February 22, 2016 — Comments are off for this post.

UPDATE: Kubra Khademi Wearing The Pendant She Inspired

This past weekend I got some really great photos from Kubra via social media.

An art piece is gifted to me from US by #JoyComplex @JoyComplex merci beaucoup pic.twitter.com/Q6G1ckA06V

— kubra khademi (@kubrakhademi1) February 20, 2016

@JoyComplex An art piece is gifted to me from US by #JoyComplex merci beaucoup pic.twitter.com/WNx87oK04A

— kubra khademi (@kubrakhademi1) February 20, 2016

When she contacted me late last year letting me know that she had seen the pendant I created inspired by her Armor I immediately offered to send her a pendant. She received it and had a friend take some photos of her with it on.

I'm so gratified that she has this pendant. I'm also happy that she is safe in Paris after she had to go into hiding following her walk wearing her armor in Kabul.

We live in a sad and uplifting world.

Hopefully through changes big and small and with strong brave people like Kubra leading the way, we can turn the world into an even more uplifting place.

I also received this wonderful photo from Carolin Gutt.

Carolin walks with @kubrakhademi1! Each sale supports @WAWHumanRights! #WomenNotObjects https://t.co/vchJko9pT7 pic.twitter.com/YSDVToWaHZ

— Joy Complex (@JoyComplex) February 19, 2016

One more person is out there in the world walking with Kubra. Small things, even small things like a pendant, can have ripple effects. Let's change the world one small step at a time!

Published by The Owner in Announcements

Tags: Kubra Khademi

February 11, 2016 — Comments are off for this post.

3D Printed Paperweight Of The Gravitational Waves Detected By LIGO!

LIGO Detected Gravitational Waves from Black Holes . . .

Obverse and reverse of the LIGO inspired paperweight

. . . so I decided to make this paperweight to commemorate the birth of Gravitational Wave Astronomy!

It features a stylized representation of LIGO Hanford on the obverse and LIGO Livingston on the reverse with the ACTUAL chirp pattern of gravitational waves detected by each facility.

To make this memento of the historic event (that physicists are rightfully freaking out about) I decided to adapt the technique I use to 3D print sound waves on steel dog tags. First I located and isolated the wave forms from the publicly released audio conversion of the gravitational waves detected by LIGO.

I took that information and created a 3D model of the wave forms. Then I went on google maps and searched for an arial view of the two LIGO facilities and made a 3D model that would represent them accurately. I discovered that the facilities look exactly the same! That gave me the idea to put each on one side of the paperweight along with the "chirp" they detected.

I think the perfect material for these paperweights is steel. It is supposed to be able to weigh down paper! Unfortunately, it takes about 14 days to print these in metal so I created some renders to show what the paperweight would look like.

It is currently available on the 3D printing marketplace Shapeways.

Published by The Owner in Uncategorized

Tags: Einstein, Gravitational Waves, LIGO, Physics

January 14, 2016 — Comments are off for this post.

Design Rant: Rear Wiper Blades

2016 Cadillac Escalade with puny rear wiper

I was driving the other day and this giant SUV raced past me to get to the back of a line of cars stopped at a red light. Surprisingly, it wasn't the driving that irked me.

It was the tiny wiper blade.

The 2016 Cadillac Escalade is a $70,000+ luxury vehicle. Why is it that the engineers/designers can’t make a rear wiper blade arm that cleans more than 1/4 of the rear window?

2016 escalade dimensions

That window is around 66” x 24” which is an area of 1584 in². So when it’s raining or when there’s snow and there’s all that salt and gunk on the window, it cleans a spot roughly the size of a dinner placemat. It also looks stupid.

Here's 25% of the Cadillac logo during winter if it were going to be cleaned by the rear wiper blade.

Cadillac-25%logo

That’s a big vehicle! I would think you’d want to be able to see through the back, even with the advent of backup cameras and collision detection and all that other stuff.

GM isn’t alone in this but they seem to always put the tiniest rear wiper blades on the biggest vehicles.

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windscreen_wiper

Why not use something similar to the eccentric arc system that you used to see Mercedes use on the front windscreen but deploy it on the back? Seems to me that with the number of these things on the road that the manufacturers could get the price down to something competitive.

And they could promote it as a safety feature.

END of RANT

Published by The Owner in Product Reviews

Tags: automobiles, design rant

December 15, 2015 — Comments are off for this post.

Sound Wave Ring From a Voice Mail Message

A Voice Mail to a Silver Sound Wave Ring

sound wave ring

I have turned many sound waves into all sorts of jewelry designs. Sound wave rings, bracelets, keychains, and one of my most popular designs are dog tags. Each one is special to me, however, every so often I get a request that is a little bit extra special.

A young woman named Kate reached out to me wondering if I could transform a voicemail into a piece of sound wave jewelry.

I would like to have the sound waves of a voicemail my grandpa used to always leave me when he called. He just passed away in December and I would love to have the memory with me all the time. I look forward to hearing back from you if you could do this for me.

This request was so touching and I knew that the design would have so much meaning. I immediately asked for the audio recording so I could get to work.

Basic Audio Wave Form Outline

We discussed turning it into a bracelet or a ring. Eventually the idea for turning it into a ring won out. I created a render of the design so Kate could get a good idea of what the ring would look like when complete.

Sound Wave Ring Render

Once the design was approved, I had the ring cast in sterling silver and polished to a mirror sheen. The shine would be tremendous but the polish would also soften the edges of the wave form and ensure that the ring was comfortable to wear.

Kate was very pleased with the result.

Just wanted to show you how amazing this is... Opened it with my mom and we were both amazed. So well crafted and super shiny. I can tell you it fits perfectly and is so comfy - no poking edges!!! Pictures do not even show the true beauty. Thank you SO much! I'm beyond happy!

Best,

Kate

I'm always gratified when I can turn a special message into a treasured piece of jewelry for someone. To know that my work has so much meaning for someone, well, it gives me meaning.

Thank you Kate.

If you would like a custom piece of jewelry designed for you, feel free to contact me.

Published by The Owner in Uncategorized

Tags: sound wave ring