Another interesting project from the guys of PROJECTiONE , myLight is a DIY lamp shade available for sale, I think this is a great example of how creative people can create their own business models and sell their own products skipping all intermediaries in the process an at the same time create more compelling products for customers .

My light is based in the Lightforms project. The profile curve of the shade is first generated in Rhinoceros and can be customized to any shape. A Grasshopper script interprets this curve, determines the number of components needed, and lays out each simple component with its necessary intersections. The “Teardrop” is their first model  available for sale but they have announced more will come in the future.

myLight from PROJECTiONE on Vimeo.

Project Description (from site)

myLight is a “Do It Yourself” luminaire intended to provide a user with a memorable experience and appreciation for design and fabrication. Made from durable mylar, myLight is hand assembled by the user following a video as a guide. The object becomes more than simply a store-bought lamp as the user is involved in its production and takes pride in its assembly. PROJECTiONE is focused on process in conjunction with final results. myLight shares this experience directly with users. The visual complexity of the laser cut system adds to its beauty while the simple method and repetition of assembly makes it easy and fun to build. We hope the process can be a shared experience for multiple users gathered around a single myLight.

Sketch Chair is probably the most complete application I´ve  seen so far compared with some other similar tools featured here, created by Greg Saul an industrial design graduate  Sketch Chair is a very complete interface that allow users quickly design furniture by simply drawing some lines, one of the most remarkable things I see is the implementation of a physics library normally used for video games, to test the stability of the pieces and also make some basic ergonomic studies.

If you want to try out the application and see more content and images please visit Greg Saul’s website.
Description (from the site)

“Sketch Chair” is a exploration in using computation and rapid manufacturing techniques to allow users to design and build their own products or in this case their own chairs.

The Sketch Chair software allows a novice users to take part in the entire process of designing and building their own chairs. Chairs are designed using a simple 2D sketch-based interface and design validation tools. Thereafter chairs are fabricated from sheet materials cut by a laser cutter, CNC milling machine or papercutters.

A collaboration with JST ERATO Design UI Project in Tokyo.

tools used:
- Processing (Eclipse)
- jBullet Physics

SketchChair from Greg Saul on Vimeo.

Mensa is an altar made for the restoration of the Antica Chiesa Plebana, a XV century church located in S. Maurizio Canavese (To). The project was developed by the artist Elio Garis in collaboration with craftsman Bruno De Masi and Co-De -It a computational design research studio that were in charge of operating as a mediator between the digital realm of the information model and the physical sculptural aspects of the project by translating the initial design into a coarse fabricated model in plywood.

Description (from the site)

When it comes to the use and implementation of digital strategies and tools one of the most common temptations is digital exhaustion: the project starts and becomes perfect in the digital realm. According to this obsession the digital outcome takes command and dictates the rules to which all material aspects should be subjected. Emergence material effects and any kind of post-machine work is seen as a flaw in a search for a fully file-to-factory process. Another common temptation which usually pairs the one we just described is the pursue of digital perfection: since digital tools allow accuracy and precision extreme specificity is often seen (and not without reasons) as a goal or an improvement. These are the case that serve optimization for iterative production, but we think that this shouldn’t be a universal rule.

Digital strategies and tools in our mind are not a substitute of all existing tools and techniques, rather they have their own specificity; they integrate and expand the existing set, adding new extended potential and novel possibilities to it. Substitution happens when the new tool is not only performing the same tasks than the old one but also adds new or improved qualities (performance in speed, accuracy, variation, added features, etc.).

This is an exploration of the territory that lies in-between the digital and the physical realm, using the digital as a resource to amplify the expressive palette of an artist (Elio Garis) working in tight connection with a craftsman (Bruno De Masi, we already worked with him for the Bosco project) for the design and realization of Mensa, an altar which should enrich the restoration of the Antica Chiesa Plebana, a XV century church in S. Maurizio Canavese (To). The design was conceived by Elio Garis, then developed by Bruno De Masi under his guidance, while Co-de-iT operated as a mediator between the digital realm of the information model and the physical sculptural expressive potential, translating the initial design into a coarse fabricated model in plywood. The model was purposely kept coarse to allow a final physical interaction by the artist in order to let him orchestrate material properties and effects according to his sculptural sensibility and experience.

Sculptural sensibility is not a pure hylomorphic process. There is an intensive logic underneath, something that is even more evident in pottery making, where the potter should constantly interact with material properties in order to tease a shape out of clay: temperature, finger pressure, rotational speed of the plate, humidity are all intensively interacting at the same time and directed by the artist’s sculptural sensibility. To that extent, this project explores vagueness as a quality that could be implemented through digital tools: sculptors often take inspiration from pieces of material, guided by vibrant sensibilities they feel resonance and envision a potential to be disclosed.

Our contribution with the digital tools is to explore through generative strategies a wide range of rule-based vague forms that can be coupled (according to material and fabrication logics) to several material palettes and let the final part of their morphogenetic process to be directed by the artist’s material sensibility.

Facadeprinter is a new communication tool created by product designers Martin Fussenegger , Michael Sebastian and engineer Julian Adenauer , as part of their search for new aesthetics and ways of communications they have created an interesting an  fun product with lots of potential and application fields, the one that most calls my attention could be about using the facadeprinter in case of disaster situations where it can be easily integrated in the efforts  to communicate messages like pointing out danger zones or medical facilities.

About the Facade Printer
The Facadeprinter is a simple, software controlled robot. The printer shoots the artwork from a distanced position dot by dot onto the chosen area. The Facade Printer has the capability of print on inaccessible an uneven surfaces.
The maximum print distance is 12 meters, the maximum print height is around 8 meters. The shooting frequency is up to 5 dots per second.

facadeprinter.org – three stones from Facadeprinter on Vimeo.

Some Applications for Facade Printer

- Large Scale Distance Printing: From a distance of up to 12 meters, the artwork is applied shot by shot onto the surface — this allows printing on targets which are typically inaccessible.

- Live Performance : The Facadeprinter in action is a great spectacle – as with a ‘magic pen’ the image gradually appears on the wall, making the process of marking and drawing by the machine a visually striking performance and display for the viewer.

- Outlook | Communication in a Crisis: The Facadeprinter can be integrated into efforts of post disaster relief. The machine’s printing process allows the quick installation of new visual communications, for example medical facilities, sources of fresh water supply, danger zones or collection points can be communicated effectively.

If you likethis post please retweet it , would be very apreciated !!

About BreadedEscalope (from the site)
Sascha Mikel, Martin Schnabl and Michael Tatschl finished their education with a Masters degree in product & spatial design in London 2007.
After eight years in common design related education, they established a synergetic way of working and developed >breadedEscalope<, their studio.

bE creates socially sustaining artifacts and systems that raise questions and challenge  common meanings & general perceptions.
The outcome is poetic, functional and communicative, full of meaning and character.

“Objects or systems are never just aesthetic; we understand design to be more than beautification.  We create, to open versatile channels of experiencing environments, objects, or products. ”

The “statements”-their results of artistic product research, get manifested in small series, manufactured or commissioned by bE.
These approaches and experiments define the further treatment in applied work, regarding projects and services upon third parties.

bE is a fraction of the platform GOTO.
GOTO holds an international body of artists from various fields and professions and works as an extended network of creative resources.

Apart from doing very interesting projects using several technologies and digital fabrication tools , this guys are documenting their experiences and work methodologies, thing that I´m finding very useful , specially because I´m in a very similar position starting with my first partnerships and consultancy services.

I really recommend to visit their site and see what they´re up to.

First Manifesto from PROJECTiONE on Vimeo.

Thesis Proposal (extract from site)

PROJECTiONE defined

We do not intend to define specialists within our group. We are not a group of individuals that coexist to form a collaborative. While we have different backgrounds that affect our perspectives, we are not completely separate parts under the label of a whole. As Wiscombe explains, this has allowed for unpredictable and unforeseen results in the synthesis of our ideas and interests. However, unlike these clear definitions of collaboration and collective, our interests fluctuate between divergent and aligned. Our ideas, skills, and interests may differ, but they also overlap toward a common goal. We do not formulate individual ideas that the group supports, rather the group reformulates individual ideas to a point where the individual is indistinguishable from the group. This is our collective. This is PROJECTiONE.

Research

Our opportunities to work together in the past have focused on using digital and analog design and fabrication tools. To frame our position in this field, we contrast that experience against current theories and the critical positions of digital designers and fabricators. We have followed trends in digital theory and executed a series of interviews in New York City to understand what current designers and fabricators consider to be relevant to their practice. Our questions highlighted their perspective on the relationship between digital and analog tools and processes.

Analysis

Some groups we interviewed, such as Tietz-Baccon, find value in the relationships of digital and analog, often using CNC machinery to create jigs for crafted analog fabrication. They exhibit their craft through the use of all tools, recognizing that creativity and precision can still occur within the analog. Others, like Gramazio and Kohler at the ETH in Zurich are exploring this relationship in a different way. Though they are experimenting with a seven-axis robot, they have no intent of eliminating the human, remaining largely integrated into the process. [West Fest Pavilion in Switzerland] In this process, the robot picks up a piece of wood and places it on a table, where a student cuts it to a CNC-specified length with a miter saw. After cutting, the robot positions that same piece of wood in a specific place, while another student secures it with a nail gun. It is a mutually constructive machine-human relationship and an integrated use of this technology.

Similar to these groups, we completed a quick design/fabrication project entitled Projection that we used to analyze our internal methodologies and help define our position. Critical relationships existed throughout the project between the analog design (measurement of Cartesian coordinates) and the digital model (insertion of coordinates in digital space). This was made possible by our understanding of the required digital inputs that informed how we modeled and measured using analog tools. During fabrication, our analog techniques (steel cutting, and welding) informed the shape and information embedded in templates (laser-cut cardboard). These templates were designed to wrap around steel angles so that they could easily be held in place while marking and cutting, but also carried with them information regarding the steel pieces’ length and orientation. An interrogation of analog and digital space in this project allowed a unique and continuous transfer of information between the two.

This example highlights the thinking that is intrinsic to our process, relying on an intimate understanding of a variety of tools, both analog and digital. This knowledge can then be applied in developing innovative relationships (coordinate mapping, and laser-cutting templates). Unlike some of the designers and fabricators interviewed, we remain open to new uses of both analog and digital tools. We don’t place any undue importance on either new technologies or traditional means, and we rethink the relationships that exist between them.

PROJECTiONE´s position

Software and hardware should not just make designing or fabricating easier, streamlining the design process. They should not exist separate from the human. They should provide opportunities to change the way designers think. They should allow us to design differently; more precisely, more creatively, and with greater intent. This can be done through an interrogation of the tool’s purpose. Every tool has a purpose or material associated with it, but that purpose should be continually challenged. PROJECTiONE was created within this framework. We find design potential in the areas of overlap and creative use of analog and digital design and fabrication methods. In every project we intend to innovate. We develop new techniques. We rethink traditional techniques. We creatively force tools to do what they weren’t intended to do. Our ideas and methodologies are based on an interrogation of relationships between the individuals of PROJECTiONE and the tools of our craft. This concept is not unique to us, but its execution and results highlight our position in digital practice. PROJECTiONE resides in the space between digital and analog.

Project Description
The applet begins with a single unfolded cell. Dragging the edge of a cell towards its center begins a fold. Right clicking and dragging an edge attaches a new cell. The applet is aware of an invisible “floor,” that causes legs to fold twice past a certain length.

You’ll see legs turning blue once they’re folded twice. Right clicking an “edge” causes that leg to become fixed, so that it is always perfectly tangent to the ground, even if the floor height changes in the future. This application was built with Processing.

Floor height & Fixed Legs
A variable floorHeight determines the point at which legs fold. Low floor heights make for larger surfaces, while high floor heights make for longer legs. As the floorHeight value changes, the arcs that make “yellow” legs stay tangent to the ground.

MOS Cells from George Michael Brower on Vimeo.

This is a call out for all rhino user enthusiasts, my friends at RhinoHelp.com have launched an  open competition for all Rhino modellers, a good opportunity to show and to presume your modelling and rendering skills to others ,for more information and submissions of  projects you can go to their  website , have fun.

Design & model a home appliance for year 2050
This contest is solely dedicated to modeling in Rhinoceros 3D modeling software.
In this contest, you are encouraged to try and imagine how would a home appliance look and feel like in a year 2050. It doesn’t have to be fully functionally thought through, but it definitely is a plus if you design into more detail.
Contest deadline
February 1st  -  May 1st
Contest prizes

1st prize

1. McNeel’s Rhinoceros v4.0 NFR (Not for resale)
2. 3Dconnexion’s SpaceNavigator

2nd prize

1. T-Splines, Inc.’s T-Splines v2 for Rhino
2. 3Dconnexion’s SpaceNavigator

3rd prize

1. 3Dconnexion’s SpaceNavigator

General rules

1. By submitting you agree that Rhino3DHelp.com and McNeel can use your submission, for promotional purposes.
2. Any submission must have been created in 2010 and can not have been featured in any other CG competition or awards.
3. By submitting to the Rhino3DHelp.com’s contest, you warrant that you have obtained permission to submit the works for public display.
4. Any attempt to circumvent any of the competition rules or voting systems will result in you and your company being disqualified and permanently banned from all future contests.
5. Judging will be performed by judges selected by Rhino3DHelp.com. Judges will be responsible for selection and scoring of all submitted images. Criteria for judging can be found on the Judging page.
6. Contestants should be registered on the forums, and need to create their WIP thread in the contest forum.
7. Contestants should post at least 1 WIP shot during the challenge and should comment on others work.
8. For final submission, contestants need to submit compressed (zip or rar) .3dm model for judging.
9. Deadline will be after three months from now.
10. All contestants must provide reliable contact information in their profile, if information provided does not allow us to contact you easily then placement and prizes will be adjusted accordingly to the next ranked entry.
11. Usage of 3rd party plugins is allowed, as long as it is in Rhino and contestants must have aprox. 60% of the scene modeled in classic Rhino way.
12. T-Splines plugin usage is allowed.
13. Modeling in Rhino is obligatory, models needs to be 100% created inside Rhino, and all contestants must provide .3dm model to the jury.

Competition Sponsors

Jen Stark is a young emergent  artist who was born in Miami, FL in 1983. Her work has been exhibited extensively in many places  around the US, with solo shows in NYC, Seattle, Miami, Washington DC, and Chicago and is part of the permanent collections of MOCA North Miami and The West Collection among others. Through the use of simple paper-cutting techniques she creates complex structures. er ideas are based on replication and infinity, echoing patterns and intelligent designs found in nature like some sort of analog generative art.
Sometimes as creative people we try so hard to make provocative an inspiring work, using lots of elements and tools, but talented people like Jen ,remind us that great things can come from the most simple elements , in this case materials you can find in every elementary school.
If you want to know more about her you can check out the video below or check out her website.

The Beginning of the End / 26″ x 40″ / felt-tip pen on paper / 2009

“Reciprocal“ / 40?x40?x7? / varnished acrylic on wood / 2009

The experiment represents a tool to create modular structure systems that can be adaptable to different scales and context spaces, The objective of this project was to develop a generative design strategy for architectural design that could be developed under digital fabrication methods. I have to mentions these are the first steps of  this research project  , currently working in scripting the constructive unions of the modules , tagging the pieces and extract the information for its digital fabrication.

How it Works
The Grasshopper definition extracts the honeycomb structures from two surfaces, this allows the system to adapt better to a pre established place (interior spaces for example) , once you have selected both surfaces they get subdivided and then a VBscript component extract the honeycomb patterns from the surface , which are then used to create lofted surfaces.

As I mentioned befor these are the first steps, I´m woking in a similar version that generates apprtures depending on a distance to a point , if you want to keep updated with this and other projects you can subscribe to my RSS Feed
Rhino File: Honeycomb Surfaces.3dm
Grasshopper Definition: Honeycomb2surfaces.ghx

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