company logo that is simple, distinct, attractive, and iconic.  A tag that instantly identifies the product.

Kristi and Kim asked me to help them with the design and production of a product tag.

 

back of the tag

Carved model, back of the tag.

We looked at the competition to see what NOT to do, considered alternatives and they decided to go with a design featuring a rough hewn frame around their logo on a metal tag/buckle.

I took their Name and experimented with a couple of variations and feedback until we came up with this.

I laser etched the graphics onto the acrylic and then hand carved some detail to give it more character.

Laser etching the website.

A jig was etched to hold the tag with the front finished. A test run of the back done on scrap and then etched into the model.

They are still deciding on what sort of metal finish they want on the tag.

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Getting a handle on it

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Gene

Once the buck is assembled paper patterns can be pulled from it to assist in cutting out and shaping the aluminum skin.

Cut out Aluminum parts partially formed.

The parts cut, the first one formed as far as the half hard state will allow, the second partially finished.

Here I have cut out two pieces of Aluminum and started initial forming of the part after cutting it out.  The material comes in a half hard state so it can still be moved some but not a lot.

This is the first serious attempt to fit the part on the buck.

Following the initial forming phase, the part is annealed to soften it for further forming.

Once the part has been annealed, it forms a lot easier. Here I have made major progress towards shaping the metal skin to match the buck. As I  continue with the forming it is important to check the fit occasionally to make sure that I haven’t overworked areas.

This is the final section to be moved on this anneal.

The piece after one round of forming following the first anneal is fit against the buck to check alignment.

This is a section that has been annealed but not worked yet. With the part clamped to the buck the rest of it fits fairly closely so the big bulge here needs to be shrunk in to make the part fit.  The Buck measures 35″ and the edge of the bulge on the part measures 37″ .  Much of that can be removed in this pass of forming.

Here is the top left side of the handle in a near fit with a couple new areas marked for additional work. . . The big bulge shown in the previous photo is gone.

 

 

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Starting work on the pattern

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Gene

A full scale mock-up is a good way to get feedback on size, shape, and position.

Making a pattern for the ladle handle

Getting the design from pixels and bytes to a tangible object can be a major task.

Since I modeled the original in Rhino, I can simply chose stations that will represent the contours of the model and print them out.

Section at statiion 12

(This makes me really appreciate the large format printer)

Here I have bent ¼” rod to match one of the profiles

I will then make a reinforced “spine”to match the longitudinal profile; weld on the sections; and then add structure to stiffen the entire model.

These sorts of models are called “wire bucks”

 

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Starting work on a new fountain.

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Gene

I decided to make a fountain for display at the local biennial art fair. They needed a signature piece to attract attention, and I was amused by the prospect.
The festival is called “Art Soup,”I think because the founder had latin roots. Soup in Italian and Spanish is a way to refer to the life, that incredible intermingled experience we all contribute to and share.

The ladle bit of art.

A rendering of a sculpture modelled in Rhino.

It is a hero.  Hero is what the ad/film industry calls oversize props.  There is nothing new about them really, they have been around for a long time. Sometimes just bringing focus to an object can point up some inherent qualities and turn it to art, others like Oldenburg’s series of clothes pins seem more an allegory of other things, like a fond embrace.
The image of the ladle as fountain amused me because the handle itself is like one huge jet of matter frozen in an instant like a high speed photo.  a joyous effusion.

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