Dec 8, 2015 | By Alec
All images credit: Asia Morris/Long Beach Post
While we’ve seen numerous examples of unusual, inspiring and even groundbreaking 3D printed art before, who says that more formal, traditional pieces can’t also be made with a 3D printer? The city of Long Beach in California will be engaging in a formal honoring ceremony for three of its residents, who will presented a key to the city. Nothing unusual there, except that these keys are the result of a year-long design process packed with 3D printing to produce the most beautiful ornamental keys you’ve ever seen.
The ceremony will take place today, in which mayor Robert Garcia will present the keys to Former Governor George Deukmejian, his wife philanthropist Gloria Deukmejian and former LBUSD Board President Bobbie Smith. While their services are doubtlessly admirable, we are especially interested in these remarkable keys, that have been developed by a team of five local innovative creators.
The design process for these keys bean in January of this year, when DW Ferrel of MADE was approached to gather a team to design some trophy keys that, for a change, don’t look like cheap made-in-Taiwan piles of metal. ‘With our thrust for innovation and increasing local skilled jobs, this did not represent the ethic we stand for in Long Beach,’ said Ferrell. ‘[The mayor] wanted to honor local leaders and international leaders alike with a symbol that embodies Long Beach, and the city already had trophy keys from a previous administration, but they were not made in the U.S. and did not reflect our focus on local innovation,’ he tells reporters.
Local designers David Hedden (3D printing Faculty Lecturer at CSULB and specialist at the local MakerSpace) and Gabriel Gaete (Graphic Designer) were brought onto the team to work on a set of kets that embodied the city’s entire identity. ‘This was a high challenge and the great results of their efforts are obvious in the new Key to Long Beach,’ said Ferrell. For two months, they worked on a variety of ideas that captured that personality and diversity. ‘We wanted to make [the design] symbolic of the diversity of Long Beach, some of the things that have built us up to where we are, but then also the vision of where we might be going,’Hedden told the Long Beach Post.
Through this lengthy design process, they arrived at a series of references to history, local landmarks and the innovating, environmentally friendly, shipping oriented nature of the city. ‘[It’s] a vision of our future opportunity, viewed through the lense of our past achievements,’ they say of the final concept. ‘My first thought was that civic symbols such as flags, emblems, keys to the city, are often taken for granted. But if they are designed with intent and skill they can become emblematic of a civic drive for good. My next thought was to highlight the mix of technology and art by 3D printing the master, then [cast] the keys in metal with traditional lost-wax casting,’ Gaete says.
The result are a gorgeous set of keys that convey a lot of messages simultaneously, without being too crowded. The sun’s rays represent all the city’s districts and the focus on sustainable energy, while local landmarks like The Queen Mary and the CSULB pyramid can all be seen. This was subsequently 3D printed at MakerSpace The Studio, where they tested eight different concepts in plastic. ‘We actually used three different CAD software[s] to make this key because SketchUp got us the concepts and then Gabe took it into 3D Studio Max to make the refined version. When we needed to work with the jeweler who would 3D print it in the castable resin we had to use a different software, so we built it three times, once [using] each software,’ said Hedden.
The final 3D printed model was turned into a wax master, and was cast in Bronze by Sherry Ray-Von in Long Beach – who was happy to work on such a prestigious local project. ‘It’s a footprint, I think, and it’s a good footprint. And for me, just landing in this space and being able to utilize it in this way, the first big project, means so much to me. Because leasing this space has meant that I’m staying. It meant that Long Beach is my home,’ she says.
The result are some gorgeous keys that are not only a tribute to 3D printed art , but also to the city of Long Beach – and the mayor was very pleased. ‘I'm incredibly proud these keys were designed and crafted by local Long Beach artists and designers,’ he said. ‘It was important to me that the keys reflect the creativity of our city and that each key was special enough to reflect the amazing people receiving them.’ Do we need more proof that 3D printed art is reaching the mainstream?
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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