Ok, so the first round of designs have all been executed and produced. They were the entry into 3D print prototyping and all shared the same basic construction, i.e a 2D SVG produced using Adobe Illustrator CS4, which was cleaned-up, beveled and extruded using Blender. It’s given me a good intro to both the basics of modelling and the way materials affect the finished product. So far the basic matte flexible plastic material and gold/silver metallic finishes have given the best results.
The next round of prototyping is going to keep with the theme of typographic jewellery design using more complex models. This next batch of tests will use SVG and 3D meshes to create cufflinks, chains and linked component pieces. At this point, material selection will be easier because we know metals and plastics work well - although testing the sandstone and stainless steel finishes will be on the list.
It’s now just about 7 weeks into the UniquePlastique project and it’s been a big learning curve, however getting into manufacturing this way is extremely agile and cost effective way to get hard data and practical experience of product design.
Unique Platstique is the work of designer and tech geek Andrew Walker as he tries to get into 3D printing products. I'm interested in creating typographic art, jewellery... the sky's the limit. This is my product development blog. You can buy my stuff here at our new 