Mary-Ann Williams is a mutli-award winning, internationally recognized trend setter, product designer, and felt architect. Beginning with fashion accessories in the Eighties, she quickly broadened her scope of felt creation to include bespoke interior furnishings and home products.

Her rugs are amazing; they push the wool and leather textures to the dimension of landscape. These rugs are modularly constructed, allowing for custom sizes, shapes and color combinations.

And it doesn’t stop at hand-crafted felt expanses; she has a felt solution for lighting, shelving, firewood, flowers, fruit, and even greeting cards.

If you’re interested in purchase, visit the Illu Stration online shop. Most pieces are custom made to order.

Posted in Design, Fashion + Textiles, Functional Art + Objects, Furniture + Lighting, Kristen Turner, Materials by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Since nature is not going to bring spring to the American mid-west this year, I’ve decided to just purchase the season from Naked & Angry. They make products “wrapped in pure pattern love.” The twist? Pattern designs are submitted by people, like you.

The current product range includes leather trimmed canvas bags and wallets, squared melamine dish sets, screen printed wallpapers, and silk neckties. The pieces are simple, well constructed, and feature prints designed by the Naked & Angry loving public. Chosen patterns are rewarded with $700, one free product, and production into the Naked & Angry catalog.

It’s no surprise that the company has Chicago roots; it is so cold here that being naked makes you angry. But here’s a cheery glimpse of some of the great pattern submissions on the site. Vote for your favorite here.

Posted in Contests + Competitions, Design, Fashion + Textiles, Functional Art + Objects, Kristen Turner, Mass Customization by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Previously we posted on the weirdness that is My Twin, for all those lonely, only children looking for an exact replica.

Now the Mini Me has once again reared it’s ugly (in the eye of the beholder) head with Mini Me personalized dolls.

ModelWorks offers figures that can be customized to look like whoever a buyer chooses. In just 10 days, you can have a 3-D Mini-Me action figure with a face created from a photo that you upload.

According to Graeme Warring, president of ModelWorks and creator of the Mini-Me, ModelWorks sets itself apart from other companies by attending to the details. “We don’t just sculpt a face, we capture an expression,” he says.

ModelWorks, is the Phoenix-based company behind the “Base-Me-Bernie mini-Madoff” and other celebrity figures for sale on its site.

A wonderful gift which will be treasured forever! A Mini-Me figure from ModelWorks captures the detail of the “Big-Me” and translates it into a cute-pint sized character. Choose from a range of our action bodies, executive bodies, sporting bodies or Big-Buddies real body.

Approximately 24 business days later your hand-sculptured, hand-painted Mini-Me will be winging its way to your house (or your friend’s house). Your very own Mini-Me from ModelWorks is cheaper than you may think, considering the blood, sweat and tears that go into making them.

order your Phelps, sans bong.

weird, wrong and cool, all at the same time…..

via trendhunter

Posted in 3D Printing, Digital Fabrication, Duann Scott, Mass Customization, Toys + Games by Duann | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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Metropolitan Works is London’s foremost Creative Industries Centre. They provide support to designers through training, manufacturing, advice, and exposure in order to bring innovative ideas and products to actualization and marketplace success.

The Digital Manufacturing Centre of Metropolitan Works has just about anything you could want for cutting-edge manufacturing technology. Rapid prototyping options include Selective Laser Sintering, Z-Corp 3D printers, a Perfactory 3D printer, and Direct Metal Laser Sintering. There are three different 3D scanners, a large format laser-cutter, and 3 and 5 axis CNC routers. There are also traditional fabrication workshops as well as a service which can outsource special requests to trusted contractors.

Metropolitan Works doesn’t just give you access to tools, they can give you space. Members can rent facilities ranging from workspace and computer labs to galleries and showrooms. Courses in computer software skills, furniture design, silversmithing and jewelry are offered to members with others being developed as per demand.

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Posted in 3D Printing, CNC Routing, Digital Fabrication, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting, Maker Movement, Technology, Tools + Apps by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing, App Gateway

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The future is demanding more of materials; we need materials that are ecologically safe, superior in performance than in the past, and shed their usual restrictions.  To meet these new standards artists, designers, and engineers need to push the boundaries and go beyond the typical expectations of what a material is made of and what it can do.

One such designer is Kathy Schicker. Having received her MA in Design for Textiles Futures at Central St. Martins, it follows that she is now challenging the commonly held assumptions of textiles. She specializes in Jacquard weavings that incorporate or involve light as a transformative element.

Her glow textiles are constructed with yarns that glow in the dark, rendering the invisible patterns visible. Continuing with the theme, what first appears as solid white fabric turns to color with exposure to sunlight. The colors reveal the printed and woven patterns which were previously hidden.
(more…)

Posted in Design, Fashion + Textiles, Inventions, Kristen Turner, Technology by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Digitally printed silks with collages of English roses, vintage stamps, detailed moths, and ink splots; DIY wall decorations of embossed flourishes; laser-cut and digitally embroidered leather upholstery. This is the work of Catherine Hammerton.

The ‘05 graduate from the Royal College of Art’s textile program was the recent recipient of an innovation grant from Central Saint Martins. (The other amazing art school in London.) With the award and in partnership with a top British manufacturer, Summer 2009 will see the launch of her digitally printed wallpapers.

I recently interviewed Catherine about her love of fabric and technology, her current work in mass-customization, and her thoughts on the future of the field of textiles.

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Posted in Design, Digital Fabric Printing, Digital Fabrication, Fashion + Textiles, Interviews, Thoughts + Opinions, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting, Mass Customization by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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Two companies are combining the rise of customization with the return of wallpaper. As the interior design catalogs will tell you, wallpaper has made a come back in the past few years. With more and more people wanting to individualize their homes, wallpaper can be the perfect way to achieve a one-of-a-kind living space.

‘Individual wallpaper publishing’ company Berlintapete carries an array of large-scale, photorealistic mural prints, repeat patterns, and of course you can submit your own. The imagery is pretty impressive, and it’s worth a look around the gallery just for inspiration. Most of these I see as being best for commercial interiors, but some would be great as single-wall statements in the home.

Printed with CMYK pigment powders on cellulose-based fleece wallpaper, the final product is light-fast, flame resistant, and does not expand from moisture. Prices range from around 25 €/m² to 43 €/m² .

In parternship with Berlintapete is the Italian based Jannelli e Volpi. Their WonD service lets you upload your own image and order custom wallpaper starting at 20 €/m2. They also have lots of ready images to choose from including the winners from the 2008 WonD Design Contest featured below.

Posted in Design, Digital Fabric Printing, Digital Fabrication, Functional Art + Objects, Kristen Turner, Mass Customization by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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The interactive design group SOUNDS.BUTTER renders songs visible with a programmed sewing machine stereo. The concept behind this prototype was to take the visual data generated by sound and automate a physical representation.

The interactive design studio / duo behind this idea is Patrick Li a.k.a. FULLfat and Ian Gallais a.k.a. LOWfat. Much of their work incorporates sound in unexpected ways, such as an umbrella that uses ultrasonic technology to break the water particles on the fabric so you never have to shake it dry and a flower pot with a wireless microphone that picks up vibrations which are translated into musical notes — allowing someone to play a song by simply tapping on a surface underneath the pot.

Visit the SOUNDS.BUTTER site.

Posted in Design, Electronics + Robotics, Fashion + Textiles, Inventions, Kristen Turner, Technology by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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I wrote about Inmod’s customizable furniture back in November, but the customization doesn’t end with pod chairs. You can create your very own custom duvet with the Inmod Design Studio. Here’s a run down on their five easy steps.

First, you pick a fabric. You can choose from cotton, a linen cotton blend, silk dupioni, or silk taffeta. I want something soft, but still a bit luxurious so I’ll go with the cotton linen blend. (Photos of fabrics above are from my own googling and not from the Inmod website.)

Secondly, you pick a pattern. There are 17 different designs. It would be way cooler to upload your own pattern design, but the one’s available to choose from aren’t bad. I decided to go with a simple flower pattern called Serene.

(more…)

Posted in Design, Fashion + Textiles, Furniture + Lighting, Kristen Turner, Mass Customization, Various How-To by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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As I previously mentioned, pattern is a great way to add interest to product surfaces. But as Li-Rong demonstrates, pattern can be used for more than just decoration.

IScreen is a laser-cut, modular unit screen of an interlocking shape derived from the letters L I S A. The pieces are cut from plywood and masonite and allow for multiple arrangements and custom sizes. Visit Li-Rong’s Ponoko Showroom for more.

Li-Rong is currently a graduate student in the Industrial Design program at Pratt. She received her bachelor’s degree in Math at the National Center University in Taiwan and worked in web management and atmospheric research for the school. More of Li-Rong Liao’s work can be found at her Coroflot portfolio site.

Posted in Design, Digital Fabrication, Functional Art + Objects, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting, Maker Stories by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Routing

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