Inspiration
My inspiration for this project came from a few sources: the first being the vast amount of laser cut mandala art that exists on the internet. Â I have always been fascinated with how machines can allow us to create products of complex geometries that are perfectly symmetrical with ease, and I wanted to use technology to achieve those aspects myself. Â For the design itself, I was heavily inspired by the “Currents” album cover by Tame Impala, which in turn was inspired by flow visualization, a practice I am familiar with through one of Dr. Hertzberg’s other classes. Â I was also inspired by the “semicolon movement” in which people would use semicolons to bring solidarity to those who have depression and suicidal thoughts. Â I wanted to bring together aesthetics that I enjoy to convey a message that is important to me.
Design Process
I began by finding inspiration on the internet, then I designed a bunch of different geometric designs in illustrator to see what I come up with. Â Often when I make visual art, I just make a bunch of different versions of it to see what I can come up with because it is the free flowing of ideas in this way that often leads to the best happy accidents.
Here are a few of the designs I created before the final:
For the final design, I decided to make something with very distinct lines so as to create a good contrast in the cardboard imagery. Â I designed it with a mixture of photoshop and illustrator, first using an array of black and white lines and warping them to create the wave design. Â Then I added the border and added the text in a circle to surround the border.
After the design was created, all that was left to do was laser cut. Â I took a square of cardboard off of a box and put it in the laser cutter to etch the design.
Fabrication
The fabrication was quite simple, as I only needed to press a few buttons on a laser cutter to make it work. Â It took about 45 minutes for the etch to finish. However, due to some timing issues with when I was able to work with a laser master and laser cut at ATLAS, some things went wrong. Â For instance, my initial plan was to laser etch the design into wood. Â However, due to the natural pattern in the wood I had chosen, the pattern wasn’t coming out as significantly as I expected. Â I needed to finish the project as it was due and so I played it safe and etched it into cardboard, which has a more consistent surface to etch on.
Final Product
I was happy with the final product, particularly with it being my first laser cut. Â Likewise, the message has personal meaning, being that it is a way of reminding myself that ups and downs come with life and to keep pushing on.
What’s next
I would definitely like to re etch the design into wood sometime. Â I would like to find a piece of wood with a smooth and consistent surface and I would stain it if the design didn’t come out as much as expected in the etch.