The objects created and offered through Lumenique are not production products. Lumenique is the name of my design studio, not a product manufacturing organization.
The following is extracted from my Terms page, describing how I characterize and keep records of completed works.
Provenance Record Keeping
Every product made is identified by a unique serial number code label placed on its base. This serial number is logged into the Lumenque database with a reference image and description, and data indicating the item completion date, and type of work coded (see definitions below.) The unique serial number can also be used to replace a work that has been destroyed – with proof and return of the remains of the destroyed item, on which a quote for replacement will be issued for approval prior to remaking the lost work. For this reason, we recommend keeping a record of the serial number for future reference.
Doing artwork for a living does not require you be crazy to begin with, but it will certainly get you there. Whether it’s illustration work, photography, painting, or making lighted objects, every work has a piece of the author baked into it. That’s what separates art from product design or graphics. So what happens with the resulting product is equally personal.
As a lighting designer, I felt a personal connection with my work, but the intimacy was diluted by the number of people between the creative vision and the end product. The finished design and process was a team-involved collective effort. The myopia and hyper vigilance over details invisible to others softened the self criticism. Few can visualize light in space during the design process – that’s what makes lighting design a true professional art (sorry lighting science nerds, it is not about formulas and compliance, it is art, even when it isn’t.) That means that even when the end product was less than artistically perfect, you still create magic.
The same cannot be said of works created with your own hands, where you own the entire process from inspiration to finished object in hand. Every detail, surface, finish, mistake and success, are 100% on the creator.Imperfect is failure; Just send it to the landfill – I’m going to work at the Home Depot stocking shelves, I suck!
I enjoy the freedom of creating on my own. However, my real passion lies in delighting customers with objects that enhance their environment by enabling and bringing to life their own design vision. I invite anyone with a specific idea they would like to see realized to consider me a resource in realizing that vision. My customers include Lighting Consultants, Interior Designers, Architects, Manufacturers, Lighting Agencies, and Individuals who value art and unique objects built around their specific tastes and wants. I have made and designed products for residential, hospitality, gaming, coprorate, residential, and office environments.
My job is to see your vision realized, or want satisfied.
You can contact me directly through email, or phone call to start the dialog, or take a moment to collect some thoughts as follows:
The Process
The process is simple. We will work together to create a commission brief that includes descriptions and sketches of the object you wish to have. This can be as rough as a general description you’d like me to work from, to as detailed as your giving me a CAD file to base a design on. This brief includes estimated time to complete, deadlines, finishes, costs involved, and any specific terms involved with creating the desired work. Once agreed upon, I begin work and will provide regular updates as the project progresses.
There is no charge or cost involved, until we have agreed on the project, a formal quote has been created, and accepted by you, with the terms and conditions clearly understood.
I realize that it can be difficult to determine the scale of objects from dimensions. It’s also a little difficult to see something in an application setting, in scale to its surroundings.
While I have included images of the objects from several views, with background light on and off, and have videos of them in 360 degree views – until now, I have not had any scale reference images. After mulling this over for some time, I believe I came up with a solution.
In order to assist viewers in seeing the scale of a product, and how it might look in application, I am creating scale reference images that will be added to the web site in the next few days. I thought I’d give everyone a preview of what’s coming here. So here goes.
Scale Reference
I decided to use the familiar 6′ human form for scale reference, using an artist’s mannequin for. Between these images and comparing others side by side, one will be able to see scale more clearly than with numbers alone.
This is the first of the series of lighted objects I have created for offer on the Lumenique site. I will publish each one with a brief on what inspired it.
Most will recognize this from one of my favorite cities on the West coast. As a kid, we visited the 1966 World’s Fairgrounds numerous times. We visited the museums and displays, then played on the grounds. My last visit there was many years ago, on a working tour of projects I was doing as a Lighting Designer in the area.
Unicycle Two was inspired by the first 3D print object I ever made in 2010 – Unicycle One, which was part of the 52 in 52 project. This first full object project and over 1000 subsequent projects since has been a massive learning experience. The following summarizes the progression that has taken place over these 11 years.
Unicycle Two (2021, foreground) vs. Unicycle One (2010, background) reflects the evolution of progress in creating finished art using 3D print technology. This includes surface finishing as well as approach to body fill and construction.
Not knowing the characteristics of the ABS plastic in 2010, I printed the first fixture solid, which consumed 115 cubic inches of material, at a cost of over $600. Ouch! Over the last 11 years, I have learned a lot about how to create objects with 3D printers, which is reflected in the latest iteration of the Unicycle design.
2010: The first 3D print object, using a Stratasys Dimension bst1200es, was printed solid and is unfinished. The design was done in Rhino CAD, and the separation of colors reflected the numerous sections required to build the fixture up. The driver and electronics are in the base. The arm and head were made from machined copper.Continue reading “3D Print 2010 vs. 2021 and Unicycle 2”
Every designer has instances where they want to see a special idea or concept realized to fill a small, but essential need or want, but cannot find a path to see it realized. I know this, as I was a designer that started making things for my own projects to fill this need – which led to the formation of Lumenique.
Custom Frame Mount LED Picture Light
The need for something special may be as simple as a small iconic accent applied to a wall or door, a corporate image piece, a center piece at a corporate entry desk or conference table, a side table or dining table light that functions as accent source of illumination while making an artistic design statement. These are the inspired details that add nuance and depth, that makes a design pop – but are too frequently set aside for want of a source to make them real.
Art is not media bound. It matters not whether a creation comes from spray cans, found objects, sculpted from clay, chipped out of marble, or painted with secret formula pigments. Art is the transformation of a thought or individual vision, expressed in forms to be experienced by others. Some art is intentionally fleeting, to be experienced in the moment that is lost to time. Other forms are permanent, to transcend the ages. Some art is heavily contextual, some dated, and some transcendent, changing in meaning and perceived value over time. It is all art. It is all creative expression.
Every stage of human artistic development has been boosted by the simultaneous development of enabling technology. In some cases, the artist themselves were the innovators, in others, artists are the benefactors of technology that emerged for other purposes. Early painters utilized paints of their own creation, where modern artists utilize a plethora of manufactured medium with which to express themselves. The art is not diminished, and the ability to create is enhanced by this transformation. Early sculptors chipped away at marble they sourced from quarries engaged in building architecture, or shaped clay taken from river beds or headed to brick factories, or cast bronze from the same processes and materials used for architectural metalwork. Today, sculpting comes in every imaginable form, using materials and technologies from the past, the present, and in the case of some, the near future. The introduction of the computer has opened doors into new realm of art – including digital works that exist only as data and projected pixels, art headed to any number of printing processes, and now three dimensional art directly from data using 3D printers.
There is differentiation between art and design. Design – whether it be Graphic or Industrial – is creative and artistic, but has a purpose, a determined value to be delivered. In this, Design seeks to first identify the need of the viewer (read “customer”) community, then deploy an end product to satisfy the intended number of viewers in a way that produces a commercial sales result. In this, the Viewer is the priority in which the Designer intends to serve. The Designer focuses every effort on the attempt to produce a clear understanding of the product created, in order to produce the most universal acceptance by the target audience (read “Customer”.)
The following is the step by step process I use to develop a design or artistic idea into three dimensional reality using modern tools and technology. The images are from a current project just completed, and are not retouched, so you can see the raw process as it progressed.
Creative Process – In the virtual universe
Building the Model While we once used pens and pencils to create drawings, when the end product is to be produced directly as a 3D assembly, creating designs within solid-model CAD software is a more direct, and more satisfying process. In my case, all sculptures and designs are created in SolidWorks. This includes all components to be utilized, to insure the final product will fit together. This is a highly iterative process, that may entail dozens of attempts and variations, as the design matures and evolves.At various stages in the process, the model assembly or its parts are rendered to see how they might appear when completed. This affords me insight into proportion, and general appearance that the CAD software is lacking. Continue reading “Steps from a Virtual Concept to Finished Work using 3D Printed Components”
Additive manufacturing – AKA 3D Printing – comes in several forms that produce various degrees of detail and part integrity. For most of us, the go-to process is FDM, which generates strong plastic parts at a reasonable cost, using a wide range of polymers to suit many needs.
An early part created using FDM Printing, with minimal post-print processing or smoothing.
FDM – Fused Deposition Modeling, also known and MLE (Material Layer Extrusion) – is a process in which a filament of plastic is heated and extruded, tracing the part and its interior, layer by layer. This is the most common process for making strong end-use parts, made from a wide range of materials. FDM printing is also very cost effective, using affordable equipment. Can produce crude optical diffusers, but unsuited to optical forms.
For art produced by the author at Lumenique, we employ a Stratasys F370 Professional grade high performance FDM 3D printer that can print a wide range of plastics. The F370 is a highly reliable printer, that can generate parts that take many days to produce, without failures or quality issues. There are many lower cost machines on the market, but they are not capable of reliably printing large, high quality parts runs without failing. We regularly print jobs that take more than 60 hours, that consume 75 cubic inches of material. We invest in the equipment needed to support this. Our previous Stratasys printer generated over 900 print jobs, with just 2 print failures in the 9 years we had it in operation.
The Stratasys F370 Printer is an industry leading, high reliability, commercial/industrial grade machine with 4 material bays and a heated build environment.Continue reading “3D Printing at Lumenique”
