Mar 23, 2017 | By Tess
Jamiroquai fans will already be familiar with the British band’s latest track, "Automaton," which dropped in January. What fans might not know is that the light-up headpiece worn by frontman Jay Kay in the song's music video was actually 3D printed. Virtual insanity? Hardly.
Made by London-based designer Moritz Waldemeyer, the 3D printed headpiece was specially designed for Jay Kay, and was inspired by pangolin scales. Jay Kay, who is known to wear some pretty elaborate headgear, dons the 3D printed light-up helmet as he walks through darkened corridors and underground tunnels and emerges onto a sun-kissed beach.
Apparently, it was Jay Kay himself who suggested using the pangolin (a scaled mammal) as inspiration for the headpiece’s design, and Waldemeyer combined the natural aesthetic with a futuristic light-up feature. The result is a moving, color-changing, and illuminated scaled helmet. As Waldemeyer said in an interview, “The starting point for inspiration that Jay Kay gave us was the pangolin. Not only did it capture his imagination as an endangered species, also the scale patterns offered a great starting point aesthetically.”
The headpiece featured in the music video is made up of individual 3D printed scales, each of which is motorized and has an embedded LED pixel. When assembled, the scales give off an almost rippling effect, as the colors of light changes and the scales move. As the designer says, the overall effect, achieved by individually controlling the angle and light of each scale, is evocative of the wearer’s nervous system being externally visualized.
In designing the helmet, Waldmeyer, his team, and Jay Kay worked together with a parametric model of the headpiece. Using parametric design software, they were able to alter, tweak, and redesign the helmet in real time, changing the number of scales, their size, angle, and more.
German-born Waldemeyer, who has worked alongside such illustrious artists as Ellie Goulding, U2’s Bono, and Ok Go, said that his collaboration with Jamiroquai has been one of the highlights of his career. "This tool made the process one of the most satisfying and constructive design collaborations with a client that we ever had in the studio," he said. "The software tool and the fact that we would go to the pub in his vintage Ferraris.” Jay Kay, of course, is known for his extravagant collection of luxury and sports cars, including the world’s only bright green Ferrari LaFerrari.
To see the illuminated 3D printed headpiece in all its glory, check out Jamiroquai’s Automaton music video:
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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Lord D. simmons wrote at 3/29/2017 4:48:34 PM:
Where can I buy such a wonderful head piece
earth2willi wrote at 3/23/2017 10:32:25 PM:
Wow!
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