The final part of the interview ends with Michael rejecting technology in favor of dirtying his hands, and ends with his latest projects, including a 3D puzzle, how convenient.

Q3. What technologies do you intend to use in the future?

for the moment, i’m taking a short break from technology. i want to spend some time getting hands on with materials for a while so that when i employ technological processes again it will be in a way that is messier and where the technology is perhaps not even noticeable. for me, i prefer it when the technology is not so prominent in the work, otherwise it becomes about the technology alone. i am also exploring aspects of decay and entropy in my work at the moment and have yet to find a tech process that fits this direction. more than likely it will be a combination of processes which allow for aspects of growth followed by acts of erosion and breakdown.

Q4. Are there any artists, designers or scientists using emerging technology that you find inspirational or sickening cause they did it first??

hmm, mostly i find architecture inspiring. zaha hadid’s designs often do it for me (the abu dhabi plan for example).
greg lynn’s blob wall got me because he did it first, and roxy paine’s automated sculpture and painting machines from a few years back still get me.

Q5. What are you currently working on?

A small scale sculpture for a multiple work. still in the idea stage but i am thinking of a sculpture that acts a bit like a 3d puzzle, with 10-15 interlocking geometric parts. it will probably end up being made from moulded resin and concrete parts. as this stage it is more a sense of the thing i have, the scale of it, it’s materiality, how one should interact with it etc. the final form will take a bit of experimentation.
i’m also working on a collaborative proposal with an architect (wulf walter boettger) for a series of installation works form wallpaper patterns using plotted vinyl, to architectonic sculptural elements using perspex and expanding foam.

So there we have the final installment of Michael Kutschbach’s interview. Perhaps we will see some of his latest work as part of the Ponoko Games & Puzzles, 10 day challenge?

Oh Yeah, Michael is represented by Greenaway Art Gallery

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I’ve often wondered what life is like for a designer maker. Luckily most of my questions have just been answered after reading a fascinating post at indie quarter blog. It’s a day in life of designer maker Rachael Lamb of Hannah Zakari online store.

Here’s a taste of what it’s like:

I’m lucky enough to have a big office space, so I have separate areas for different tasks - a table for cutting fabric and sewing, my jewellery area with all my beads, chain and pliers and another bit for packing up orders. Despite this, I always seem to run out of space and no matter how much extra storage I buy, I outgrow it in a matter of weeks. The first thing to get neglected when HZ really took off was my own line so now I try to make time each week to work on my own designs and to look through my favourite internet shops for fabric and supplies for that - I have favourites that I could spend hours on if I let myself and am totally addicted to searching for (and buying) vintage/interesting buttons!

She spends a lot of her day on the net (but don’t we all) checking various websites and ordering stock, and a lot time packing orders and posting them off. She confirms what I’ve heard others say; when you have some success designing and selling your own products you don’t actually get much time to design.

Read the full article here

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Continuing an interview with artist Michael Kutschbach, I ask him about the concepts of digital rights management and copywrite issues raised on Ponoko

Q2. Would you be interested, as an artist in selling the right to use a 3D/2D CAD file instead of selling the physical artifact?
sure. i already do this in fact. in the past i have made a number of wallpaper works using plotted vinyl. these works are sold as an edition of three and the buyer buys the copyright to the work, not the physical work itself. there are strict instructions on placement and colour etc, and i recommend signwriters that i have worked with previously, but the owner can install the pattern as big as they want.


Q2a. Would you be concerned if a buyer modified the file to say, turn it into jewellery, a USB flash drive or a rug?

yeah, that would be wrong. i’ve nothing against commissions from galleries or collectors for specific projects but any alteration of an existing artwork outside of the rules or conditions i have placed on it would be a little offensive.
i like working on the border between art and design, i’m influenced a lot by what’s happening in the design and architecture worlds, but the context i show in is always a fine art context.
the idea of producing a modifiable artwork, ie something that asks the owner to complete the work in some way is in itself very interesting.
a year ago i made some sculptures out of felt that were in the shape of mobius strips. as they were soft ribbon-like forms, i left it up to the viewer or owner of the work to decide on how the form should be arranged, whether that be stretched out lengthways, rolled up tight, or whatever. but this thing always stays sculpture and didn’t work as anything else.

Part 3 coming soon

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Michael Kutshbach is an Australian born, Berlin based artist who has consistently used emerging technologies and processes in his art practice. His work crosses over from abstract painting, to interior and graphic design, animation and sculpture.

For years Michael Kutschbach has explored an extensive array of diverse techniques, mediums and artistic approaches: from his beginning as an abstract painter to the ever-developing, pop-esque, self-sticking vinyl plots that cover walls, furniture and windows or, in a similar form but different materiality, appear on wallpaper or are applied to textiles, to the blobs that are formed from plaster. Over a longer period these appear in various sizes and groupings- – mono- chrome, colored or chromed, and their formal language is repeated contemporaneously in his digital animations.

Dorothea Jendricke, Berlin 2007

Having worked with Michael on a number of projects I am always inspired by his curiosity in approaching new technologies, materials and processes, and thought he would provide some great insights for Ponokosters.

Q1. Why did you switch from painting and traditional sculpture to using laser cutting and 3d modeling tools to realize your projects?

It was more the work that took me there than an interest in using the technology or a conscious shift. close to ten years ago now i was painting abstract pictures using the palm of my hand. pretty simple stuff, but it felt deeply connected to the history of modernist painting as i understood it.

I never really know what i am doing in my work. it is often very intuitive. So one of the strategies i employ is to flip the method (not the intent or subject matter) in order to get a better understanding of what i was doing at that time. in this case i wanted to go from a very direct and tactile way of working to a method that had some distance to it. keeping with the idea of the hand made gestural mark, i used a wacom tablet to draw lines and shapes that came to resemble the painted marks in some way. the tablet drawings were made as vector drawings and were later sent to a signwriting company to be plotted from adhesive vinyl and were then applied directly to the gallery wall.

this was my first step toward using new technologies in my practice. since then i’ve played around with laser cutting, rapid prototyping (although always too expensive for what i wanted to do), 3d animation and so on.
in the end i like to think of technology as a tool and not the subject. this way i have the freedom to keep flipping or negating the methods i employ and the format of the work.

More in next post

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You don’t know who Rob Honeycutt is, and if you do, you’re a bigger follower of Mass
Customization news than I. You could also be a big fan of Timbuk2 three-panel bags, which were created by Mr. Honeycutt, and are a classic example of a successful mass customization product. Now Honeycutt, along with former Timbuk2 CEO Mark Dwight, has founded the company Rickshaw Bagworks; a new company that specializes in completely customizable bags, from materials to stitching. Additionally, all the fabric used in Rickshaw bags is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, and comes in a huge variety of prints. At this year’s Technology Entertainment Design (TED) Conference, Rickshaw Bagworks supplied two sets of 800 unique bags for conference attendees, and encouraged people to ‘find their twin’. (more…)

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Noel Wilson is an Industrial Designer who used Rapid Prototyping technologies to realize his innovative design, that turns a typical ‘banana box’ into a compact, foldable lightweight trolley for transporting shopping.

During the time Noel was working at Concentric Asia Pacific where the unit was manufactured. I asked him a few questions about the project and his time working for a rapid prototyping firm.

Q1. why did you chose to use 3D printing for the project?

I was curious, it was easy, and at the time it was accessible. It translated my virtual design into a tangible prototype without me having to screw around in a workshop, all I had to do was push the right buttons then sand and glue it all together. I knew it would give me a uniform professional finish that would take me way too long with any other method.

Q2. Did the process direct the design or the design direct the process?

Because of the simplicity of the design I think that it mostly directed the process, but I did know that the material (nylon/glass) was quite strong when over 6mm thick and built in the right orientation, and that it could give up to 1mm of visible detail, so perhaps it went both ways.

Q3. was there any enviro issues at play in the design, use of 3D printing

I think it balanced out in terms of environmental impact of the method and material, and my available alternatives. Energy saved here, and spent there. Toxicity avoided here, and caused there, etc etc. I would like to try some of the edible rapid prototyping methods, that sounds pretty eco-friendly and potentially nutritious.

Q4. What did you learn about 3D printing from the project

That it is rad. That it makes a perfect partner to CAD, and that it will play a much more significant role in the future of manufacturing due its potential perfection, speed, simplicity and material efficiency.

Q5. what was he most effective use of 3D printing you saw while working for a 3D printing firm?

Craniofacial test models of patients skulls so doctors could practice operating on them. Fluid dynamics models of underwater crafts (scaled down). The occasional clever plastic widgets would spark a wow. Small scale runs of parts were often cheaper to manufacture through SLS than injection molding.

Q6. what’s next on the cards for you?

I’m off to Malawi to work with the age old & original rapid prototyping materials, wood, mud and reeds (I am actually doing design related vocational training). I am also a cartoonist, and will continue developing my design skills & knowledge in the realm of humanitarian development.

O.K. From laser sintering to mud and reeds, sounds like a change of pace towards the slow design movement.

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The design blog NOTCOT has a quick interview with Studio Lo about their creative process and material choices. Studio Lo is a French company made up of two designers who create fantastic minimalist flat pack products. You’ve seen their PANO chair previously here, its design is emblematic of their work; embracing the idea of sustainability, using natural materials and minimizing waste. Some of their current designs include the slippers seen above, a rustic-textured birdhouse, and a purse among other things. Their material is cut using a water-jet cutter, which produces results similar to the laser cutters used by Ponoko. If you’re looking for inspiration, or just want to see what is possible in flat-pack design, I would recommend reading the interview over at NOTCOT, then stopping by their website for a look.

You can read the full interview from NOTCOT here.

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Check out this interview with funky Ponoko member David Bizer, and also his video at the bottom of the post about his creation the Odb. Way out stuff!

David Bizer (aka bza)
Joined January 08

David, a Ponoko member from Berlin, has created one of the most awesomely unique necklaces we’ve seen so far. One that can be individualized by sound waves.

Nicknamed the “Odb”, you just need to send David any kind of audio sample and he’ll design the individual shapes for your very own waveform necklace. From there you easily assemble the necklace from home.

A product designer by trade it was David’s love of music that led to the motivation for his creation. David is working on the English version, which is “coming very soon”.

We asked David 3 quick questions:

Where do your Ponoko ideas come from?
I try to keep my mind open and look what’s happening around me.

What do you/don’t you like about Ponoko?
It’s hard to suggest how the future of manufacturing will look like, but I think Ponoko is a step in the right direction. Somehow it’s a pity Ponoko is limited to 2d-cutting, but on the other hand this limitation can also boost your creative process.

What are you favorite materials?
I’m quite interested in digital fabrication. For laser cut parts my favorite material is acrylic. I also like the unfinished surface of laser-sintered parts a lot. Anyway it’s always an inspiring challenge to get the best out of each materials properties.

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Economist.com: Bespoke Manufacturing: I made it my way

Exciting stuff! Our story of personal manufacturing, in line with technologists and authors Neil Gershenfeld’s views on bits into atoms and Don Norman’s views on user-centered design, crowdsourcing and automation, are featured in this week’s Economist technology monitor.

If you want to know more about Neil Gershenfeld and his views on “After the Digital Revolution”, have a look at MITMedia Lab and also this previous post on his fascinating presentation at TEDtalks in 2006. Don Norman, a professor, designer and researcher of the relationship between technology and people, recently published The Design of Future Things. Listen to Core77’s Bruce Tharp interview podcast with him.

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via Core 77: My Cool Job: Industrial Designer!

Geez, I wish we had this sort of access to career counseling when I was in middle school! I think all I got was a meeting with my careers counselor and a big thick book pushed my way to thumb through entries “describing” what certain jobs do.

Mycooljob.org is an Ohio-based project dedicated to educating kids in middle school/early highschool of career options in the real world. They have interviews, videos and interactive blogs with real professionals, giving a varied look at careers (as no jobs ever take the exact same path). Here’s a really cool short video clip produced by high school students on behind the scenes of being an industrial designer at Design Central in Ohio. It takes you through the brainstorming and design process as well as showing a 3D printer in action, and then discussing that with clients. Great work guys!

One other thing to remember though , Industrial Designer isn’t just a cool job it can be a cool business too! If you want to make money online with design you should sign up to Ponoko and get uploading your designs and making your prototypes. It’s quick, easy, free and it’ll help you take advantage of all the tools we have to help designers and makers get done what they don’t want to bother with, like marketing, sales and manufacturing. You never know where it could end up taking you.

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