Solving The Biggest Design Problem At The Big Game
This week the eyes of the sports world turn West to San Francisco as the biggest media circus in the country comes to town. The Big Game. A marketing bonanza. A city infused by out-of-towners looking to be entertained by the biggest spectacle on the American stage (that isn’t Donald Trump). At Autodesk, we started thinking about what might be the most challenging design element of the Big Game.
The answer was obvious: ring design.
For the uninitiated, the team that wins the Big Game is rewarded with giant, diamond encrusted rings to commemorate their triumph. Each year the winning team seems to try to out do all previous champions, so we wondered if it would be possible to out do all of them.
So we reached out to former Artists-in-Residence Slice Lab to see if Diego and Arthur would be up to the task. Their unique design perspective and familiarity with digital design tools and advanced manufacturing seemed to make them the perfect fit. Diego, a football fan who grew up in New England, was more than equal to the task.
“I was excited to take this on,” said Diego Taccioli, co-founder at SliceLabs. “I’m a huge football fan. Getting the opportunity to design what is essentially a trophy for the body, and not having any constraints, seemed like it would be a lot of fun.”
From the outset, Taccioli wanted to infuse meaning into his design elements. This is the 50th time the Big Game has been played and building that into his final design became important. Traditional championship rings are designed in with what might be called more conventional shapes: oval or a circle. Keeping in mind that this is the golden anniversary of the game, he landed on a totally different, modern take.
“My ring is based on a pentagon topping a circle,” Taccioli said. “I landed on a pentagon in figuring out how I could represent the number 50. I also wanted to also embed a bold football shape focal point into the center of the design. ”
To actually design and fabricate the ring Slice Lab took advantage of the modern technology that they’re so familiar with in their day-to-day work, namely 3D printing and Fusion 360. The software came to bear during the organic modeling process, letting Taccioli manage the design in a very controlled way.
“Fusion 360 let me address the tiny, minute details of the ring,” he said. “It let me have crisp edges and creases, while still allowing for free form curvature and the ability to make adjustments to the overall form of the ring for things like finger size.” Additionally, the tool let him be confident in the symmetry of his design. “When I adjusted one side, it felt satisfying to see that the change would be mirrored on the other side. While the ring might not look symmetrical of four sides, you can bet it is symmetrical down the middle.”
With the design done, perfected, and tricked out in diamonds, it was time to start thinking about how the ring would actually be made. For Diego, there was only way choice: 3D printing. During his time as an Artists-In-Residence at the Autodesk Workshop at Pier 9, he and his business partner spent time using Ember, the Autodesk 3D printer, which taught them the value of additive manufacturing in jewelry design.
“What’s cool about 3D printing is that it’s like having someone who’s extremely diligent working for you. I can design something, send it out, let the print start and then do other things, like sleep or eat or work on a new project. But I know that after a little time I’ll come back and the print will be complete.”
And just because the print is complete doesn’t mean the design process ends there.
“There’s a big different between seeing something digital and experiencing it physically,” Taccioli said. “I can better understand what this ring is going to look like, or how it’s going to wear, for example. It’s more accurate than hand making a wax model for a cast, and because I’m printing it, I’m confident that it will come out the exact same every time, unlike with traditional technique.”
So how does that apply to the championship rings he’s been working on? Well, it’s given Taccioli some ideas to get more intricate with details.
“I am familiar with the exact physical limitations of creating something when it is 3D printed. I can print at an absolute minimum and measure volume and diameter.”
That means these rings can have intricate details that would be extremely difficult to produce by hand, let alone the number of times necessary to suit an entire football team.
All these details ultimately led the to design that you see here, which is something entirely different and unique from any of the rings that have come before, and that’s an important part of the design process for Taccioli, too.
“These players work unbelievably hard all year long. And if they’re fortunate enough to win, then they get to wear a ring like this. I think the design of their memento should be equal to the incredible amount of work they’ve put in.”
Want create your own version of a World Champion ring from the big game? Check out this Instructable to learn more about how Slice Lab put this all together.
All photos courtesy of Slice Lab.
