Chic Up the FitBit

I've noticed the movement on Social Media of the constant need to share and relay our fitness accomplishments.  This innate need to share our personal growth is so much easier with how so many of us are incredibly attached to our phones. At our finger tips we literally have hundreds of Apps at our disposal to satisfy any kind of fitness fad we decide to choose next.  I am guilty of it myself, sharing my run statistics daily to an online running club group.  

So now we have accessories that aid us in our endeavor to monitor our steps, heart rate, sleep REM, you name it, there is an APP or some kind of device out there created for it. What I have run into is I would love a fitbit, as an avid city walker I'd love to know how much I run around in a day.  The thing is, I just cant see myself wearing one, as someone who works with jewelry, I cannot fathom putting something on my body that does not match the rest of my wardrobe.  So my question is, can we make these tech devices pretty?

It's a new market field that some companies are jumping on, to make science fashionable.  With more people than ever using social media to share every aspect of our lives, it only makes sense to try to gain more consumers, and by doing so you want to cater to those that want their fitbit to scintillate in the sun because the chances are they will take a picture of the product and share it to their followers. Easy free brand advertising! It's a perfect recipe for success, so I wanted to take a look at who decided to take the risk and try out this market.

The first is Tory Burch one of the chicest brands out there has delved elbow deep into making the fitbit fab by partnering with the fitbit brand itself. They know their clientele would not be caught dead wearing something bulky and clashing on their wrist so they took care with their design.

The Tory Burch design is their iconic "T" that is offset by radiating grooves to echo the "T" pattern. The bold geometric gloss of metal gives a very Greek Goddess feel. This piece of merchandise is style savvy but a bit pricey since you are paying for a brand.

https://www.fitbit.com/toryburch

 

Another contender is a company that has built its brand on the merriment of fashion and technology, Bezels and Bytes.  With cute alliteration I'm already sold on the fun and hip vibe that the company sends out.  It seems more down to earth than the Tory Burch campaign, more approachable, much more likely something I could wear daily. Here we have a rectangular metal case with a patterned motif whether it is hammered metal, studs, or a woven pattern, they went for a uniform finish easy to style. Paired with the case are fun colorful straps, a much lighter option than a bangle, and definitely a better wear for the impending summer.

http://www.bezelsandbytes.com/

 And for all the thrifty shoppers out there, there is always Etsy and Amazon.  Doing a cursory search I see copious styles and variations to fabulously wear a fitbit.  As I always, I warn that with Etsy the quality may not be there and as someone who breaks out from cheap metal, I tend to avoid users that do not have reviews. However if you like to live dangerously, delve right in because there are a ton more options there than there is anywhere else. 

All in all, I really dig fashion getting fit, there are plenty of styles to peruse through to find a look that works for you.

Sources:

https://www.fitbit.com/toryburch

http://www.bezelsandbytes.com/

http://www.chipchick.com/2014-07-tory-burch-fitbit-collection.php

Anouk Wipprecht's Provoking Spider Bodice

Designed by Anouk Wipprecht, this arachnid inspired bodice has been blowing up the 3d printing scene.  With the assistance of Intel technology, the spider dress has the ability to sense if someone or something is too close, which causes it’s “legs” to reach out in warning.  Wipperecht has created a fascinating interactive wearable that is truly thought provoking.

The design is armor-like, an exoskeleton, which is very reminiscent of comic book heroines such as the likes of  Sara Pezzini from Withblade or Sarah Kerrigan from Starcraft. 

Looking at the piece you get a sense of its intention right away, in no way does this costume look friendly.  The extended limbs already give the viewer a sense of preservation, to proceed with caution.  I can imagine how jarring it could be when realizing that these limbs are not static architectural pieces, but instead, react to your presence.   

It creates a uniquely silent conversation between wearer and viewer; by action you are told you are invading the wearer’s personal space.  I often run into the difficulty of getting bumped or shoved, having someone lean to close to me on the bus, uncomfortable, but rather mundane encounters with other people whilst going about my day by day.  Now imagine a world where this outfit was the norm, having a clothing device that wards off another person; A veil of protection.  In that regard this seems to be a very isolating piece, which makes the curved line use around the abdomen less sensual and a little more reserved, even stand off-ish. 

Overall I really enjoy the roles that play out when viewing the piece.  The initial uneasiness that the design invokes, to the sudden unexpected movement of the spider’s legs, and that leads to the nervous laughter given off by viewers as they slink back to a safer distance. It’s a brilliant tug of tension through a simple flinch mechanic that we see so often in ourselves and nature, but it’s completely unexpected in our clothing choices. 

Sources:

Video is youtube channel gdgtsbuzz

Starcraft Screenshot: Blizzard

Sara Pezzini: Top Cow Comics

Frontal Shot: Screenshot by Michelle Starr/CNET

Black Dress: fashioningtech.com

Awesome Kickstarter for a Bangle from Beacon & Lively

So my fellow Tyler Alumni has been involved with developing a very chic way to wear modern technology.  The company she works for, Beacon & Lively, have been working on a kickstarter for a bangle that lights up when your receive messages, email, phone calls, etc.

                   

 I love the design, it's very futuristic with an exaggerated curvature to accentuate the grooves that light up various colors via LED.  I love the concept of wearable technology, personally I always have my phone in hand so it would be nice to have a fashionable element that alerts me of messages versus carrying around my cellular.

                          

                          

However, I did show this bangle to a couple of my friends to see their reaction to the idea, and the consensus was the same. What else can it do?  That's where I get stuck with my excitement, I got so caught up in design that I didn't really consider functionality.  The every day jewelry wearer isn't going to be provoked into purchasing something that just lights up when their phone does the same thing.  Same goes for the tech nerd, with all the technology in Garmin watches, why would they buy something that just lights up?

                         

For me this kickstarter is about where technology and style can go.  This is the start of something incredibly classy, sophisticated, and tech smart.  I'd love to see this company take on the ever so design savvy Apple, and create a bangle that displays messages, connects to the internet, GPS compatiable, the works.  I can see this concept going places and would love to see people support a small independent company interested in a bright convenient future.

If you feel so inclined to donate to their cause, I have provided their link below.  Graciously they are providing incentives to people that donate, so if your looking to get your hands on one of these bad boys, donate.

Beacon & Lively Kickstarter Information

Images provided by Beacon & Lively

Laser Cut Statement Necklace

In Philadelphia we have a tradition called First Friday in which the galleries downtown turnover to new exhibitions.  This draws in flocks of creative talents and observers to partake in sipping wine while listening to hipsters have a jam session on the crowded sidewalk that is lined with artists, elbow to elbow, hovering over makeshift displays of their works.  A wide variety of work is on display from paintings, prints, ceramics, jewelry; any sort of imaginable aesthetic is available to your service.

This particular month I wandered into a gallery I have never been in before.  I’m not particularly a fan of carpentry but my boyfriend wanted to take a walk through The Center for Art and Wood.  Here we were entranced by the fine craftsmanship on display, the ingenuity of taking and ancient craft, and spinning a modern twist on the art, creating conceptual sculptures relevant to our modern day queries.

However what caught my eye in this wonderland of wood knots and wood grain was of course, a piece of jewelry.  I happened across a stack of laser cut balsa wood necklaces.  Ordinarily this would not catch my interest, but what did spark my inner child was that these pieces were interactive.  Each necklace was a different color scheme and shape, but all were completely comprised of gears riveted together.  When you spun one gear, all of them begin to spin.  It was a delightful work of modern art that is toy-like and playful.  And the burning of the wood from the laser gives the grain a nice shading to invoke a nice steam punk quality to the piece.

Overall this necklace was a delight to find in that it’s a piece of jewelry that is impressive artistically and conceptually but still just plain old fun.  Below I linked the website of the creators of the piece, Green Tree Jewelry. Enjoy!

                                                 http://www.greentreejewelry.com

Lamina Production Show and Metals Exhibition

Headed out to Tyler School of Art tonight to purchase some jewelry from the Lamina Production Show held by the Metals department of the school.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that they extended their hours this evening so that their show coincided with the MFA Thesis Show.

I have done this show in the past back in my Tyler days, but I must say this group was very well put together and prepared to professionally display their work.  One of the most difficult things about jewelry is the display.  At craft shows I often see veteran artists make the mistake of cluttered or unflattering displays that take away from their work, but here, these students used see through acrylic.  It was crisp, clean, easy to see, and I was not distracted by the display at all. It actually fell out of notice when I engaged with the jewelry.

Another aspect of the exhibition I liked was the professionalism.  The artists were standing ready to show their work, answer questions, and assist in trying on the jewelry.  The even had alcoholic wipes to disinfect the earrings after their were worn, something you see in retail jewelry stores.  They were able to establish and ground their pop up show by using cleverly placed decal stickers.  It gave a more polished presentation and legitimized the temporary show as an exhibition.

The work on display was definitely on par with things I would see at a craft show.  Each piece was excellently executed and functioned flawlessly. There was also a wide range of work from powder coated copper, classic silver, and well rendered CAD pieces.  Being in a classroom, it's often you see that students influence each other, and you tend to see repeated techniques or similar designs. I did not see that here. Just well thought out, diverse designs.

My only criticism of the pop up show would be the lack of display and attention to the statement pieces.  Most were just laid out on the table next to the displayed production jewelry.  It gave the insinuation that those pieces were put there as an afterthought.  The pieces themselves were gorgeous and very well done, I just wish that the same attention that went into making them was evident in their display.

I have a slew of photos of the event to be enjoyed.  If in the Philadelphia area please make an effort to go support these up and coming artists during tomorrow's business hours! I believe they are there Saturday the 26th 9am to 5pm

                   
                These silver ruffle like earrings were one of the pieces I purchased, very light

   This statement necklace I absolutely loved, the focal point was made up of silicon extensions that
                                                                flexed to the touch

                                                     
                              Fabric material and pearls giving nice motion to the pieces

                         This was my second purchase, dyed nylon, CAD modeled earrings

                                I see a future in toy design here, more dyed CAD pieces

                                             Fun colored powder coated pieces

Nice contrast utilizing CAD

Lamina Production Show at Tyler School of Art April 24th-27th

                                  Hello All! Just a quick plug to my Alma Mater!

Tyler School of Art is hosting it's annual production show, Lamina, in it's atrium April 24th through the 27th
9am to 5pm.

If you are in the Philadelphia area, I highly recommend checking out this show held by the metals department. Perhaps even feel inclined to purchase some of the jewelry on sale.  I know I already have my eye on a resin ring that will be on display.

This is a great way to see fresh work in a field of tired recycled designs, and a chance to see up and coming artists in the area.

I will update on the exhibition with photos and a review when I attend this Saturday, so for now here is a link to their Facebook page for a sneak preview.

Lamina Facebook link:  Lamina

My Companion Cube Wall Sconces

I have finally gotten the chance to update on one of my personal works, and hopefully I get the chance to update many more in the near future.  This work is based off of the Valve computer game Portal.  This dangerously addicting puzzle masterpiece with its witty sense of humor has become a favorite past time of my boyfriend and I.  So naturally, for our anniversary, I decided to make him something based off of the game that we spent so many hours playing together.

I have the computer program Rhinoceros in which I modeled the background portal booleaned to a half of a companion cube.  Modeling the portal was fairly easy, just making an oval with smoothed edges.  I did need to make the oval hollow however seeing that I wanted the piece to be light enough to hang on the wall. A general rule of thumb to follow when 3d printing hollow objects such as this is to have a sustainable wall thickness which I generally maintain at .08 inches depending on the piece (if I’m working in millimeters I generally keep objects solid for stability). To do this, I just offset my object within itself, then I booleaned differenced the offset object out of the original piece.  This leaves me a nice hollow cavity that saves me lots of money at the end of the day because it’s less material to print.

The trickiest part of creating the portal cube for me was the corners.  Getting that exact shape was fairly difficult and led to much cursing on my end while trying to get things to line up nicely.  However, the beautiful thing about the companion cube is that it’s symmetrical, so once I nailed down one corner I was able to mirror it to wherever it needed to be. 

I decided to print in plaster since it’s a cheap material, lightweight, and I am very familiar with it.  Fortunately I have a bunch of test parts of plaster lying around from previous projects, so I was able to test out how acrylic paint would dry on the material.  The plaster did absorb the paint slightly which gave it a softer look.  It also dried several shades lighter, so that is something to keep in mind if anyone wants to repeat my endeavor.  Overall, I thought the plaster received the paint nicely, so I decided against using any kind of sealer since it’s a decorative wall piece that will not be touched often.  Future projects I do plan on experimenting with sealers for wearable pieces. 

The printing provider I used was Shapeways (http://www.shapeways.com/).  They are very cost effective and super helpful if you have any questions.  They also provide a copious amount of printing materials to choose from.  So I highly suggest on checking them out. 

3d printed resin record

Recently in 3d printing technology a playable record was printed from the material resin with a Objet Connex 500.  Amanda Ghassaei documents her process in a video that I have linked below.  Most of us who have designed utilizing CAD are aware that you fabricate models by creating meshes that are made up of tiny little triangles.  Ghassaei explains, because of how complex it would be to traditionally draft an audio file, she had to create a program to do the conversion for her.  This conversion broke down the numbers that created the raw audio data into the form of a readable wave form or groove on the resin disc.  The wave length transcribed in the disc is read by the turntable stylus which travels along the path (groove) to re-create the path in an audio form that we can hear.

The quality of the recording is admittedly not great, but this does arise the question, how do different printed materials sound? The original vinyl record came into popularity since it had a much better sound quality than the original shellac records.    Over the last century we have moved from different ways to produce sound from the phonograph cylinder, to the shellac record, to the vinyl record, to the laser read compact disc, now we rely heavily on the mp3.



However, people are nostalgic.  What has come into fashion is using our current technology in the guise of its predecessor.  Such as the iphone with its retro hand telephone attachment. Or the large 1980's boombox that attaches to your mp3 player so you get that retro look with a clean modern sound.  We find it cool and hip to have the style of the yesteryear with the convenience of modern technology.  I would not find it surprising if this program is used in different materials to play with sound.  To use modern 3d printing technology to re-create something our parents used.  I would love to hear how different materials sounded and see what kind of music could be created with this program.  I really hope innovative companies like Shapeways eat this up and experiment to see how far we can go.

sources:

 http://www.amandaghassaei.com/3D_printed_record.html - Amanda Ghassaei's website with video and images

3d printing is a new and exciting field in the world of design.  It has become an incredible tool for creating the relics bound within our imaginations and gives us a way to give them tangibility.  3d printing and rendering has come a long way since my professors’ education in the nineties where CAD was a complex programming software that you had to grapple with, let alone the cost of materials. Now our fortunate generation is the one with technology at our fingertips.  We have several different auto CAD programs at our mercy that we wield to create objects from a long list of very cost effective materials that our fore fathers of the CAD-iverse did not have.  It even has come to the point that I know several people with their own personal 3d printer and I myself plan to get one.  A few years ago the tech nerd would drop a small fortune on a maker-bot that they would assemble themselves, and that maker-bot would take several hours to heat abs nylon through a tube to create your object.  Now we have small 3d printers available for around $2000 that can print in multiple materials quickly and more efficiently than its maker-bot predecessor.   It’s incredibly the leaps and bounds that the 3d printing realm has taken in the last few years.

Here I have linked a video of one of the latest feats our generation has opened up to the world of 3d printing. Printing liquid metal, developed by a team at North Carolina University, they have found a way to oxidize the surface of a small bead of liquid metal to stabilize it enough so that it can remain in liquid form to create malleable liquid metal structures.  We are very used to heating polymer materials that quickly cool into non-malleable structures when taken away from its heat source.  Here we have a material that stays liquid in room temperature allowing further manipulation which can lead to huge leaps and bounds for the technology field when it comes to computer parts, wires, connectors, electrodes, etc.   Anyone who has worked with metal knows that metal, to become liquid, needs intense heat typically from a torch, and it does not stay liquid when that heat source is removed.  It cools far too quickly, but this technique finds a way around that reality.  From what I understand the metal they have chosen to work with is gallium.  It is a very soft metal that does not appear in nature.  

Gallium has a very low melting point, just above room temperature.  It has been reported that if the element is held long enough it will melt in your hand.  I know it seems less impressive using such a soft malleable metal for this technique, but the metal does have the conductivity needed for electronics and it could lead to new ways of printing with precious metals down the road.  I look forward to where this will lead printing with metals since we typically tend to focus on printing with polymers.  

sources: http://www.shapeways.com/blog/?li=nav

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201301400/pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium