Small Business Stories: interview with clock designer Maiko Kuzinishi February 13

Retail Ready with DecoylabAs promised in December, this year we’ve started a regular feature focussing on small businesses.  This year’s first interview is with Maiko Kuzunishi who has earned a worldwide following with her Decoylab range of beautiful eco-friendly and quirky clocks.  Maiko also creates jewellery that visually echoes her clocks, and more recently she added additional products for the home to her selection of existing and ever-evolving designs

Getting Started

• What made you decide to start your own business?

It was the emptiness I felt inside after dedicating 8 years of my life to working for design companies. Some say “In order to find what you want, know what you don’t want first.” That’s exactly what I did. The career oriented mentality, competing for “Best” designs, working endlessly on computer for seemingly unimportant projects – those are the things I no longer wanted. In 2006 I resigned the company and decided to “take a break.” I had no idea what was in store for me but took a step to move away from what I did not want.

The first year was chaotic to say the least but I eventually figured out that I wanted to be a mom and I began imagining doing what I love doing and making a living. Some sort of a paradigm shift happened soon after and both things manifested (at the same time actually). I did not imagine making clocks for a living but it was exactly what I wanted. After that, my focus has been to not waste my time (life) on something I cannot pour my heart and soul into.

Read the full interview with Maiko after the jump: (more…)

Posted in Functional Art + Objects, Jewellery, Laser Cutting, Small Business Stories, Yana Skaler by yana | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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Gilded Butterflies February 9

Winged pendants with a unique twistOn the Ponoko NZ HQ glory wall is an old article about a very talented New Zealand jeweller and sculptor Lisa Black.  It’s up there because she lists Ponoko as one of her favourite things, and for extra brownie points, we love her work.  In a slightly embarrassing light bulb moment, I discovered that Lisa uses Personal Factory to make ornate parts for her Gilded Butterflies collection of jewellery.  The dots should have been joined considerably earlier.

Gilded Butterlies is a joint project between the Auckland artist and a graphic designer Dan Gordon.  They create beautifully detailed hinged pendants with real butterfly wings, which are mounted on bamboo and then sealed with a protective layer of resin.  For a number of years they have been using Personal Factory on regular basis to laser cut the bamboo wings and the brass hinges.  It was the discovery of the online fabrication service that inspired them to create this line of jewellery.  Initially Lisa came up with the butterfly concept, and the company spent years relentlessly testing a variety of prototypes and assembly processes.  These are still continuously evolving.

The total process, from design to fabrication to assembly is very involved.  The assembly is particularly delicate, and Lisa devotes hours to put together each piece of jewellery: prepping the wings, applying resin, waiting for it to cure and finishing the bamboo with linseed oil to enhance the grain and ensure durability.  The butterfly wings are sourced from different farms and suppliers.Dan Gordon emphasises that their design consideration isn’t purely aesthetic:

I think people want unique, genuine artifacts in their lives, which translates to using natural and raw materials. Sustainability is paramount as well. Butterflies are a fantastically renewable source, and farming them for research, education and collection ensures many species survival, we are still picky about the ones we chose though.

A few more words from Dan after the jump:

Have you been surprised by anything in the PF process: One big positive is that there are no surprises with your orders. You are totally responsible for your designs and you can make the smallest iterations without incurring incurring any extra time or setup costs.

Do you have any tips for other makers? Our strategy is basically “Make unique things, build good relationships” and it seems to be working out ok.

Wooden materials have grain, with the bamboo it’s a very pronounced straight grain. If you are making something with multiple parts it’s worth bearing in mind that if you rotate your designs to fit more pieces into the template, the direction of the grain won’t match the other pieces. It might not matter depending on what you are making, but for us with two symmetrical wings, inconsistent direction of the grain is really obvious and a bit of a deal-breaker.

Posted in 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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Send to Print / Print to Send exhibition January 28

3D printing art & design exhibition in London!Send to print / print to send exhibition

The Send to Print / Print to Send exhibition has been running at the Aram Gallery on Drury Lane in London since January 13. It is exhibiting a range of avant garde 3D print designs. The exhibition includes works from the fields of architecture, industrial design, fashion, and product design.

Serie, Façade ModelSerie, Façade Model

The Aram Gallery uses this exhibition as a way to examine how designers’ processes are developing to accommodate new technological advances. We offer our visitors an idea of what 3D Printing is, and how it is being contemporaneously used. This exhibition is not intended as an exhaustive overview, but a cross-disciplinary pick and mix of examples.

(more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Art, David McGahan, Functional Art + Objects, Furniture + Lighting, Jewellery by David McGahan | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing

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Personal Factory Projects for Valentines Day January 21

Plus make-your-own Valentines gifts with FREE filesIf you’re feeling particularly love struck this year, you might be doing something special with someone special this coming Valentines Day.  It’s OK, we’re not here to judge.

Should you want some inspiration, gift ideas or free files to Make Your Own, we have a handy collection of mostly unbroken hearts and other LOVEly designs after the jump

(more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Functional Art + Objects, Jewellery, Laser Cutting, Yana Skaler by yana | Comments are off for this post

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

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Five fabulous pieces of digitally fabricated jewelry from 2011 January 6

Best of the Blog 2011 – jewelry

Jewelry achieves that wonderful marriage of artistic expression and everyday function. Here are five examples from 2011 that demonstrate pushing the boundaries of both.

#1 Wearable flora — 3D printed planters as pendants

Colleen Jordan lets you wear springs of botanical beauty with her unique 3D printed planters. Her planter pendants comes in soft round shapes or geometric angles, and each one is hand finished for a look that’s truly one-of-a-kind.

(more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Jewellery, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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

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Small Business Stories: interview with jewelry designer Kimono Reincarnate December 9

Retail Ready with Melanie Gray Augustin

To some people, creativity is as natural as breathing or the love of freshly baked bread. Being a creative mind or a pathologically hands-on designer is one [wonderful] thing.  However, creativity doesn’t always translate successfully to business savvy. Creativity often covets freedom and experimentation, but business demands discipline and focus.  Fortunately, there are still plenty of creative entrepreneurs to inspire those with a design vision to start their own business.

In the New Year we are starting a new feature that will focus on all things small business. Don’t worry; there will be none of that tedious business school textbook material.  As part of the small biz feature, we will bring you regular interviews with Ponoko Makers who rely on Personal Factory to create their line of products, be it household objects, jewelry, electronics enclosures or other made on demand goods.

As an extra dose of pre-holiday inspiration, we’re giving you a sneak peak at the interview series!

Meet Australian jewelry designer Melanie Gray Augustin.   Her label Kimono Reincarnate perfectly expresses her design style: modern handmade jewelry that features upcycled materials – inspired by traditional Japanese textiles and design.Read the full interview after the jump:

(more…)

Posted in Fashion + Textiles, Jewellery, Laser Cutting, Selling + Business Tips, Small Business Stories, Yana Skaler by yana | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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3D printed jewelery by Alissia Melka-Teichroew December 3

New York Designer’s new Jointed Jewels range

Designer Alissia Melka-Teichroew’s 3D printed Jointed Jewels range was recently unveiled as part of Ventura Berlin at the Quibique design trade show. (more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, David McGahan, Design, Jewellery by David McGahan | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: 3D Printing

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide: 10 lovely gifts for the ladies November 28

Independent designers, crafters, and creators all over the world are using Ponoko to make beautiful things. Here’s a collection of ten of my favorite pieces of jewelry and decor from some of our talented and wonderful makers.

P.S. Click the image for a bigger, better view of these gorgeous gifts.

(more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Functional Art + Objects, Jewellery, Kristen Turner, Laser Cutting by Kristen Turner | Comments are off for this post

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

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Personal Factory Projects for the Holidays November 17

Plus make-your-own Christmas decorationsThe time for giving is almost nigh, and the best kind of giving involves designing something yourself and beautifully crafting it, or finding something unique that wasn’t made by pre-schoolers in a third world dungeon.

We’ve got gift ideas, design inspiration as well as free files for making your own Christmas happiness.  There is the annual checklist: decorate the tree, decorate the house, decorate yourself.  Of course, some people decorate their pets also, but there’s something not quite right about puppies in acrylic tiaras.

Lots of designs under the cut:

(more…)

Posted in 3D Printing, Downloadable, Functional Art + Objects, Jewellery, Laser Cutting, Yana Skaler by yana | Comments are off for this post

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

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Felt – Material of November November 14

Personal Factory big softie

In a forthright expression of bias I announce that wool felt as one of my favourite materials to work with.  It’s dense and soft at the same time, it’s very durable and it laser cuts very nicely.  Like quality leather, it ages with grace.  It’s stable, non-fraying and has a consistent texture.  There are colors for every taste, and they are deceivingly non-toxic and UV-resistant for their vibrant hues.  The 100% merino wool is a sustainable resource that comes from cuddly fluffy sheep.  Every spring they are relieved of their heavy woollen coats, some of which end up felted on an industrial scale.

It’s a good idea to laser cut any felt item well in advance of them being used, as the felt has a strong burnt wool smell after cutting.  The smell dissipates with time, and you can speed up the process by cleaning the felt or leaving it in fresh air.

Some of the most popular applications for felt are jewelry, accessories and homeware.Pictured: Feisty Elle earrings and brooch, Chromatophobic coasters.

Of course, felt doesn’t have to stay flat.  Its soft, flexible quality lends it to 3D forming using sewing or other fastening methods, as seen in the Nervous necklace, the DS4 Design charging stand cover and the Chromatophobic satchel.Felt products are incredibly lightweight, which is very useful for items like earrings and also saves on shipping.

Felt can also be stiffened to become rigid, and this can be achieved with very little other than common wood glue and some patience.  Josh R’s clock faces experiment is a great example of material manipulation.For the month of November, you can get 50% off selected felt!

Wool felt is available from Ponoko US, Ponoko NZ, RazorLab and Formulor

You can also get your own samples of different colours from both the US and NZ sample store.

Posted in Functional Art + Objects, Jewellery, Laser Cutting, Materials Catalog, Yana Skaler by yana | Comments are off for this post

Make your own stuff using: Laser Cutting

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