Assignment 04/20: 3D fabrication

I teamed up with Qing again for this project. We made a seal, which is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made.

In most traditional forms of dry seal the design on the seal matrix is in intaglio (cut below the flat surface) and therefore the design on the impressions made is in relief (raised above the surface). The design on the impression will reverse (be a mirror-image of) that of the matrix, which is especially important when script is included in the design, as it very often is. This will not be the case if paper is embossed from behind, where the matrix and impression read the same way, and both matrix and impression are in relief. However engraved gems were often carved in relief, called cameo in this context, giving a "counter-relief" or intaglio impression when used as seals. The process is essentially that of a mould.

We divided the work first. Qing took the responsibility for doing the design and I took the responsibility for 3D printing. She used Tinkercad to finish the design. Tinkercad is definitely a user-friendly web software for us to do 3D design. Then, I went to the studio and printed it out. I appreciated the help from the studio staff. With their assistance, I figure out how to use support for the overhanging parts of our project. After following the instructions, we finally printed our project out. It looks good!