April 29 + 30, 2010 in Providence, Rhode Island

Rhode Island School of Design and the American Craft Council will host “Artonomics: New Tools for Artists and Designers“, an open symposium exploring opportunities emerging from new forms of communication, presentation, marketing and distribution.

Keynote speakers are RISD President John Maeda and former Etsy CEO Maria Thomas. There will also be lectures from the director of the Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Brendan McNally and Behance founder and CEO, Scott Belsky. A panel discussion on new tools will include Lisa Baynes, Scott Belsky, Julie Lasky, and Murry Moss. Visit RISD’s featured speaker page for bios.

Two exhibitions, the Furniture Design Graduate Exhibition and Principles of Nature, will also be on view during the symposium. You can read my review of the 2009 RISD MFA Graduates work here.

Posted in Events, Kristen Turner by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Show off your 3D digital design skills.

Sci-fi aficionados and 3D design virtuosos can submit their raygun designs to Dr. Grordbort’s Raygun Shootout Competition. There’s a different competition theme each month, and the grand prize is an all-expenses paid trip to New Zealand to meet Greg Broadmore (creator of Dr. Grordbort) and Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop.

Designs must be created with Blender. (Check out the Green Button plugin to take the processing load off of your computer.)

Posted in Contests + Competitions, Kristen Turner, Tools + Apps by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: App Gateway

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Electronics challenge from Make & Design News

Make/Design News is calling all gadget freaks and maker geeks to create a gadget that incorporates electronic components and involves sensing, motion, timing and/or networking elements. Designs must also be either photo or video documented.

Grand Prize (1 Winner) – $1,000 in the form of a pre-paid credit card + a storefront in the Makers Market
Second Prize (1 Winner) – $500 in the form of a pre-paid credit card
Third Prize (2 Winners) – $100 Maker Shed gift certificate

You can enter the competition here. The deadline for all designs and documentation is 13 July 2010. Be sure to read the details and official rules at the Gadget Freak Design Contest page.

Posted in Contests + Competitions, Kristen Turner by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Ponoko is hiring!

We’re after an online sales person.

We’re looking for someone who is experienced and process driven – a ‘revenue engineer’ who knows how to sell online. We want someone who understands our community, is able to engage with them in a way that helps them turn their ideas into reality on a regular basis, and continues the relationship with our existing loyal and active customers.

Key tasks
1) Someone with a love for online marketing campaigns driven by email marketing – this role requires expertise in database segmentation and email campaigns with A/B or multivariate testing. You will create and execute multiple campaigns per week (and every week to multiple target audiences), measure, assess and improve on ROI ongoing. This is core to the role.

2) You will also enjoy managing and working with providers of specialist online marketing activities like SEA, SEO and social media marketing.

This person will be joining our Wellington, NZ team.

Click here to apply.

Posted in Ponoko News by davidtenhave | Comments are off for this post

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Material Monday: Kraftplex

Kraftplex is a sheeting material made entirely of sustainably harvested wood fibers, making it 100% biodegradable. German manufacturers Well have developed a production process that “uses nothing but water, pressure and heat; no chemical additives, bleaches or binding agents are needed.”

Kraftplex is also very flexible, allowing for 3D formations through deep drawing. It can be easily laser-cut and treated with a variety of paints, varnishes, waxes, and adhesives.

A single sheet size is 1.40 x 2.44m (aprox 55 x 96″) and is available in thicknesses of .76mm (aprox .03″) and 1.52mm (aprox .06″). Prices range from 128.10€ to 189.00€ for a set of 3 sheets.

Kraftplex is not available in the Ponoko materials catalog; however, Ponoko Prime members can make material requests.

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

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Easy Earth Day activity & creative distraction.

“The rules are quite simple. Rearrange a box to make any kind of figure or object. Make the most of least.” That’s the concept behind The Box Doodle Project started five years ago by David Hoffman. You can send in a photo of your own artistically repurposed box or make virtual box art with the Doodle Tool.

(more…)

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designs by Lauren Moriarty

Lauren Moriarty has a knack for designing fun, commercially appealing product designs that merge her background in textile design with digital production. Her work ranges from custom commissions and one-offs to small batch productions and fully manufactured designs.

The Geometric Structure Cushion is made from laser cut and heat formed rubber. Its unique ratio of mass to volume gives this pillow a CAD rendered quality. With color choices like bright pink, lilac, light yellow, and aqua, the Geometric Structure Cushion is like a techie re-imagination of British interior legend, Designers Guild.

Similar projects to the cushion include the Noodle Block Cube and a shelf for the Renault Zoe concept car.

Moriarty has also explored several 2D laser cut designs, such as the  Lace Panels.

(more…)

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

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Making prototyping easierYou may have noticed that we updated the material thickness information for most of the materials in the US catalog recently. We did this to more accurately reflect the real properties of the materials we offer.

Previously we had based the data on the information we received from the supplier. Over time we noticed the stated thickness did not reflect the actual thickness and many of you queried this as if affected the outcome of your prototypes. So this change should make it easier for you to create awesome designs and reduce the number of prototypes that need to be made.

Note: the materials themselves have not changed at all, just how we label them. So if you have prototyped a design in a material and have the design files just perfect, everything will still work fine. (more…)

Posted in Dan Emery, Materials, Materials Catalog, Ponoko News by Dan Emery | Comments are off for this post

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24 chances to be rewarded for creative brilliance.

(deserving dog proudly wearing tiara from Wet Nose Photos)

DEADLINES

• Socio Design Foundation Integrated Competition — register by 30 April 2010
Craft and clearly communicate your idea for a design school that fosters a socially-aware education for its students.

• International Lace Award — 30 April 2010
“Challenge conventional notions of lace and its application in the areas of fashion, the built environment and digital multimedia. … The Award defines lace as an openwork structure whose pattern of spaces is as important as the solid areas.”

• Street Furniture Light — 30 April 2010
The objective of the competition is to design an object that qualifies as a street furniture while retaining its primary purpose, lighting.

• Just Sit! Chairs and Stools design — 30 April 2010
The actual deadline says “April 31th” which is sorta ghetto. But it’s a call for submissions into a new book about, uh huh, chairs and stools.

(more…)

Posted in Contests + Competitions, Kristen Turner by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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Brent Wilson’s eclectic mix of products

Brent Wilson is from Dunedin, New Zealand.  In typical New Zealand fashion where four degrees of separation becomes only two, he came across Ponoko through a friend with a personal connection.

How did you used to make products before Ponoko?

I didn’t make products before Ponoko but the platform gave me the tools and confidence to have a go.  I’m not a trained designer so got help from friends at the start. I’m still learning alot but find I can tackle more complex or interesting ideas myself now.

What type of products do you make with Ponoko?

Homewares – light shades, fruit bowls, coasters, mailbox numerals, coffee cup carriers, photoholder, laptop stand, fruit juicer

How would you describe your creative process?

Pragmatic – I enjoy thinking about simple solutions to problems I encounter in everyday life.

What material/s do you use/ have you used and why?

Acrylic, Plywood, Styrene, Felt – I’m open minded regarding materials and often try the same design in multiple materials.

http://www.vanilladesignstore.com/index.pasp

http://www.facebook.com/vanilladesignstore

Posted in Design, Digital Fabrication, Functional Art + Objects, Interviews, Thoughts + Opinions, Laser Cutting, Maker Stories, Materials, Technology, Yana Skaler by yana | Comments are off for this post

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

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