Final documentation
Re-Designing Traditional Bavarian Accessories
Outcomes of 3D printing to replace animal products
In my first semester in Design School, I wanted to look at the intersection between 3D printing, fashion and parametric design.
I began to dig into my German heritage and remind myself of the traditional garb. I remembered that much of the accompanying accessories were made of animal products; skin, fur, claw, teeth, deer horn and goat beard are fashioned into charms, buttons and embellishments still worn today.
I began to ponder alternatives to these traditional materials. In an attempt to use cruelty-free components, I wanted to use innovative materials and processes to design 3D printed replicas. I also wanted to stay true to the appearance but upgrade the ethical footprint.
How can 3D printing be applied to traditional German garb, such that the appearances remains the same but that innovative materials upgrade its ethical footprint?
I set out to make three items: a series of buttons, traditionally made of deer horn; a hat pin originally made of silver or pewter; and a replica of goat beard hairs.
Gathering Supplies
Rhino (a CAD tool to model my re-designed accessories)
Cura (slicing tool to prep the 3D model for printing)
Ultimaker 3 (3D printer)
Meshmixer to test the model for flaws before printing it
PLA Filament (the plastic with which the product in printed)
Acrylic Paint
Fabric- traditional woolen felt “loden”, cotton broadcloth to simulate a button-down shirt to apply the buttons
Frame to model buttons
Hot glue gun
Hat to model hat pin
Industrial sewing machine- thread, needle, bobbin.
Resources and Process
Buttons: I began modeling my buttons in Rhino. At this step, I made use of many online tutorials. Still feeling awkward in this CAD program, I quickly began to improve my ability to build models in a 3D environment.
Here, I wanted to apply the principles of parametric design, which state that certain parameters- or rules- unite a group of models. Yet, within that group, variations exits. This applied perfectly to making deer horn buttons: my group of buttons share common features- they are round, have two holes, and are the same dimensions. But my buttons also differed from each other: because traditional German buttons are made of the undulated surface of deer horn, no two are alike.
I found a company in New York that sews traditional German jackets from felt imported from Germany. Through them, I requested a fabric sample to apply my buttons.
Hat Pin:
To build my hat pin, I wanted to embellish it with a surface pattern and an Edelweiss flower. But this proved much more challenging than the buttons. My instructor suggested a series changes: join the petals of the flower together before applying it to the surface of the pin, then join both pin and flower; and add thickness to the walls of both objects. Without these changes, the model would not print properly.
I recognized that as many steps there are to a project, there are just as many opportunities to stumble.
In the end, I simplified the pin to a simple cone shape and glued a safety pin. And with that, I had a functional pin.
Next, I needed to replicate the goat beard hair that attached to the pin.
Printing Hair
Once again, I looked to online tutorials for help. Youtube has a small, but burgeoning channel, called #hairy prints, dedicated to printing hair . To get a better understanding for how a hair print is executed, I looked to Thingiverse.com, a website featuring digital designs for physical objects. There, I found, the hairy lion- one of the first models to attempt printing hair.
For my hat pin, I was aiming for hair standing upright, splayed outward and of equal length. I build a model that can best be explained by using the analogy of a tree:
I first built a slim, tapered tree trunk that acted as an anchor for the hairs. Then, starting at the base of the trunk, I lay down layer upon layer of hair. Each layer looked like a sun, with rays emanating from the trunk outward and finally attaching to the outer tapered cone. Both anchor points- the trunk and the outer cone- allowed the printer to create a bridge between them. Without this mechanism, hairs would not print in straight lines or withstand gravity in the upper layers.
The first attempts printed hairs much too coarse. At 1.5 mm thickness for each hair, the final effect was more like a ropy mop.
I started over to model each hair at a reduced thickness of 0.8mm and had an improved model. I removed the outer, “sacrificial wall” with a hot exacto knife. Then, to style the hairs upwards, like troll hair, I applied heat. Hot water or a hair dryer work perfectly.
Final Musings
With more time, I would have attempted a third model at 0.3mm thickness in order to achieve a wispy, softer hair-like effect.
In the end, I had a working model. I was able to forgo perfection and accept that completion is success. I took joy not in an ideal outcome, but in a better understanding of the process, increased resiliency and firm persistence.
This understanding will serve me well in a career in design. A designer can’t afford to get lost in the details because it risks incompletion, identity quakes, and grief. Additionally, it’s valuable to wade into new mediums, even if they aren’t my desired career choice, because it increases my understanding for the creation process. It also increases empathy for the work of my future colleagues. Empathy leads to better collaboration. And empathy leads to better designs.
Let’s see where this goes…
