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derbysilkmill · 4 years ago

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HEGEL’S TROWEL: working on the thing

Making changes everything. Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality

Soul is extra-scientific, outside of science, we will allow no scientific disproof of it. Maulana Karenga, Practice: Documents of Contemporary Art

Locked down by government guidelines designed to increase social distancing, the ��gap between oneself and the other, a space that can stop cross infection between us all, meant spending time watching the television. The daily BBC update reported how many more bodies have been, are still being, destroyed or attacked from the deadly Covid-19 virus. It might not be surprising then with so much biological and existential demolition on the go that I found myself watching TV programming to do with restoration and making things: Salvage Hunters, Escape to the Chateau DIY, Secrets of the Museum, The Restoration of Notre- Dame Cathedral. Kirsty Alsop reckons these days we should Keep Crafting and Carry on; making things as a form of therapy. The Repair Shop is a phenomena with craft experts restoring material stuff to how it was. Grayson Perry promoted art, and artisan making – he is a potter - as a great healer: ‘we are all wounded’ he said on channel four. Before the outbreak of this new threat to life I was working up this small general piece about the transformational potential of creative activity, in the main, making.

Lisa Tarbuck, was talking on radio 2. She’s a media celebrity and a fan of making things. Super mentioning a piece of weaving or needlework she’d completed that day, she told her Saturday night audience: ‘I just couldn’t stop bloomin’ looking at it…know wot I mean…? An old friend told me recently that I just had to get hold of a copy of Mathew Crawford’s The Case for Working with Your Hands (2011). He, the old friend, was the studio furniture designer-maker when I worked with him at Detail London; a young furniture makers. Together, we made bespoke furniture (for a beautiful stylish wealthy cool consuming clientele). Nowadays he works in academia, writing and lecturing to students about craft and making. His research has interrogated how human well-being is affected by undertaking craft activities, particular recreational making done by amateur practitioners. Crawford writes about well-being, too. The subtitle of his study is: or why office work is bad for us and fixing things feels good. In a recent email exchange the furniture designer turned academic communicated that he looked back with fondness to his making days. Perhaps with ‘rose-tinted glasses’ he qualified.

There is a growing group of western intellectuals who today theorise and promote the idea that there is a definite connection between the processes undertaken when crafting things from raw materials and human well-being. Often slow and protracted, acts of physical making are, they generally posit, a valid source and resource to increase self-esteem. Existential events such as technically planning how to make something from scratch, the selecting of appropriate materials, development and deployment of hand skills, constructing structures to a set standard, finishing worked-on material, just being in a practical workshop in extended time and space, are inter alia physically, intellectually, emotionally good for human life. Teaching craft skills in adult education and community workshop settings I have witnessed diverse learner makers achieve remarkable personal satisfaction, and that allied well-being a craft cognoscenti rightly identify, in going through the technical and material processes when constructing any crafted object. Contra this supra ideal of process, quotidian workshop life reveals that, in reality, it is not only the extended making of the final object that is beneficent to the maker of this newly-present thing – the temporal spatial physical crafting and grafting - but the now-made self-styled object- the present thing in itself the maker has made.

At the currently closed-for-restoration Silk Mill (soon to be transformed/remade as The Museum of Making) interested visitors come to Derby for a look around the modern workshop housed in the ‘world’s-first-factory’. Generally, but not always, these people are museum professionals, culture workers, creative artists or social activists. Nearly all are interested in delivering well-being because it matters. I like talking to these folks, often desk-bound and definitively (unavoidably?) over-digitalised in their daily office lives, they take a genuine interest in the practical making a workshop allows – the working we do with our hands - activities they see as critical to human holistic well-being. Sometime ago our executive director at Derby Museums was in the workshop standing by our CNC, talking with me. Next to Tony stood one of the inquisitive visitors; an interested (and interesting to me) culture-industry professional. Inevitably, the conversation made its way to mentions of well-being. I told them both how I see people who often do symbolically distinguished, but atomised or abstract, work -- practices with often unquantifiable or subjective outcomes (the negative work Crawford describes) -- come to a fresh and solider understanding of themselves after constructing a materially tangible piece of furniture out of plywood or turning out a curvy bowl from a rough brute blank of oak. Stood next to the idled CNC I remember saying something like this:

“In my working life I come across a lot of people who do highly complex engineering, but in a rather abstract or theoretical way, or others who live in a digital bubble I call ‘computer world’, modelling AutoCAD perfection but never getting to actually see or touch any material outcomes or be involved in making something from start to finish by their own hands… But when people make something here in the workshop they objectify themselves…….as they say “no one has ever taken a picture of the unconscious…or seen a picture of the self ”.

There followed a sort of embarrassed silence. Then inscrutable nods and smiles from the Executive Director and his guest. Then a “well thanks for that Steve….” -- as they left the workshop.

Specifically, a proud plagiarist, I had, of course, synthesized the ideas of literary critic Terry Eagleton and Arts and Craft sculptor Eric Gill. Generally speaking, I had just paraphrased a few ideas of the well-known German philosopher GWF Hegel (1770-1831) -- ideas lifted from the undecipherable, but well known, Phenomenology of Mind (1807).

Well, to be more honest, I was paraphrasing Alexandre Kojève’s partially more decipherable Introduction to the Reading of Hegel. Compiled from Kojève’s lecture notes, and first published in 1969, the cult text explains Hegel’s theory of the dialectical (constant changing) progress of human history, in particular his well-known concept of the ‘Master and Slave’ conflict – the transformative phylogenetic and ontogenetic dialectic. For me the key passage in Introduction is how the text unmakes and then reconstitutes Hegel’s brutal concept of The Thing – raw given objective nature as unshaped material object – and how non-human Things (slaves/workers/makers) become Human. i.e. transform their selfhood from a raw physiological primordial brute unthinking thing by working on another thing (raw brute unshaped material reality – wood, stone, metal, wool, cotton, clay) and making it or, a key word, transforming it (as of themselves) - into something it wasn’t before, in its un-worked material given existence in the world, for another: The Master.

This is the actual Hegelian (Kojèvian) paragraph that refers to the experience of the creating maker- slave who makes for, and in place of, the consumer master:

‘The slave can work for the Master – that is, for another other than himself…he does not destroy the thing as it is given. He postpones the destruction of the thing by first trans-forming it through work; he prepares it for consumption-that is to say, he “forms” it. In his work, he trans-forms things and trans-forms himself at the same time: he forms things and the World by transforming himself, by educating himself; and he educates himself, he forms himself, by transforming things and the World. Thus, the negative-or-negating relation to the object becomes a form of this object and gains permanence, precisely because, for the worker, the object has autonomy. At the same time, the negative-or-negating middle-term—i.e., the forming activity [of work] – is the isolated particularity or the pure Being-for-itself of the Consciousness. And this Being-for-itself, through work, now passes into what is outside of the Consciousness, into the element of permanence. The working Consciousness thereby attains a contemplation of autonomous given-being such that it contemplates itself in it. [The product of work is the worker’s production. It is the realisation of his project, of his idea; hence, it is he that is realised in and by this product, and consequently he contemplates himself when he contemplates it. Now, this artificial product is at the same time just as “autonomous,” just as objective, just as independent of man, as is the natural thing. Therefore, it is by work, and only by work, that man realises himself objectively as man. Only after producing an artificial object is man himself really and objectively more than and different from a natural being; and only in this real and objective product does he become truly conscious of his subjective human reality. Therefore, it is only by work that man is a supernatural being that is conscious of its reality; by working, he is “incarnated” Spirit, he is historical “World”, he is “objectivised” History.’

Kojève concludes in the Intro that the dead German idealist philosopher (Hegel) ‘may well know much more than we do about things we need to know’.

Interestingly, a former US academic/intellectual, Crawford (he worked in a Washington ‘think tank’ before quitting to run a motorcycle repair shop) uses the same quote in his book The Case For Working With Your Hands – but misleadingly attributes the quote to the Kojève. Folksy Crawford expresses Hegel’s idea in a more homespun pragmatic manner, as is the way of practical American philosophy: ‘The satisfaction of manifesting oneself concretely in the world through manual competence has been known to make a man quiet and easy…he is proud of what has been made’

Crawford writes about a kind of ‘self-disclosing’ latent in creativity, work and making.Concurring with Crawford and Hegel the sociologist Richard Sennet in his study The Craftsman, rites about ‘the warm values of craft and creativity’ and a ‘zesty freedom crucial to well-being of society’.

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I worked for a time in a comprehensive school. The head of Design and Technology – a former skilled industrial toolmaker – had had the foresight not to sell off the capstan lathes, milling machines, welding kit, old-school woodwork benches and traditional hand tools bought and installed in the 1970s.

Painted out in dull lemon yellow, orthodox (vintage) wood-machinery apple green, the Design &Technology workshops looked like the past and so still played their part in 21st century life. You could smell old machine oil in the cold metal machines, bashed-up blue vices fitted to weathered beech workstations exuded a residual making aura. When the lathes were set running, rasping files shaped steel, sharp planes flattened pine, the space sounded like a real live workshop in the (ontogenetic) now, yet echoing the making culture of a phylogenetic past. In America, Crawford tells us that technical making and design is simply called ‘shop class’, or more accurately was called shop class because he bleakly observes, akin to the collapse of technical skills education in Britain, since the early 90s educational institutions have instituted a ‘big push’ to close shop class to open up digital and computer literacy. Any revival of shop class today is hindered for Crawford by the lack of skilled people competent to revive technical crafts and making in general.

Frustrated by the British school drift to digital D&T practices, a virtual curriculum (there is now virtual welding), and driven on by a shared ‘it wasn’t all computers in our day’ narcissistic nostalgia (manifested in everyday miserableness), me and the old toolmaker got our heads together and came up with project which harked back to the days of secondary-modern craft lessons in wood and metalwork; the saved machines made the scene believable.

It was only a small pot-planting trowel. It was made out of aluminium and wood. From tip to tip 200mm long. It had a curved blade and the cranked arm was cold-riveted to the blade in a traditional blacksmithing style; the students used ballpein hammers clanging metal on the workshop’s under-loved anvil. On the once-busy but no-longer-silent lathes we put a sharp point on the 6mm round bar that made the stem from handle to blade helping drive it into the softer wooden trowel handle. The serpentine bends were created on a small Groz metal folder designed for DIY artisan metalworkers. The hardwood handle was shaped with a selection of rough round and flat cutting rasps, before being sanded, with care, by glass-paper. The blade was formed with aero-industry tin snips before being worked into a symmetrical curve with metal files. To work the flat sheet aluminium into the required radius of the blade it was fed several passes through a small jewellery rolling machine – sort of a washing mangle meets pasta machine. The trowel looked impressive when made. Three hundred students made one. The test of success is always if young makers want to take what they make home to show to someone who they care cares; most did. They had worked on the thing, objectified themselves, could contemplate themselves in itself, the small trowel, a trowel designed to be used, a tool to work on the thing, transforming nature as soil to wit.

The now fired up ex-toolmaker pointed out to me that, before we could roll out the trowel project to the students, the NQTs (Newly Qualified Teachers) in the D&T department – the electronic, digital, laser engraving, 3D printing makers – and ESWs, (Educational Support Workers) who would assist students, had to be quickly trained up in the basic craft and hand skills required to create, then teach, the trowel. They would need teaching the basic historical making techniques for working on the thing.

We arranged an ‘after-school’ instruction session in the workshop classroom. Everyone arrived looking harassed with a mug of tea or coffee/mug of hot water; offered the usual banter; male teachers removed ties; everyone put on an apron. Each participant got a set of stock blanks: a length of aluminium bar, 150mm x 6mm ø; a rectangle of sheet aluminium, 1mm x 75mm x 120mm; a section of hardwood (beech, oak, ash, reclaimed teak or mahogany), 100mm x 25mm▫. The first task was to make a two-dimensional template – using 5mm graph card folded in half along a continuous grid line – to mark out the tapering and curved profile of the trowel’s blade. Sketching freehand they used the graph-paper squares for visual guidance. The pencilled line was cut with scissors and the pattern unfolded to reveal a symmetrical, if rough, outline. The next step was to show the trowel-makers how to transfer the profile, geometrically square, onto the shiny cropped aluminium by using a scribed (accurately-marked) centre line to align the centrefold of the paper along, thus ensuring the blade sat true, i.e. at 90° to the square back edge.

A metal scriber was then used to carefully score a visible line around the flimsy paper template into the soft aluminium. The workshop was quiet except for the soft ringing sound of metal on wood benchtop as, in deep concentration, teaching-staff students guided the hardened and sharpened steel marking tool around the curved card onto the aluminium.

(Still you could hear some light jokey banter, but of a kind, collaborative, encouraging type of joshing – ‘phatic’ communication, some dead continental philosopher of language would say.)

Aluminium can be cut easily - as card with scissors - when using inexpensive aero-industry shearing snips. Commonly used in hand tin-smith work and light commercial bespoke production these tools are designed to cut straight or with a left or right hand bias. (They are colour coded red, green and yellow and a good workshop needs the full set – an additional long-nosed straight-cutting pair is a great help for occasional extended profile cutting or internal corners.) I demonstrated how to cut the aluminium in short snips, neatly following the scribed line, shearing the material slowly and deftly the snips making the waste (swarf) curl upwards, away from the desired external blade line.

It was pointed out to the teacher-students that - novice maker or proficient craftsman - it is generally best practice when cutting stock materials to work ‘outside the line’ leaving a small margin of material for cleaning up post-cutting. Dead flat with fine teeth, hard because made from steel, metal-working files were used to remove the extraneous rough cut metal to the scribed line, scored into the aluminium, demarking the required final recognisable trowel-blade profile. Filing produces sharp burrs on metal which, in this instance, were removed with industrial emery paper. The blade smooth and symmetrical was now ready for the students to roll.

Metal rolling is the same process for a fine silver ring as a thick-walled boiler rolled out from, as it happens, 25 mm boiler plate. Basically, thin or thick factory-milled metal plate is passed through two calibrated parallel rollers which are adjusted to the required gauge of the material to be rolled. Sprung under high tension the front bars force the metal sheet towards a single back roller which is set higher than the underside of the passing steel or, in our case, aluminium. The metal is malleable and -- forced to climb over the higher spinning back roller -- begins to take on the required radius of the part required. This might be a shallow curve as the trowel needs, or a full circle, as in a delicate silver ring or a high pressure vessel such as a boiler whereby the seam is soldered or welded together and ground back. We were using a small jewellery-maker’s bench roller - no more than 300 mm in width - but the radius-forming mechanical principal remains the same.

Operating a bench metal roller is, as I sort of said before, a bit like passing dough through a pasta machine. But instead of making the metal thinner per pass – which, as is well known, is how the metal plate was produced in the forging mill in the first phase of ‘thing working’ - the radius is increased; the careful gradual adjustment – the increased un-alignment of the roller - in small increments forms the aluminium into the practical, and aesthetically pleasant crescent wanted. Students checked the curvature against a small accurate plywood template. They had to make three to four adjustments.

Before forming the 6mm bar into the distinctive kinked component joining the wooden handle to the blade of the trowel, it was necessary at this stage to turn a sharp point on the aluminium that would allow the bar to be driven into the end grain of the timber. The stock piece of rod was placed in a three-jaw chuck screwed onto the turning stock of one of the neglected Colchester lathes in the workshop, and the traverse tool slider bed set at 5°; a shallow machining angle, but correct for this operation. Each operative was informed of which was the correct tool to use for this operation – left hand cutting tool - and shown how to clamp and set the tool in the lathe tool holder to the dead-centre of the lathe and therefore the dead centre of the round stock material to achieve the optimum cutting angle and efficient waste removal. As a matter of maker education, head-stock turning-speed settings – coded in colour on the foundry-cast body of the Colchester – were demonstrated to, but set by, the learner turners.

The trowel project was designed/contrived to include several processes and employ a variety of tools and typical metalworking kit to introduce youngsters to some fundamental craft techniques and experience bench fitting, sheet metal working, capstan turning.

To secure the cranked arm to the blade two aluminium rivets were to be inserted through the stem and trowel blade and flattened into a pre-drilled countersunk hole so creating a secure fixing. But, the bar was round in section, so that only a small section of the stem would be in contact with the flattish blade. To achieve a better joint it was imperative, then, to flatten out the round bar by heating the end of the stem and bashing it while it was still plastic with heat, hammering it carefully into shape with a heavy ballpein hammer on the arm of a traditional forge anvil; a neat steer of the making process into the lost-world of blacksmithing.

(Hegel liked to walk in his home town of Heidelberg, and perhaps it was the sight of the town blacksmith toiling over a hot forge, hammering and twisting hot raw iron into shape, making some decorative gates for the local lordship, that inspired his ideas about masters and servants and the transformative effects of working on the thing? Today, most of us have seen similar images on TV: neo-blacksmiths heating metal in a forge until it glows orange-red with heat from the coals before working it to form, with that romantic ringing of hammer and anvil, before plunging the work into cold steaming water.)

The problem with aluminium is that, non-ferrous, it retains its silver-grey colour when heated, and, to boot, we didn’t have access to a traditional forge, but the old toolmaker had the answer. He produced a plumber’s Gaz blowtorch, “I nicked ‘im from construction cupboard”, and some Fairy Liquid. Go on then, he said, smirking, what’s the Washing-up liquid for? I put my bottom lip out, shrugged with a laugh, and said I had no idea. “Ally don’t glow”. “Oh…I see” I said. “Detergent turns black when metal’s ‘ot enuff…then you can work it on anvil…simple” he grabbed the collar of his white smock with both hands and gave them a tug, before firing up the blowtorch. I passed this tip on to the NQTs and ESWs before they flattened their trowel stems.

In old-school black and white ink, a technical drawing indicated to the trowel-makers where on the straight length of aluminium bar marks needed to be made to indicate where the handle section should be placed in the trapping tongue - moved by a simple rack gear - of the Groz bender. The top of the tooling was also marked ‘clock –face’ style to show how far the tommy bar handle should be moved (from 12 to 4 say) and so work the soft rod into the flattened S shaped crank required of the finished component. The makers were having fun using the different kit, especially, the Groz, - they became absorbed in the basic but fundamental metal-forming processes and traditional manufacturing techniques introduced to them - but had to fully concentrate on ensuring that the two bends were executed in the same plane of orientation to avoid twisting the stalk of the cranked trowel stem or out of line with the flattened riveted section.

[ The Groz metal bender is itself a thing – converted and worked and cast from material nature (mined raw iron ore -- made into steel and machine processed) - made by things – humanised thing makers (engineers) - to make small springs, fixing clips and rings - things for other things; tools, machine parts, which in their bending, twisting and forming offer a thing maker chance to transcend its objective thingness in working on this metal material stuff, and objectify its subjective self through the final thing made, which in the case of machinery and tools may make other things and so on. Such as clips on a motorcycle in for repair or customisation in Crawford’s American shop. ]

The cranked bar was then set in a machine vice on the pillar drill, and a 3mm hole was drilled to take the rivet stalk and slightly larger countersunk hole ( top side) into which the 3mm aluminium rivet stalk would, using a hammer and anvil, be flattened. The wider domed mushroom head of the round rivet traps the thin blade between the stem and blade. To avoid flattening the curvature of the rivet head a purpose-designed hollowed out steel tool -- an exact concaved inverse radius of the convex pip of the rivet fastening -- was used by the participants to protect it when hammering the soft aluminium into the bored out section on the reverse side. This was then also filed flat and finished smooth with emery paper. With this fine fettling the metal-working processes had been completed. Components had all been successfully marked out, cut, shaped, rolled and bent, riveted and finally filed into a recognisable small potting trowel. Everyone in the class (shop) looked dead pleased to have transformed the shapeless bits and pieces of metal into a tool that could be used; but they still had to make the handle out of wood.

In a small box were a selection of pre-cut handle blanks ready to be matched to the still-shiny trowel parts. There were short 25mm square sections of beech, ash, mahogany, maple, oak and reclaimed pine – all unwanted found offcuts lying around waiting to be made into something useful but beautiful. I explained how that the first task was to set out the curvature required of a rounded handle on the end sections. For example, a circle is created from a geometrically symmetrical combination of hexagonal flats filed at 45°, then refined further with 22.5° tangents which, if the section diameter was large enough, can be taken closer to a perfect mathematically round profile with 11.25° flats and so on, i.e. angles are halved until a finite circle is produced. People smile when I say a circle is made of infinite flats, but, in a way, it is.

The second operation was to drill a hole down the centre of the stock timber with a 6mm drill bit. The wood was set square in a vice on a pillar drill and a hole bored down its core to accommodate the aluminium.

To be honest with you, most of the teachers and ESWs went their own way, freestyling, shaping the wooden parts, integrating underside curves with small finger-shaped hand grips. After the tight discipline of the metal techniques, finishing of the handles with spoke-shaves and rough-sharp rasps into vernacular crafted forms offered the makers a sort of soft therapeutic warm-down. The workshop took on a quieter woody �� less hard metallic - aspect; a fresh atmospheric with the room infused by the aroma of the freshly worked old dead growing thing: the trees.

The organic-looking handles were finished with glass paper, students instructed in how to work from the roughing grades, 60 grit through to 100 grit, fining down to 240 flour paper. The job was finished by oiling the timber with Danish oil which brings out the light and shade and twisting lines of wood grain; sealing the material from moisture, and ultimate rotting. The final operation was to cement the riveted trowel section into the completed handle with a small dob of epoxy resin adhesive and stand back and admire; take in what had been achieved in a short after-school making session.

We stood around chatting. People said they’d loved making something. One said it had de-stressed him. Another couldn’t wait to take it home to show others. Some said nothing, but admired their handiwork. A few critiqued their own trowel, then complimented other’s workmanship. Phone cameras came into play. After we all packed away and tidied the workshop up ready for the next D&T school day – vacuum forming plastic bugs for students to stick googly eyes onto – everybody rushed out of the door to get home for tea. But one person hung back. She said to me ‘I’ve really enjoyed making this. Being in the workshop was just what I needed’. Good, I thought, and said ‘I’m glad’. She said ‘No more than that Steve…I needed this’. She paused. Looked a bit upset. She told me she’d had a horrible day. Awful and terrible because she was in personal conflict with a co-worker. The situation was unbearable. The emotional pain almost tortuous, nearly breaking her, she reckoned. So upset, she just wanted to go home; get out of the place. She’d forced herself to stay on. But holding up the trowel said ‘I’m so glad I stuck it out – I’m dead proud of making this’. She waved about the trowel as if digging the earth. It might only be a small thing, she admitted, but the trowel had proved something, her soul was restored, she had something to use and show for herself. The Trowel project will feature in Museum of Making workshop programming 2021

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connorrenwick · 5 years ago

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Where I Work: Sarah Zames of General Assembly

Brooklyn-based General Assembly is an interior design and architecture studio founded in 2011 by architect Sarah Zames and partner Colin Steif. The practice focuses on ground up and full renovation projects, as well as designing lighting and furniture, with residential projects that span throughout New York state, from NYC boroughs to upstate and the Hamptons, and across the pond to London. General Assembly also offers interior consulting, styling and staging services. For this month’s Where I Work, we head to Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood to check in with Sarah Zames to see how and where she works.

What’s your studio/work environment like?

It’s a calm space that fluctuates between messy and clean, depending on where we are with deadlines. There is usually music playing, but otherwise pretty quiet. The light in the space is beautiful.

How is your space organized/arranged?

We have several different workspaces that I move between: my desk, a large shared work table and our materials library. We designed large custom desks for the space – Colin and I sit across from each other at one set, and then the other desk is shared by four people. Our space is designed to be flexible with regards to how many people are using it at any given time. We have periods where we have six or more in there, and then other stretches where it is just Colin and me.

How long have you been in this space? Where did you work before that?

My first office was a share in Williamsburg that was part of an exchange for services, then I moved to another shared artist space in Dumbo for about a year. I’ve been in this building for about seven years now, but I have moved within the building four times – each time trying to get a better spot with nicer light. I think we have officially taken the best spot in the building, so I plan on staying here for a while.

If you could change something about your workspace, what would it be?

I honestly don’t think I would change anything.

Is there an office pet?

No way. I get distracted enough already.

View from the office window in Gowanus

Do you require music in the background? If so, who are some favorites?

I like to put on a radio station like KUTX or KEXP and just keep it in the background.

How do you record ideas?

I write emails to myself. Usually around 5am.

Materials library

Do you have an inspiration board? What’s on it right now?

Our materials section has some shelving where we put some stone, fabrics, and woods that we want to make sure to keep in mind for future projects. It’s not really formal, just somewhere to put things so I don’t forget about it in a drawer. I’m also constantly making stacks of materials all over the office.

Materials library

What is your typical work style?

I work best in the early mornings and evenings, when emails aren’t coming in. I’m always getting better at it, but it’s difficult to switch gears between management and design. I live just a few blocks away from the studio, which makes it really easy to stop in on the weekend if I ever really have to get some focused work done. I have a toddler at home as well, so I don’t work late, and I don’t bring my work home with me.

What is your creative process and/or creative workflow like? Does it change every project or do you keep it the same?

I would say that my creative process works in repeating waves throughout a project – cycling between thinking, executing and refining. The wave gets wider or shorter depending on the nature of the project.

What kind of art/design/objects might you have scattered about the space?

We have a lot of plants. I usually purchase many plants for our photoshoots and let the homeowner keep what they want. Whatever they don’t want, I get to keep. There is a large Fiddle Head Fern tree that I have had for eight years, we call him Roger. We are always burning incense or sage, so you will find a lot of remnants of that around. There are of course a million samples of tile and stone everywhere. And books – I like to purchase at least one or two books every time I start a project. It’s important to step outside of Instagram and Pinterest when starting something new.

Kitchenette countertop

Are there tools and/or machinery in your space?

No. We have the basics, and then some random things from experiments with product design.

What tool(s) do you most enjoy using in the design process?

We like to do quick mockups of details, whenever possible. Just to get a sense of scale. For the most part, we use the computer, sketch and work with material samples.

Let’s talk about how you’re wired. Tell us about your tech arsenal/devices.

I wouldn’t say we are high tech. We all have a computer.

Storage/archives

What design software do you use, if any, and for what?

We use AutoCad for Mac for most of our work. We use the Adobe suite and Rhino when we are in presentation mode. I use a lot of trace paper when working through plans and layouts.

Partners desk (Sarah on the right, Colin on the left)

What’s on your desk right now?

A tray full of finish samples for a project we are just starting construction on. Plants. Trace paper, colored pencils, business cards, a scale, a small measuring tape, and some paperwork I need to review.

Shelter Island Pool House \\\ Photo Joe Fletcher

Is there a favorite project/piece you’ve worked on?

The pool house we did in Shelter Island a couple of years ago will always be a favorite for me because the scope of the project was so unique, and it was ground up construction.

London bathroom \\\ Photo: Chris Mottalini

We also recently finished a project in London that has a few amazing moments within it, like the bathroom which features some incredible marble. That project was just a blast to work on and made me realize that working abroad was certainly doable.

Upper West Side Penthouse currently under construction \\\ Photo: Chris Mottalini

Tell us about a current project you’re working on. What was the inspiration behind it?

I’m working on a beautiful project in the Penthouse of a historical building on the Upper West Side. It’s a dream building to work in, and the actual unit had sat disregarded for many years before we started work on it so it is a little like working within an abandoned site. We are just starting construction now, and I can’t wait to get further along. You can see photos of the existing conditions (before we started work) in Photos

Do you have anything in your home that you’ve designed/created?

I did a gut renovation of my apartment in Gowanus, so I guess the whole space is something I designed!

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2020/08/11/where-i-work-sarah-zames-of-general-assembly/

#Uncategorized

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structuralengineerlondon-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Why Should We Work With a Structural Engineer If We Want to Construct a Building?

There have been many cases when the structure of certain buildings did not resist to certain natural phenomena and huge disasters took place. Sometimes this happens because the materials which are used to build a structure are not so strong or if a building is too old.

This is why most companies hire structural engineers which have great skills and which can create safe structures.

So, if you want o put up a new building or you want o see if a building that you already have is still safe, you should search a structural engineering company which has good professionals in order to make sure that your structure is a safe one. The companies which offer structural engineering services have experts which can help people build stable and safe structures. Usually, all the employees who work in a structural engineering company are really well trained and have the necessary knowledge to design modern add safe structures. Companies hire the best professionals because they have a huge responsibility as we are speaking about hundreds of lives which might be in danger if these experts do not do their job properly. This is why the best people are hired in order to be able to provide the best structural engineering services: not only that they have the necessary knowledge in the filed, but they also have to attend certain trainings which are organized by the company. click to read more Structural engineer London

A structural engineer has to deal with the construction of a building from the beginning to the end, meaning that he has to draw all the schemes that are necessary in order to start the project, he has to make the design, he has to monitor the construction and in the end he has to verify if all the principles have been respected and f the client is satisfied with the results. A good engineer has to know certain computer programs in order to work fast and efficient: for the schemes and the designs that he needs to do he must use AutoCAD and he also has to work with a testing program in order to verify if the building is strong and safe.

In order to become a good engineer one has to attend certain structural engineering courses which help him improve his skills and help him advance in his career. This is why most of the engineers are real professional and they can give you the advice that you need and they can build strong structures like houses, office buildings, bridges and many other.

#Structural engineer London #Structural engineer Manchester #Structural engineer North Wales

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lucyariablog · 6 years ago

Text

What It Means to Get Branded Content Right

Whenever someone mentions the term “branded content,” my mind still drifts back to the original inspiration for my love of the technique: BMW’s The Hire.

The 2001 series consisted of eight online episodes, each featuring Clive Owen as “The Driver” – a mysterious man who fully commits to completing his assigned mission at all costs, taking viewers along for the ride. The films were directed by notable Hollywood pros like Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie, and Alejandro Iñárritu; they oozed style, sophistication, and Hollywood star power; and each told a compelling story of action and intrigue. But, more importantly from a content marketing perspective, each episode spoke volumes about the excitement and luxury of the BMW driving experience – without overtly mentioning anything about the brand or the vehicles themselves.

A lot has changed in digital marketing since BMW released The Hire; but the content approach it leveraged still holds plenty of power and possibility for businesses that want to capture audience attention and showcase their brand’s values without coming off as pitchy and promotional. In fact, with the technique’s influence growing over the years, we may have reached the point where branded content is the best vehicle marketers have for bridging the gap between initial awareness and ongoing affinity.

Branded content is the best vehicle for marketers to bridge the gap b/n awareness and affinity, says @joderama. Click To Tweet

In the name of brand love

To understand what branded content (also known as branded entertainment) entails, let’s start with a basic definition offered by the internet’s default dictionary, Wikipedia:

“Branded content is the practice of marketing via the creation of content that is funded or outright produced by an advertiser… (it is) designed to build awareness by associating (the brand) with content that shares its values.”

As definitions go, it’s a good start; but it doesn’t really get to the heart of what sets efforts like BMW’s The Hire apart from other forms of content marketing, let alone why 74.5% of communications professionals say they rely on branded content in their campaigns or why 67% project that their and/or their clients’ spending on branded content will increase over the next 12 months, according to a USC Annenberg survey.

74.5% of communication professionals rely on branded content. @USCAnnenberg ‏#research Click To Tweet

What makes this approach universally appealing – to viewers seeking a great story as well as businesses looking to enhance brand awareness? Look at some hallmarks of the technique (when executed properly):

They take an immersive, sensory-driven approach to storytelling: Branded content typically leverages multimedia formats like audio and video, which can enable deeper topical conversations and more emotionally resonant experiences than text and/or static images alone.

They build connections through mutual interests and shared values, not sales goals: Because these content pieces are often focused on establishing thought leadership, raising awareness, and generating positive brand perceptions, they are more likely to be viewed as worthy of the audience’s trust and attention as compared to more product- and pitch-driven formats like digital ads.

They make the experience entertaining, valuable, and memorable for viewers: Branded content campaigns excel when it comes to capturing audience interest, but they also are well-suited to contributing to lower-funnel goals. In fact, a recent study by Turner Ignite and Realeyes found they make viewers more likely to consider the featured brand when it comes time to make a purchase (compared to traditional 30-second ads).

Their potential for cross-channel distribution capabilities enables on-the-go engagement: It’s easy for brands to publish branded content campaigns across multiple social networks, owned media properties, and other external websites. And, because they are primarily audio- and video-driven, these efforts are well-suited for mobile consumption.

They present opportunities to collaborate with other high-profile brands: Co-producing stories with other businesses that share your values and interests makes it easier to gain much-needed traction among your partner’s established audience.

Ideally, branded content campaigns create marketing experiences virtually indiscernible from what the audience might seek from their favorite media/ entertainment personalities and properties – including film studios, TV networks, and streaming media services.

For instance, as CMI founder Joe Pulizzi pointed out years ago, the LEGO Movie entertained mass audiences and earned millions in revenue as a traditional feature film; but it also performed strongly as a marketing vehicle by winning the hearts and minds of a new generation of prospective LEGO consumers.

As another example, not only has Jerry Seinfeld’s online interview series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, been capturing audience attention and critical praise since 2012, the branded content partnership (the production is fully underwritten by Acura) has earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won three Producers Guild of America awards for Outstanding Digital Series.

Of course, not all branded campaigns are created alike in terms of their quality, transparency, or ability to inspire consumers to engage and interact. And when brands don’t have the right strategy, protocols, or expectations to achieve success, the results can turn out to be more harmful than helpful (as was the case in 2013 for The Atlantic).

When companies don’t have the right strategy for branded #content, the results can be harmful, says @joderama. Click To Tweet

Content that’s outstanding in its field

What makes for an engaging, emotionally resonant branded content campaign that can further your brand objectives without subjecting your audience to blatant promotions, poorly timed placements, and empty platitudes? Look at some artfully crafted examples that struck the right balance between powerful positioning and subtle persuasion en route to attracting an audience.

BMO Harris Bank offers a lesson on engaging millennials

youtube

Growing a younger customer base is crucial to any financial service company’s future success. But few banks give off youthful vibes. When BMO Harris Bank (BMOHB) wanted to increase consideration among millennials beginning their journey to financial independence, it went for the unexpected. The bank partnered with humor-focused content agency Onion Labs and Resolution Media to develop a series of videos that promotes its (fictional) mobile banking app capabilities. The video parodies the features millennials seem to like in other popular apps – photo filters (that make faces look like ATMs), couch surfing (in a bank vault), and the opportunity to swipe right and left on potential dates (based on how attractive their checking accounts appear).

This content was served across both The Onion’s owned properties and BMOHB’s social sites to complement and amplify reach, and it ultimately drove users to download the real BMO Harris Bank mobile app. According to Resolution Media, the effort resulted in a record-breaking brand lift (a big win for a campaign aimed at driving awareness) and paved the way for BMOHB to “own” comedy within the financial services space – earning a 2018 Content Marketing Award for Best Branded Content.

War Child UK sparks a meaningful conversation

vimeo

War Child UK – #EscapeRobot by Raw London from Raw London on Vimeo.

Humor is a sure crowd-pleaser, but it isn’t the only way to capitalize on branded content’s power. In fact, branded content campaigns can also communicate positions on societal issues that are anything but a laughing matter.

For example, children’s charity War Child UK used a branded content campaign to change the conversation around the mental health and well-being of children affected by war. A thought-provoking, video-led branded content campaign took aim at the hearts of 18- to 40-year-old professionals who are aware of the residual effects of global conflict (and, thus, likely to feel motivated to help). The film also supported the release of the charity’s new report on the subject, Reclaiming Dreams.

The lead video #EscapeRobot takes viewers on a journey that poignantly illustrates the scale of mental health and psychosocial support urgently needed to help children recover from war-related traumas they may have experienced. With just £8,000 (about $10,500) media spend, the video achieved 2 million views, driving huge engagement and traffic to the campaign’s landing page, where visitors could explore additional details on War Child UK’s charitable efforts and opportunities to get involved.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: 3 Purpose-Marketing Lessons From Innovative Brands

Nulon supplies the fuel for a driving passion

youtube

Nulon is an independent, family-owned, Australian motor oil brand founded in 1980. In contrast, its competitors – like Shell, Castrol, Valvoline – are global giants with massive marketing budgets and over 100 years of earned brand affinity.

To help level the playing field, Nulon set out to produce five branded content films that capture the excitement shared by those who love to tinker under the hood and customize their cars to test the limits of the road. With the help of Edge Agency, the Born This Way mini-series became such a brand-building – and sales-driving – force among mechanically inclined gearheads that the company kept the momentum going and extended the campaign indefinitely. To date, Nulon relies solely on these videos, SEO, and in-store POS for all its marketing needs.

Autodesk enables innovation, one maker at a time

Autodesk’s AutoCAD computer-aided design (CAD) software is used by millions of architects and mechanical engineers. For its Original. AutoCAD. campaign, the company aimed to drive subscriptions by profiling creative entrepreneurs who produce groundbreaking ideas, while highlighting the role its software plays in producing their pioneering projects.

From a talented designer of custom IoT guitars to a self-proclaimed “chefitect” – an architect-turned-chef attempting to create universally understood recipes through CAD drawings – the campaign’s three distinct microsites – Original. AutoCAD., Original. Projects, and Original. People – showcased the customer stories, innovative inventions, and transformational ideas made possible by AutoCAD.

Autodesk, which earned recognition as a Content Marketing Award finalist for the campaign, shared some of the impressive year-over-year results, including:

99% increase in site visitors

244% increase in AutoCAD trial initiations

89% increase in visits to its e-commerce store

385% increase in orders of AutoCAD

.@Autodesk saw 385% increase in AutoCAD orders after its branded #content campaign. @joderama Read more > Click To Tweet

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How to Be an Agent of Change: Examples From Top Content Marketing Award Winners

Entrepreneurs Organization reveals members’ personal habits

Another innovation-focused branded content effort – and 2018 Content Marketing Awards finalist – comes from the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) – a global, peer-to-peer networking association dedicated to helping the entrepreneur community achieve greater business success.

EO is not widely known in the regions it serves so the organization set out to raise its visibility with the help of Muse Content Group. To prepare for the campaign, EO’s Central U.S. chapter invited its members to enter its “Truth Booth” – an experiential on-location studio – take a shot of “truth serum” (tequila option available), and candidly answer revealing questions about their personal experiences as business leaders and innovators.

The resulting series of raw and authentic videos speaks to the heart of what it takes to succeed in roles where there’s no established path to follow, while also helping the organization bolster its ranks. According to EO, the series earned over 400,000 impressions and 5,500 clicks in the first five months, which brought in 55 qualified leads and increased paid membership dues by more than six times the cost of the paid ad spend. In addition, the campaign has been recognized on a global scale with many inquiries from EO regions around the world requesting to use the Truth Booth videos in their chapter marketing initiatives.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Are You in a Boring, All-the-Same Industry? Your Content Doesn’t Have to Be

A joint expedition leads to an intoxicating journey of discovery

Heineken teamed with National Geographic on a branded content partnership that showcases the best of what both brands have to offer. A Wild Lager Story details the history behind the beer brand’s new H41 Wild Lager and includes a three-minute documentary that follows biologist Diego Libkind and Heineken’s global master brewer Willem van Waesberghe as they explore the untamed reaches of Patagonia in search of a rare yeast, then return home to create a new category of beer.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

Learn From the Best: 8 Inspiring Content Marketing Examples

Documentary Storytelling: 6 Examples From Brands That Nail It

A brand-building pitch that audiences can’t wait to catch

Are you experimenting with branded content in 2019? These examples show how great branded content campaigns can help you build rapport with a new target audience, expand your business’s creative horizons, or simply entertain and engage the experience-loving masses. We’d love to hear about your plans for leveraging the technique and, for those already giving it a try, how it’s been working for you.

Have a branded content project or other content marketing initiative you think is worthy of celebrating? Entries are now being accepted for the 2019 Content Marketing Awards. You can learn more and enter here.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post What It Means to Get Branded Content Right appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/02/branded-content-right/

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a-breton · 6 years ago

Text

What It Means to Get Branded Content Right

Whenever someone mentions the term “branded content,” my mind still drifts back to the original inspiration for my love of the technique: BMW’s The Hire.

Branded content is the best vehicle for marketers to bridge the gap b/n awareness and affinity, says @joderama. Click To Tweet

In the name of brand love

To understand what branded content (also known as branded entertainment) entails, let’s start with a basic definition offered by the internet’s default dictionary, Wikipedia:

74.5% of communication professionals rely on branded content. @USCAnnenberg ‏#research Click To Tweet

When companies don’t have the right strategy for branded #content, the results can be harmful, says @joderama. Click To Tweet

Content that’s outstanding in its field

BMO Harris Bank offers a lesson on engaging millennials

youtube

War Child UK sparks a meaningful conversation

vimeo

War Child UK – #EscapeRobot by Raw London from Raw London on Vimeo.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: 3 Purpose-Marketing Lessons From Innovative Brands

Nulon supplies the fuel for a driving passion

youtube

Autodesk enables innovation, one maker at a time

Autodesk, which earned recognition as a Content Marketing Award finalist for the campaign, shared some of the impressive year-over-year results, including:

99% increase in site visitors

244% increase in AutoCAD trial initiations

89% increase in visits to its e-commerce store

385% increase in orders of AutoCAD

.@Autodesk saw 385% increase in AutoCAD orders after its branded #content campaign. @joderama Read more > Click To Tweet

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How to Be an Agent of Change: Examples From Top Content Marketing Award Winners

Entrepreneurs Organization reveals members’ personal habits

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Are You in a Boring, All-the-Same Industry? Your Content Doesn’t Have to Be

A joint expedition leads to an intoxicating journey of discovery

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

Learn From the Best: 8 Inspiring Content Marketing Examples

Documentary Storytelling: 6 Examples From Brands That Nail It

A brand-building pitch that audiences can’t wait to catch

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

from http://bit.ly/2HT7J2f

#Online Marketing

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pamelahetrick · 7 years ago

Text

A look inside 3D design: what goes into it and where its headed

When you’re looking at a photo that just looks a little bit too perfect, or a little bit beyond the range of normal—an object or a landscape that’s in uncanny valley—there’s a chance you’re not looking at a photo at all. You could be looking at a hyper-realistic 3D design like the ones Willem Stapel creates. That’s not to say 3D designers can’t create images that are indistinguishable from photographs, they can, but the magic of 3D design is the ability to push images beyond the realistic and onto a new, magical plane.

Via Willem Stapel.

To say we’re impressed with Stapel’s work would be an understatement. We’re huge fans, and when we recently got the chance to pick his brain about 3D design and his creative process, we ran with it.

Stapel got his start in 3D design while he was a graphic design student at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht, Netherlands. He began by playing around with 3D modeling software and says that’s all anybody with an interest in 3D design has to do to get started. It’s not the only way to learn 3D design, though. Colleges and universities all over the world offer courses in this type of design and for the less matriculation-minded, there are countless online tutorials that explain beginner and advanced techniques.

So what is 3D design all about and where is it headed? Keep reading to find out.

3D design explained

—

Via Willem Stapel.

So we’re on the same page, here’s the quick and dirty on 3D design:

You’ve seen Toy Story and other Pixar films. Those were made with 3D modeling software. 3D modeling software is the type of program that makes it possible for a designer to craft complex, detailed three-dimensional digital objects and worlds for them to inhabit. Images created with this type of software can be as realistic or as cartoony as the designer desires. For a more realistic film example of 3D modeling in action, think of Avatar.

The software provides a simulated 3D space where the designer can create objects by plugging coordinates into the program and then manipulating the shapes their coordinates create. If this sounds like geometry class to you, that’s because it kinda is—3D modeling is a blend of geometry and design visually represent the images specific coordinates map out. Often, designs start as basic polygons that designers refine into complex shapes using the tools available in their chosen software, like tools that create spline curves and tools for crafting non-rational b-splines (NURBS).

Different 3D modeling programs offer different tools, and some are better suited to designers with specific styles and design applications than others. According to Stapel, “CAD is usually used for things that are more industrial, like architectural or industrial designs. 3D meshes are usually a bit more free form, but can also be something very technical.”

A few popular 3D modeling programs include:

AutoCad

Blender

SketchUp

Zbrush

Stapel’s program of choice is Cinema 4D supplemented with a few plug-ins and side programs.

“3D design is still in an experimental space”

—

Via Willem Stapel.

Which means anything is possible. In his work, Stapel plays with bold colors and lighting choices while incorporating inspiration he finds in classical compositions and ancient art themes.

Right now, 3D design is more popular in commercial art than you probably realize. Car companies use 3D modeling in commercials regularly because it’s cheaper, easier, and when a commercial calls for extreme driving, safer than having an actual driver model the car’s capabilities.

“It could eventually replace a lot of photography, which it is already starting to do,” Stapel says. “If you look around in commercial and artistic fields there’s loads of 3D work cropping up.”

You’ll notice a lot of Stapel’s work involves furniture designs. Functionality is one of the hallmarks of 3D design: you can use it to render models of products in development and hash out ideas to see how a piece can work in a space. Also, one common practical use for 3D modeling is studying car accidents by recreating them in digital worlds.

Where is 3D design headed?

—

Via Willem Stapel.

People want to realize hyperrealistic aesthetics. To create impossible sceneries and make them reality.

- Willem Stapel

Stapel predicts a big change coming as more and more people discover what you can do with 3D design. “The first tendency of everyone in the art space seemed to be gimmicky ‘post-internet’ imagery but now you see that people want to realize hyperrealistic aesthetics. To create impossible sceneries and make them reality. Trends I personally really enjoy are photorealism in extreme ways, more complex implementation of 3D scanning techniques, and applying these innovative techniques in new ways and contexts,” he says.

There’s a huge element of functionality that transcends the ‘design’ appeal. 3D design can be used to actually make things, to create things efficiently that in the past might have been difficult to create.

Probably one of the coolest ways people are using 3D design is using it to make things, like how designer and inventor Markus Kayser created a solar-powered 3D printer that can turn desert sand into glass objects. Functional 3D design has applications in many different fields, and as Stapel says, “beyond having a place in the arts, there’s application to the health sector, industrially, and hopefully for environmental purposes eventually.” Exciting things lie ahead in the world of 3D design.

Finding inspiration for 3D design

—

Via Willem Stapel.

Although having formal design training never hurts, Stapel explains that he doesn’t think it’s a necessity for a successful 3D designer. What matters is to follow inspiration and to develop a vision. “Some people focus intensely on the technique and are extremely talented in that aspect, while others specialize in the making of a picture as expression of their artistry. I have a graphic design background and was interested in the history of the arts, which I wanted to combine and translate through contemporary techniques,” he says.

Personally, Stapel looks to classical designs for inspiration for his work. “I enjoy the themes being used since they’re always ancient stories, narratives, and themes which really lend themselves to contemporary reimagination. On a granular level, there’s something to the color schemes, the classical compositions, lighting, the materials”.

I enjoy making sceneries that look like someone has just been there.

- Willem Stapel

“I started with 3D by making imagery inspired by themes in ancient art, all reinvisioned with the help of 3D scans and 3D objects. This is still a big influence on my work. I enjoy making sceneries that look like someone has just been there. To also add the things that makes something real, the stains on a glass or a little rust on metal.”

Lately, Stapel’s been riffing on a post-human vibe in his work. By combining modernistic buildings with more classic designs and robotic objects, he creates surrealistic images.

Professionally, he aims for simplicity. You’ll see this in his website—the images define his brand and make it easy to know immediately what the viewer’s in for. As he sums it up, “let the aesthetic of the work speak for itself and translate into a visual identity.”

Via ManvsMachine for Squarespace.

Even a successful designer like Stapel has industry heroes they look toward and aspire to be more like. When we asked him who he looks up to, he responded, “there’s a couple of established companies and agencies who create beautiful commercial stuff like ManvsMachine (London & Los Angeles), Builder’s Club (London), and CATK (Berlin). I’m quite a big fan of the work of Frederik Heyman, whose work is a sort of post-apocalyptic renaissance by animating stills captures from 3D scanning.”

Stapel strives to strike a balance between his commercial work and his personal art. “I have more ideas than I have time to execute,” he says, “but it’s important to me to continue developing as an artist.”

How designers can get started in this field

—

Like Stapel said, all you really have to do to get started with 3D design is get on a computer and start playing around with rendering software. But playing around will only take you so far. 3D design has a bit of a steep learning curve, and to those who are serious about becoming 3D designers, Stapel recommends the following:

Learn how to do this and much more via GreyscaleGorilla.

“There’s a lot to be found on Youtube, or if you have a certain problem there’s always Google, as obvious as that seems. I think I started out with the tutorials from greyscalegorilla, who teach a lot about the basics of the program. There’s also amazing tutorials from the ENTAGMA, but those are all for Houdini, which is a more advanced 3D software.”

Achieving professional success as a 3D designer

—

Getting good at design is only one part of becoming a professional success. The other half is finding clients who’ll pay a fair price for your work and maintaining a steady workflow.

According to Stapel, a designer’s portfolio is key to landing and securing work: “In art school you learn not only to discover but also to develop your own style into something that works commercially and artistically. It’s subtle things like color palettes, lighting and mood, use of material, et cetera. It takes work to get work, and I’m lucky to have people approach me because of the portfolio I’ve built for myself. It’s a huge advantage to work with clients who are drawn to your established style, so emphasis on the portfolio is key.”

Technique is part, but not all, of building a strong portfolio. “I think figuring out what technique works best for you without being a slave to the technique. Let the technique work for you. But that’s true outside of design: painting with perfect technique doesn’t necessarily make you a good artist.”

Whether it’s worthwhile to do unpaid work for exposure is a controversial topic among creatives. For Stapel, it paid off. “I started to get commercial jobs because of the unpaid or autonomous work I already did. The commercial work gave me more insight on techniques and certain new-to-me aspects on how to create something beautiful, really broadening my horizon.”

Living and working as a 3D designer

—

Becoming a freelance 3D designer may be a challenge, but it offers amazing opportunities. “I love working with a broad variety of people, being able to create things that I love, and being my own boss,” Stapel says, reflecting on the freedom he has to travel and work from anywhere as a freelancer and the variety of clients he’s exposed to in this position. “It’s a wonderful life, to be honest.”

3D design is everywhere, and as a 3D designer, Stapel works primarily with photographers. As for the industries he’s designed for, everything goes. 3D design can be as technical or as freeform as a designer needs it to be.

Discover the magic of 3D design

—

What Stapel wishes more people understood about 3D design is how satisfying it can be for a creator. “It’s honestly pretty magical,” he says. “Every time I push the render button it’s a bit of a surprise what will come out. It’s extremely satisfying to create something that looks really realistic but is completely fabricated.”

The world of 3D design holds vast potential for designers and brands alike. Whether it’s hyperrealistic objects or surreal landscapes, anything is possible. What will you do with it?

Want to see more amazing 3D designs by professional designers?

Right this way.

Let's go!

The post A look inside 3D design: what goes into it and where it’s headed appeared first on 99designs.

via 99designs https://99designs.co.uk/blog/design-history-movements-en-gb/a-look-inside-3d-design-what-goes-into-it-and-where-its-headed/

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myongfisher · 7 years ago

Text

A look inside 3D design: what goes into it and where it’s headed

Via Willem Stapel.

So what is 3D design all about and where is it headed? Keep reading to find out.

3D design explained

—

Via Willem Stapel.

So we’re on the same page, here’s the quick and dirty on 3D design:

A few popular 3D modeling programs include:

AutoCad

Blender

SketchUp

Zbrush

Stapel’s program of choice is Cinema 4D supplemented with a few plug-ins and side programs.

“3D design is still in an experimental space”

—

Via Willem Stapel.

Which means anything is possible. In his work, Stapel plays with bold colors and lighting choices while incorporating inspiration he finds in classical compositions and ancient art themes.

Where is 3D design headed?

—

Via Willem Stapel.

People want to realize hyperrealistic aesthetics. To create impossible sceneries and make them reality.

- Willem Stapel

Finding inspiration for 3D design

—

Via Willem Stapel.

I enjoy making sceneries that look like someone has just been there.

- Willem Stapel

Lately, Stapel’s been riffing on a post-human vibe in his work. By combining modernistic buildings with more classic designs and robotic objects, he creates surrealistic images.

Via ManvsMachine for Squarespace.

How designers can get started in this field

—

Learn how to do this and much more via GreyscaleGorilla.

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kelsusit · 7 years ago

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Apple Wants To Beat HP Z Workstation Styles

HP Workstation Xw4550 Specs

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jjaadacademy · 5 years ago

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actmep-blog · 6 years ago

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ACTMEP is the Institute of to Learn HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, AutoCAD, Revit Structural Design Courses.

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ds4design · 8 years ago

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Workstation virtualisation

With its new ‘POC in a week’, IMSCAD is providing firms that use graphical apps with a fast-track virtualisation trial and a chance to see which GPU technology — AMD MxGPU, Intel Iris Pro or Nvidia GRID — works best for them. By Greg Corke

On-site data centre virtualisation deployments capable of streaming 3D CAD to thin clients are notoriously complex. With every firm using a different mix of applications, datasets, workflows and IT infrastructure, one-size-fits-all solutions are rare.

Proof of Concepts (POCs) often drag on for months. Some never even get off the ground – with server hardware left in cardboard boxes gathering dust.

That’s the experience of Adam Jull, CEO of graphics virtualisation specialist IMSCAD, who offers design, engineering and architecture firms a much easier way to see if virtualisation can work for them.

The UK-based consultancy’s new ‘POC in a week’ offering is designed to take the pain out of getting up and running with hardware, software and licensing. Rather than an on-premise install, firms instead get remote access to a bespoke, off-site data centre solution that supports five users on up to five CAD applications over a five-day period.

IMSCAD advises clients on the type of deployment – whether they should virtualise specific applications, for example, or deliver a fully virtual desktop to users.

Solutions can be built around Citrix or VMWare, Windows 7/8 or Windows 10. Importantly, and (we think) uniquely, IMSCAD allows firms to try out all three graphics virtualisation technologies capable of delivering graphical accelerated applications, including 3D CAD.

As IMSCAD does not sell graphics or server hardware, Jull says the company is in a position to give firms independent advice on which GPU technologies – AMD MxGPU, Intel Iris Pro or Nvidia GRID – are best suited to their workflows, applications, datasets and user requirements. After an initial phone consultation, it will then configure one or more bespoke POC servers, complete with software. IMSCAD charges a $5,000 fee for this service to cover administration and consultative support.

Nvidia is a great solution but it’s still costly and it’s fairly complex to deploy. Any of the three solutions pose their own complexity, but as long as the end-to-end infrastructure is right, your solution will deliver

The company has servers in London and the USA (both west coast and east coast), so it can serve all of North America and Europe. It also has a pool of software licences, including Siemens NX, Solid Edge, SolidWorks, Catia, Revit, AutoCAD, Inventor, Civil 3D and other Autodesk software. Other applications can be delivered and customers can install their own as well.

Customers upload their CAD files to the data centre and then access the ‘workstations’ from software clients on PCs, laptops or tablets — at home or in the office over a standard Internet connection.

If bandwidth is poor or latency is high, WAN acceleration technologies like Citrix Cloudbridge or Riverbed can be used.

To help users get the most out of the week, IMSCAD does some hand-holding along the way and collates empirical feedback and statistical information.

User experience is assessed through response sheets, where CAD users give marks out of ten for specific actions such as key modelling tasks and model manipulation (for example, rotate, zoom and pan).

Performance of the environment is constantly monitored using Goliath software, to help identify bottlenecks in the system and also give IMSCAD important information as to how the POC might be scaled up to support more users.

At the end of the week, IMSCAD goes through the results and gives advice on what solutions could potentially work for each firm. Of course, it can then roll out a larger-scale deployment on its behalf, either on site or in the cloud.

To enlarge image click here

Graphics flexibility

Nvidia may be the established leader in graphics virtualisation with Nvidia GRID, but Jull believes both Intel and AMD are now capable of offering some healthy competition.

Intel’s ‘Skylake’ Xeon E3-1500 v5 with Iris Pro graphics P580 is a quad-core CPU and GPU in one package. This means there is no need for an add-in PCIe Nvidia or AMD GPU. In the data centre, a server typically has rows of these processors, each housed on a cartridge-based chassis, which is essentially a collection of self-contained mini workstations.

Every CAD user connects directly to their own workstation, so there is no need to get into the realms of graphics virtualisation. This, says Jull, makes confi guration relatively easy. “With Intel you don’t need a hypervisor. It’s a direct bare-metal delivery with direct XenDesktop/App or Horizon/View.”

It is possible to ‘virtualise’ Intel Iris Pro graphics, breaking up the GPU into multiple instances. However, this isn’t something that Jull recommends for most graphical-based applications.

IMSCAD considers the ‘Skylake’ Intel Xeon E3-1500 v5 to be a signifi cant step up from the ‘Broadwell’ Intel Xeon E3-1200 v4 with Iris Pro Graphics P6300 that it used in several POCs last year.

Jull says the ‘Broadwell’ Xeon was a little underpowered for most graphical applications, and that it lost out to Nvidia GRID in several POCs. “Each time it was close,” he says, “but Nvidia GRID won – graphics [performance] was the key issue for the actual users.”

With the promise of up to 30% more GPU power, Jull believes ‘Skylake’ Xeon will be a good fit for CAD and BIM. “I think Revit/AutoCAD workflows can be achieved on the Intel solution. Maybe not Siemens NX and SolidWorks and those sorts of [graphics-intense] applications — but certainly the architectural CAD market,” he says.

AMD made its long-awaited entrance to graphics virtualisation in September 2015 with the AMD Multiuser GPU (MxGPU), pitched as the world’s first hardware-based virtualised GPU solution.

Simply speaking, it means that the GPU is built from the ground up for virtualisation, with all the virtual machine assignments performed inside the silicon, rather than inside software, as is the case with Nvidia GRID.

AMD MxGPU uses SR-IOV (Single Root I/O Virtualisation) technology, a standard way for devices such as network adapters to expose hardware virtualisation.

AMD offers two PCIe add-in boards, the single-height FirePro S7150 (one GPU) and dual-height FirePro S7150x2 (two GPUs). “For an AutoCAD type workflow,” Jull says, “AMD can potentially support up to 32x graphical (CAD) VDIs on a server. If you’re doing SolidWorks/Catia it could be down to about eight.” This is based on there being two double-width GPUs inside a single server.

Jull explains that because AMD’s GPUs are hardware virtualised, there is only one driver to apply and no software licensing [Nvidia charges a per-user, per-year licence for GRID]. This, he says, makes it slightly easier to deploy and brings down the total cost of ownership (TCO).

As users have access to a dedicated hardware resource, performance is also more predictable. “With Nvidia GRID, it can be more variable because you are creating virtual profi les on the GPU,” he says.

In the AutoCAD and Revit space — the architectural space — I think there is definitely a potential shift towards an AMD and Intel mix of solution

The downside of the AMD solution, according to Jull, is it is not as scalable and powerful as Nvidia GRID, depending on the user mix. Because AMD MxGPU uses hardware virtualisation, GPU resources are presectioned off and you can’t go any finer than that.

“With Nvidia GRID – say, in production after three months – if you find there is spare capacity on the GPU, you could add another 16 users by choosing a different profile.”

Nvidia GRID scalability improved significantly last year with the introduction of the Tesla M60, a GPU accelerator that boasts twice the performance of the previous generation Nvidia GRID K2 GPU.

With a range of virtual GPU (vGPU) profi les, the Tesla M60 has the flexibility to support the widest range of users, from low end to very high end, and the highest densities. With a typical Nvidia GRID server with two GPUs, you could support around 32x Revit users or 16x SolidWorks users, Jull reckons. “The options with Nvidia are vast, with [the company] adding the new M10 and M6 for blade servers, they really cover everything from running Windows 10 through to Catia,” he says, adding that the Tesla M60 can even be used for high-end compute, such as the physically based renderer, Nvidia Iray.

“Nvidia is a great solution but it’s still costly and it’s fairly complex to deploy. Any of the three solutions pose their own complexity, but as long as the end-to-end infrastructure is right, your solution will deliver.”

“In the AutoCAD and Revit space – the architectural space – I think there is definitely a potential shift towards an AMD and Intel mix of solution,” he adds.

“Ultimately, you could use all these technologies for your users at some level. This just provides a richer and varied choice of how to centralise your data.”

Conclusion

For a typical POC, bringing all the technologies together for an on-site install can be a lengthy process – and one that is usually tied to a specifi c GPU vendor.

With its new ‘POC in a week’, IMSCAD is trying to streamline and kickstart the process, to give users rapid and valuable experience of working with their own CAD/design datasets, using one or more of the three key GPU technologies.

This is all about companies proving the technology can work for their user groups. Then, at the hopefully successful conclusion, IMSCAD can help them understand what is required to roll out a production environment.

At approximately $5,000 per POC, firms need to be serious about investing in workstation virtualisation, but with deployments often running into hundreds, if not, thousands of users, it’s a small insurance payment that reduces the risk of what will potentially be a much larger investment.

What is workstation virtualisation?

Read DEVELOP3D’s beginner’s guide to workstation virtualisation here

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