The Truth and Future of Design Copyright March 21

There’s a lot of speculation on what is and what is to come of design copyright. How does copyright work? Why is it important? Will digital manufacturing spawn product design piracy? Should we give away our designs for free? How can we protect our creative work?  And what is the deal with big retailers stealing from independent artists and designers?

This five part article sheds some light on the truth and asks for discussion on the future of design copyright. (more…)

Posted in Design, Intellectual Property, Interviews, Thoughts + Opinions, Kristen Turner, Open Source by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Landscape Engraved Series by Nando Costa March 21

A forest, a mountain, the ocean.

These wood engraved artworks are part of a 10-piece limited edition series by Nando Costa. The original artwork for each image is created digitally and later engraved with a laser on an untreated block of maple.

“97141″ Tillamook Forest pictured above was inspired by an area of Tillamook Forest, Oregon where Nando picks chanterelle mushrooms in the fall. The shapes at the top of the image represent the often cloudy weather of the region. The long shape at the bottom is the path through the trees seen here as heptagon shaped towers.

“22620″ Barra da Tijuca refers to the zip code of Nando’s neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Depicting in an iconic way the beaches and mountains near his home, while also graphically representing some personal aspirations and goals.
The detailing is simply beautiful in each of the pieces which are available from Nando’s Etsy store.

Nando Costa is a Brazilian Graphic Artist focused in illustration and animation living in Portland, currently a partner at Bent Image Lab with previous clients including Absolut, Adobe, Apple, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, FOX, Hummer, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lexus, Microsoft, MTV, Napster, Nike, Timex, Warner, Zune (in alphabetical order).

Found via Vectorealism MAKE THINGS NOT SLIDES

Posted in Art, Design, Digital Fabrication, Duann Scott, Laser Cutting by Duann | Comments are off for this post

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

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Narrow Bedside Table by Formatwork March 20

Flatpack Furniture in the Ponoko Showroom

The Narrow Bedside Table by Formatwork is made from laser cut hardboard. There are two of every part. Besides the sides, each part is used uniquely. The slots at the rear of the table top and upper shelf originated as slots to fit the tabs of the vertical panel at the rear of the upper shelf. These T-shaped and L-shaped slots that run to the back of the table allow for organization of power cords such as an alarm clock and phone charger.
The Ponoko process would be really well suited for making other smaller furniture items such as stools, children’s furniture and hacks to existing furniture. If your first prototype is produced in cardboard instead of hardboard or poplar, the cost of any corrections needed is greatly reduced.

The Narrow Bedside table is one of the most inexpensive pieces of furniture currently in the Ponoko showroom which indicates an efficiency of design by Formatwork. This design is also a great example of the scale of furniture suitable to be produced using Ponoko suh as items like stools, childrens furniture and product hacks. Initial prototypes can also be made in cardboard to reduce the cost of the first iterations before making the final product in hardboard, MDF or veneerboard.

Posted in Design, Duann Scott, Furniture + Lighting, Laser Cutting, Product of the Week by Duann | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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Circuit Bent: Modified Toy Festival March 20

Bent Festival in Dumbo, April 22-24, 2010

The Bent Festival is an annual art and music festival celebrating DIY electronics, hardware hacking, and circuit bending. Each year they invite artists from across the country and around the globe to perform music with their home-made or circuit bent instruments, teach workshops to adults and children alike, create beautiful art installations and to generally come together, face to face, and showcase the state of the art in DIY electronics and circuit bending culture.

(more…)

Posted in Duann Scott, Events by Duann | Comments are off for this post

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Maori Moko March 20

Ponoko made project by Rowan Simpson

In his blog post entitled Ponoko Moko, business pro and software developer Rowan Simpson talks about his first project with Ponoko. Simpson writes about a piece of cardboard he had saved from a 1987 street parade for welcoming home the losing America’s Cup team. On that piece of cardboard was a graphic image based on a moko design, the permanent facial tattoos of the Maori.

Simpson’s account on the process of going from printed image to laser-cut artwork is a great read for those who are new to making stuff with the Ponoko service. It isn’t a smooth ride all the way. After scanning the image and uploading it to Aviary, Simpson had a vector image. But, as he writes, “My first attempts to upload this as a design to Ponoko didn’t work at all — it just came through as an empty design file with no edges for the laser to cut.”

So he enlisted the help of a designer who put the file into Adobe Illustrator. “That worked a treat,” he writes. “I selected a material — frosted white acrylic — and clicked ‘Make It.” After tweaking the material selection, the final product was the moko design cut in technoply beech and opaque white acrylic.

The verdict: “It’s definitely satisfying to make something, no matter how much of a novice you are (I am!).

Be sure to check out the post for all the details. He also lists six tips for Ponoko newbies, and provides some free iPhone wallpapers of his design.

Posted in Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting, Maker Stories by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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Rare Device Presents Fault Lines March 18

opening tomorrow in San Francisco!

Fault Lines is collection of new work from Amy Tavern, Molly McGrath, Martha McQuade, and Carol Gilbert “concerned with formal explorations of line…” The show runs from 19 March — 2 May 2010 at San Francisco design gallery/shop Rare Device. There is an opening reception tomorrow night, Friday 19 March, from 7–9 pm. Don’t miss the chance to chat with these talented designers!

A look at each designer’s work follows the jump.

(more…)

Posted in Design, Events, Fashion + Textiles, Jewellery, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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Creating laser cut 3D forms super easily March 18

and with stunning results!Every day I see a a lot of good content go through my feeds and occasionally they are some real gems which lower the barrier for people to create great designs.

I saw two SketchUp plugins a while ago and have only just had a chance to test them out. I am amazed how easy it makes creating sliceform laser cut models and I’m wondering how I ever did this before. I wish I’d known about these when doing this project with my students back in 2009.

(more…)

Posted in Dan Emery, Laser Cutting Tutorial, Various How-To by Dan Emery | Comments are off for this post

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Competition Fine Print March 18

The large print giveth, but the small print taketh away.

Reading about the LG Design the Future competition via the Solidsmack Blog I was at first excited by the prospect of the generous first place prize of $20,000 Cash Award + 1 Wacom Intuos4 medium tablet (ARV of $349) + Autodesk industrial design software (ARV of $500) until reading further down the Solidsmack blog where Josh quotes the fine print:

All Designs will become the exclusive property of Sponsor, and none will be acknowledged or returned. You hereby waive any moral rights or any equivalent rights regarding the form or extent of any alteration to the Design or the making of any derivative works based on the Design, including, without limitation, photographs, drawings or other visual reproductions or the Design, in any medium, for any purpose. You acknowledge that LG owns all Designs whether patentable or unpatentable, and all works of authorship, whether copyrightable or uncopyrightable, made, developed, conceived, acquired, devised, discovered or created by you for this Contest. BY ENTERING A DESIGN IN THIS CONTEST YOU HEREBY IRREVOCABLE ASSIGN, CONVEY AND TRANSFER TO SPONSOR ANY AND ALL RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST IN THE DESIGN INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS EXISTING THEREIN.

So theoretically even if you do not win the competition you cannot legally use or modify the design ever again?

But then again LG is not renowned for ethical actions. From a recent recent article in the The Age Newspaper:

AN ELECTRONICS manufacturer with a history of making false environmental claims has been caught doctoring fridges to make them appear more energy efficient.

LG Electronics has agreed to compensate potentially thousands of consumers after two of its fridges – models L197NFS and P197WFS – were found to contain an illegal device that activates an energy-saving mode when it detects room conditions similar to those in a test laboratory.

The so-called circumvention device was discovered last month by consumer advocacy group Choice.

The device detects test conditions and activates the mode, creating the impression of lower running costs and energy usage. The devices have been banned in Australia since 2007.

Ouch.

However I am sure of the 28 competitions for April listed in a recent Ponoko blog post are more fair.

T shirt available at Zazzle

Posted in Duann Scott, Intellectual Property, Interviews, Thoughts + Opinions by Duann | Comments are off for this post

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Punk Manufacturing March 18

I Miss My Pencil

My contribution to my university library is to order as many cool books as possible to ensure that future generations of design students may get there eyes opened a little wider than the prerequisite CAD manuals, materials and processes textbooks, oh and of course Charles and Ray Eames (BTW they are not brothers).

Anyway, one that I ordered late last year almost because of the title alone was I Miss My Pencil: A Design Exploration By Martin Bone and Kara Johnson of IDEO, published by IDEO.
(more…)

Posted in Duann Scott, Interviews, Thoughts + Opinions, Maker Movement by Duann | Comments are off for this post

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Jewellery with Jen Putzier March 18

Before discovering Ponoko, Jen had been making jewellery for 17 years.  So what’s different now?

How did you used to make products before Ponoko?

The process for constructing the finished jewelry it much the same – my two hands + materials.  I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today if I hadn’t dabbled with all sorts of jewelry making processes – from bead weaving, glass fusing, lampworking, Precious Metal Clay (PMC) to metal-smithing.  I’ve tried it all.

As my style evolved, I increasingly became frustrated with pre-made components.  Everyone had the same box of crayons, it seemed, and I wanted to do something to express my own style and set myself apart from the pack.

How would you describe your design process?
(more…)

Posted in Interviews, Thoughts + Opinions, Jewellery, Laser Cutting, Maker Stories, Yana Skaler by yana | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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