About the Artists

Adidas

http://www.adidas.co.uk/futurecraft

In 2015, German sportswear giant Adidas introduced its Futurecraft project, a collaboration with Materialise to produce a collection of innovative footwear that includes 3D printed and biodegradable sneakers.

Futurecraft 3D, a unique 3D printed running shoe midsole which can be tailored to the cushioning needs of an individual’s foot, provides the ultimate personalised experience for all athletes. With an engineered 3D web structure with dense zones in high-force areas, a 3D-printed heel counter, and a 3D-printed, highly-breathable Primeknit upper, the sneakers no longer require the lengthy process of gluing or stitching. Linked with existing data sourcing and footscan technologies, it opens unique opportunities for immediate in-store fittings and production.

Futurecraft 3D is the first chapter of the Adidas Futurecraft series, which demonstrates the brand’s commitment to innovating throughout all areas of production.

Richard Arm

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/art-design/richard-arm

Richard Arm’s role as Flexural Composites Research Fellow entails involvement in several live defence medicine research projects, funded by the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

His specialism lies with the recreation of synthetic organs and tissue for educational purposes. He earned a distinction for his masters thesis, entitled ‘Synthesising The Human Heart With Polymeric Elastomers- Applications In Human Anatomy Education’. Utilising 3D printing from CT data as part of the process, the prototypes stirred up overwhelming media interest across the globe. More importantly, this research has raised many new questions- primarily about how cardiothoracic surgery should be taught in the near future.

In his role as Research Fellow for the Advanced Textiles Research Group at Nottingham Trent University, Arm is currently entering an exciting new phase of development in synthesising the unique qualities of living human tissues for use in teaching cardiothoracic surgery.

The Collection: Art and Archaeology in Lincolnshire

https://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/

The Collection’s acquisition of a rare Roman marble statuette in the form of a bull in 2015 sparked an innovative project to reconstruct how the museum believes it may have originally looked. Working in partnership with Optima Graphic design, the University of Lincoln’s Technology Hub and artist Bradley Oliver-White, digital and artistic techniques were used to recreate the statuette. A detailed 3D scan was taken of the surviving elements of the statuette, which was then 3D printed to produce an exact replica of the original. Bradley Oliver-White took this copy and used it to remodel the missing elements in modelling clay, using images of ancient bulls provided by the museum. The reconstructed bull was then 3D scanned and 3D printed to produce the final reconstruction, allowing visitors to see how the original statuette may have once looked.

Danit Peleg

https://danitpeleg.com/

Danit Peleg’s work investigates the influence of technology on fashion design, and she believes that technology will help democratise fashion and give designers more independence in the creation process.

Peleg graduated from Shenkar College of Engineering and Design in Israel, with a graduate collection that she had produced entirely on a 3D printer in her home.

This was the first full collection that was designed to be produced specifically using smaller 3D printers, which are likely to fill homes in the near future.

For all of her projects, Peleg develops her own textiles and experiments with various technologies, such as laser cutting, screen-printing, and 3D printing. By printing the soft materials in structures that are flexible, Danit achieves the “textiles” she requires in order to create clothing that moves so beautifully.

In November 2015, the creative team of the Rio Paralympics ceremony selected Peleg to commission a dress for one of their segments, which was seen in movement by hundreds of millions of people around the globe. The dance segment explored the relationship between humans and technology, and featured Amy Purdy — a double-leg amputee- dancing the samba with the KUKA robot.

Matthew Plummer-Fernandez

http://www.plummerfernandez.com/

Matthew Plummer-Fernandez is a British-Colombian digital artist and researcher who explores the

relationship between digital aesthetics and artistic production.

His work produces, exploits and celebrates the flaws in digital production techniques, creating altered data-files that stretch, twist and smooth everyday objects to form distorted 3D printed sculptures. It is this distortion that produces objects of geometric beauty, challenging and redefining our perception of imperfection and aesthetic value.

Born in London and raised in Colombia, Plummer-Fernandez graduated from the Royal College of Art with a MA in Design Products, after studying Graphic Design at UCCA, and a BEng in Computer-Aided Mechanical Engineering at Kings College London.

Siemens

As the largest manufacturing and electronics company in Europe, Siemens are using 3D printing to revolutionise the manufacturing of their components.

Introducing additive manufacturing and Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technologies into the production of their high-performance metal parts, from small turbine blades to large combusters, allows for the rapid prototyping, repair and manufacturing of Siemens products. This new technology has increased turnover time and enabled faster upgrading of existing assets to the latest part design, providing the most state-of-the-art components.

The Magic Candy Factory

http://magiccandyfactory.com/

The Magic Candy Factory is the world’s first 3D gummy candy printer, allowing the imagination full reign to create truly customised delicious treats. The dedicated team at Katjes Fassin UK Ltd, led by Melissa Snover, has worked for many months to create a way for people of all ages to be able to create whatever they desire.

The magical design application and printers enable everyone to create shapes, write messages and even draw their own custom candies and watch them come to life before their eyes in a matter of minutes!

All of the dazzling gummies that come from the Magic Candy Factory are vegan, gluten-free & dairy free. They are made with vegetable based gelling agents and all natural fruit and vegetable extracts to create something as natural as it is delicious.

Geoffrey Mann

https://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/profile/geoffrey-mann

Geoffrey Mann is a Scottish artist and lecturer whose fascination with altering the temporary nature of time and motion has created a studio practice that bridges the gap between traditional craft processes and new digital technologies.

Mann’s creative language explores the ‘charged’ space between the object and the viewer. In Poise, he explores the materiality of glass rather than glass as a material, and creates an amplified pause in time that shows glass’s true self; an echo of the process permanently embodied within the surface tension.

The viewer is invited to survey and circle the work, and to study the play of light on this otherworldly yet familiar machine-made experience.

Mann graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2005 and is the current Programme Director of Glass at Edinburgh College of Art.

N-E-R-V-O-U-S System

https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/

Nervous System is a generative design studio, whose work uses a novel process that employs computer simulation to generate designs and digital fabrication to realise products. Drawing inspiration from natural phenomena, they write computer programs based on processes and patterns found in nature, and use them to create unique and affordable art, jewellery and housewares. From coral aggregations to interference patterns, a study of natural phenomena is an essential ingredient to their design process.

Founded in 2007 by MIT graduates Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jess Louis-Rosenberg, Nervous System was created to explore a design approach that relates process and form in a context of interactivity and openness. Their products are designed to be affordably and ethically made, and their manufacturing methods do not require large facilities or massive manual labour.

Byron Colman

https://www.behance.net/ByronColman

Byron Colman’s work merges his interest in the process of digital repair with the practice of furniture design. He actively saves broken furniture that would otherwise be discarded, and uses digital tools to create replacement parts. The item is 3D scanned to create a virtual replica, with the repair component custom designed and 3D printed to fit seamlessly. Each piece and its repair are therefore unique.

Colman graduated from The University of Lincoln with a degree in product design. His work continues to develop and test the potential of digital processes of repair.

Lionel T Dean

http://www.futurefactories.com/

Product artist Lionel Theodore Dean sits at the intersection of art, craft and design, challenging traditional boundaries and definitions of practice. He employs the virtual realm as a creative playground, where designs exist beyond the physical constraints of material or process.

Dean has been exploring the creative potential of digital design and manufacturing technology for almost ten years, and is at the forefront of digital making. His work spans multiple disciplines and questions traditional definitions of practice. 3D printing in non-traditional materials, such as gold, allows him to create forms that would otherwise not be possible.

In 2003 Dean founded FutureFactories, a studio focused exclusively on 3D printing technologies and developing computational design methodologies that combine Computer Aided Design (CAD) with computer programming.

Grace Du Prez

http://www.graceduprez.co.uk/

Grace Du Prez is an artist that creates one-off pieces, using a 3D printing pen as her tool. She has been working with a 3Doodler for over three years, and has been involved in a number of adverts and other promotional projects, including a replica 3D printed Nissan car.

Now acclaimed as one of the industry’s leading designer-makers, she also teaches her skills around the UK in a variety of different workshops.

Du Prez’s signature working style has developed from her background in Mixed Media Textiles, graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2010.

Michael Eden

http://www.michael-eden.com/

Michael Eden is a maker who explores contemporary themes through the redesign of historical, culturally familiar objects, whilst utilising digital manufacturing and materials.

Eden’s work investigates the relationship between hand and digital tools. He combines the craft skills that he acquired during his previous experience as a potter with his interest in digital technology. As a member of a unique generation that has bridged the digital divide, Eden firmly believes that he is able to contrast and compare life before and after the invention of the personal computer. For him it is a matter of choice, as life at the beginning of the 21^st century has furnished makers with a wider choice of tools, materials and processes with which to realise ideas and concepts. All have their place, the new does not replace the old, the key is to make appropriate use of them.

Emerging Objects

http://www.emergingobjects.com/

Emerging Objects are an independent, creatively driven, 3D Printing MAKE-tank aiming to design and 3D print architecture and spaces for living and working in the 21st century. Their innovation lies in their unique approach to materials and sizes and their belief that 3D printing is the medium where good ideas become real.

Emerging Objects use a wide range of additive manufacturing techniques (SLS, FDM, 3DP, LOM + more). Their unique material expertise allows them to create objects with distinctive materials that are not yet widely available in 3D printing, such as salt, wood, tea, chocolate and paper.

Enabling the Future

http://enablingthefuture.org/

Enabling the Future was founded by husband and wife team Ivan and Jennifer Owen. The concept began in 2011, when Ivan designed a Steampunk−themed hand for a costume, which he uploaded online. From this initial video, Ivan’s work attracted interest from people across the globe who were in need of prosthetic limbs. He taught himself how to use 3D printing software to update his design, which allowed for faster and more cost-effective production.

Their work caught the attention of professor Jon Schull, from the Rochester Institute of Technology, who started a Google+ group for people to contact each other and share ideas. Via the online e-NABLE Community, people from all over the world can innovate, improve and collaborate to produce their own 3D printed prosthetics.

Bart Hess

http://barthess.nl/

The work of Bart Hess is of the most tactile and intuitive nature. He first delved into instinctive textiles when studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven, where he created A Hunt for High Tech- a collection of materials that mimicked the bestial outer layers of unfamiliar hybrid species, accompanied by an evocative film that brought his concepts to life.

Hess feels that our bodies are increasingly becoming a platform for sensitive and interactive technology, and has constantly exposed the intimate relationship between materials and the skin. He produced a concept for Philips Design that mounted an electronic tattoo underneath the skin’s surface. Foamy, sweaty, blobular and molecular are the kinds of surfaces that Hess concocts, flirting with a touch of the grotesque and the macabre. By innovating materials that braise, coat or titillate the body, he has opened up a sensual and sexually-charged discourse about the future of smart textiles.

Hess has collaborated with the likes of Lucy McRae, Nick Knight, Lady Gaga, Iris van Herpen and Walter van Beirendonck.

Dorry Hsu

http://dorryhsu.co.uk/Dorry_Hsu/dorryhsu.com.html

Dorry Hsu is a practising artist known for her 3D printed ‘body sculpture’. Her work seeks to visualise the emotion of fear with computer-generated forms, and create innovative ways of wearing adornment objects that evoke ritual, religion and culture, whilst offering the contemporary wearer an extra layer of narrative.

As a trained photographer, Hsu uses the camera as her mechanical eye to see things in a decisive and suspicious way. Exploring the transition between image taking to object making, she works from the passive photographing of ready-made objects to actively making symbolic objects. Examining the relationship between sculpture and the body is one of the research areas pursued by Hsu in her art practice.

Lynne MacLachlan

https://lynnemaclachlan.co.uk/

Lynne MacLachlan’s work plays with light, space and colour; vibrant geometric forms reveal ephemeral, shimmering optical patterns, crossing the boundaries of design, art and fashion. She has a passion for experimenting with the latest digital technology, using the latest tools and materials in combination with traditional techniques to find creative applications to intrigue and delight the viewer.

After a degree in aerospace engineering, MacLachlan returned to education to study jewellery and metalwork design, which was then followed by a Masters degree at the Royal College of Art.

She has exhibited widely in the UK and Europe, and participated in live projects with Tiffany & Co and Swarovski. Alongside her design work, she is currently undertaking a PhD with the Design Transformations group of the Open University, researching the role of generative design tools in the creative process, and is a visiting lecturer at University for the Creative Arts.

Crick Smith

https://www.cricksmith.co.uk/

Crick Smith are specialists, researchers and advisors in the conservation and restoration of the interior and exterior features of listed and historic buildings, historic artefacts, collections management and historic paint analysis and research. They have been providing conservation services and training since 1974, and their consultancy has been involved in the conservation of more than 500 historic properties, throughout the British Isles, for a range of clients responsible for the built heritage.

Crick Smith operates as a commercial arm of the University of Lincoln, and is based in the historic cathedral city of Lincoln. The ongoing development of their work is strengthened by the innovation and integration of high-tech equipment and methodologies.

By utilising 3D scanning, modelling and printing techniques in their work, Crick Smith are able to produce tactile replicas of historic artefacts, improving accessibility for the visually impaired.

They are also able to ‘digitally repair’ artefacts and produce modern embellishments for historic buildings.

Unfold

What is the role of the designer and how is it changing in a time when design and manufacturing become increasingly more digitised? This question is key to understanding the work of design studio Unfold.

The studio, founded in 2002 by Design Academy Eindhoven graduates Claire Warnier and Dries Verbruggen, develops projects that investigate new ways of creating, manufacturing, financing and distributing in a changing context. A context in which we see a merging of craft, high-tech industrial production, and the digital realm. This creates an exciting potential to shift power, from the manufacturers to the designers and their customers.

Jason Wilsher-Mills

https://www.jwmartist.co.uk/

Jason Wilsher-Mills is a disabled digital artist, who uses iPads to create paintings that explore the primary themes of disability, illness and memory. His work demonstrates his fascination with childhood memories through the use of imagery from popular culture, which he uses to reflect a particular time in his life. Wilsher-Mills’ first choice of medium was oil paint, working very traditionally, but since becoming disabled found the iPad a more manageable tool to work with.

He has recently been awarded funding by Arts Council England to research and develop new ways of working by utilising 3D printing technology to bring his 2D iPad drawings to life as 3D sculptures.