Artistic Vinyl Speaker: Part 1

[2] Record Player Inspiration

For my main project, I created an artistic vinyl record display that plays music from an internal Bluetooth speaker (see the featured image [1]). This semester, I’ve spent a lot of time listening to records with my cousin in our living room. Through this project, I wanted to replicate the feeling of listening to a record player, while having the freedom to choose whatever songs you’d like through a Bluetooth device. Aesthetically, I wanted to take after Antoni Gaudí’s architectural style of Catalan Art Nouveau (also known as Modernisme). Taking inspiration from the record player in my apartment, I strived to apply this aesthetic to that structure (see figure 2). 

           

                                  [3] Casa Batlló Exterior                                                                              [4] Casa Batlló Interior

Choosing my aesthetic was a fairly straight forward process. I knew I wanted a more whimsical design rather than a neutral colored, more crisp one. This led me to artists like Dr. Seuss, Vincent Van Gogh, and Antoni Gaudí. Although I love Dr. Seuss’ work, I struggled to wrap my head around how I’d integrate that into a design. Vincent Van Gogh focused more on 2D paintings, and while they’re some of my favorites, it was also difficult to picture how to apply his artistic style to some physical structure. Upon researching Gaudí, and more specifically his design of Casa Batlló, I was captivated by it’s style. Figures 3 and 4 show the main look I was trying to capture in my project.

                                               

                                         [5] Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night                                              [6] Painted Record Example

Although I decided on the art nouveau aesthetic, I couldn’t shake my desire to incorporate Van Gogh’s artistry into my piece. To do this, I plan to paint the record I’ll have spinning on top of my project based on Van Gogh’s style (likely either after his painting, Sunflowers or Starry Night [5]). I’ve yet to complete this aspect of my project, so my inspiration may change, but hope to have it completed in time for the design expo.

 

Besides fitting my desired aesthetic, I also wanted to ensure that my project would functionally appear to work like a normal record player. I wanted there to be crisp audio, as well as appearing to have all other features you’d typically find on a record player. This includes a rotatable tonearm (the needle arm that reads the record) and a platter (the plate that holds and spins the record). On top of that, I wanted the record to spin at the appropriate rate of 33 1/3 RPMs. All in all, at a short glance, I would want someone to think this is a normal record player.

[7] Initial Design Sketches

Based on the design requirements I set for myself, I came up with initial sketches to detail this design (figure 7). As shown above, I wanted to match the pattern shown in figure 3 of the front of the Casa Batlló on the sides of my record player, and I wanted to replicate the spiraling pattern of the ceiling (shown in figure 4) on top of the record player. Something I struggled to decide on was if I should put the speaker facing out the front, or if I should have the speaker face the bottom. Ultimately, I chose to have the speaker face the bottom to limit any possible conflict with my aesthetic and the only viable speakers I could find with good audio and fit my dimensions had to lay flat.

[8] CAD Catastrophe

After creating my initial sketches, I began creating a design on SolidWorks. This proved to be the most difficult part of the project. I chose to use SolidWorks to design my project because it’s the software I have the most experience with, and allows for easy 3D printing (the way I chose to manufacture my project). However, besides fairly simple geometries, I had never tried creating such a complex, organically shaped design. To go about this, I attempted to make use of SolidWorks’ 3D sketches and surface features. Unfortunately, not many people use SolidWorks’ surface features, so when I hit roadblocks (and I hit many roadblocks), it was difficult to get help (see figure 8). Fortunately, I was able to work around the errors SolidWorks threw at me, and came to a completed design.

                

                                   [9] CAD Assembly Exterior                                                                   [10] CAD Assembly Interior

As shown in the figures above, I believe I successfully transferred my initial design sketches into a 3D model. I’m very happy with the organic shaping I was able to create and am proud of how much experience I gained while modeling my project out. Besides getting the general structure set, once my components started to arrive (electronics and speaker), I had to measure the motor and speaker to make sure they’d properly be mounted in the record player. To do this, I created a snap in motor mount that restricts the motor from rotating, while allowing it to be removable and have access to other electronics. I was very proud of this design, I hadn’t ever designed 3D printed components to interface with each other, let alone with a removable, snap in connection, so I was very pleased with how it turned out. For the speaker, I created a cut out where the speaker would sit as well as adding gaps at the front of the speaker to allow for on/off and volume buttons to be pressed, and at the back to allow for a charging cable to be connected. I also added feet to elevate the record player off the surface it’s resting on (to allow for the speaker audio to come through), and created connection points for the rotatable platter and tonearm. The last challenge with my 3D modeling was getting it prepared for printing. Due to size limitations of the 3D printers I had access to, I had to split my project into 12 sections. Each section would take between 10-20 hours to print, and had to have some connection to one another. Taking into account tolerancing of connection points, my model was finally ready to print.

 

The printing process was fairly arduous. I chose 3D printing based on it’s capability to create a rapid prototype of complex parts, however was worried that the layer lines would make for a poor surface finish, and go against my aesthetic. Initially, I printed everything in an orientation that reduced support material and print time, however, I realized that if I printed my segments in a different orientation, I could get a better surface finish. I also encountered issues of poor naming convention (I accidentally printed a few components twice), failed prints, and breaking components. On top of that, there were a few parts I needed to remodel after finding issues with their design. All of these issues, combined with struggling to find printer availability led to my project getting delayed.

[11] Project Assembly

After a few rounds of printing as well as some sanding to make sure the segments fit together, I finally assembled my complete design (see featured image or figure 11). Overall, I am very happy with how this turned out. I think I modeled after art nouveau and Gaudí‘s Casa Batlló very well, and I’m happy with parts where I took more creative liberty (like the tonearm). Functionally, the speaker is still able to produce good audio even though it is close to the surface the record player rests on, the tonearm is able to be rotated into its appropriate position, and the record itself successfully spins.

Reflecting on my project, there are a few changes I would like to make going forward (many of which I hope to include before project expo). First of which, is fixing the spin rate of the record. Although my electronics allow for speed control of the record, the gearbox ratio is not high enough to produce enough torque at lower speeds. Right now, the DC motor is spinning too fast, and when it is slower, it doesn’t produce enough torque to steadily rotate the record. To rectify this issue, I’ve ordered a new motor that is designed for high torque at a low spin rate. I’ll then tweak my motor mounting component and platter to work properly with the new motor. My next priority is to paint the vinyl record I will be having spin on top. I think this will help bring the project together since the design is meant to be artistic rather than an actual functional record player. I’ll be painting over some old scratched out recycled records I got from the Paradise Record store. The only other change I’ve considered making is spray painting the whole project. What are your thoughts on this choice? I’m not sure what color I would do, but I have received a lot of positive feedback with keeping the random segmented colors as I have them now.

Overall, I had a great experience putting this project together and am happy with how it turned out!

 

Citations:

[1] Photographed by me

[2] Photographed by me

[3] Valérie, 2020, https://barcelona-top-travel-tips.com/guided-tour-gaudi-modernism/

[4] Dan Blystone, 2025, https://barcelonanavigator.com/gaudi-buildings-in-barcelona/\

[5] Wikipedia, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starry_Night

[6] Bittersweet Canvas, 2025, https://bittersweetcanvas.com/products/lake-tahoe-vinyl-painting

[7] Drawn by me

[8] Photographed by me

[9] Designed by me

[10] Designed by me

[11] Photographed by me